double chocolate salt caramel brownies...

Call me mad, but I love salt! Artisan salt, that is, not the big tubs of Saxa. I go out of my way to get my Fleur de Sel and Maldon and so I was delighted when I found a new Irish one from the Beara Peninsula in West Cork. Irish Atlantic Salt, made from evaporated seawater, is 100% pure, brilliantly white and has lovely flaky sea salt crystals. To celebrate this find, I made a batch of these bad boys - a chewy brownie with a thick cocoa-caramel layer and a sprinkle of flakey sea salt just for good measure. They have a thousand million calories in every square, but the salt is Irish, so they are totally worth it.

Double Chocolate Salt Caramel Brownies

The Brownie
450g dark chocolate chopped
140g butter
350g brown sugar
4 eggs
110g plain flour

The Chocolate caramel
220g butter
175g dark brown sugar
250g golden syrup
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1 tablespoon cocoa sifted

Preheat the oven to 160C and place the chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat and stir until melted and smooth, set aside. Place the sugar eggs and flour in a bowl with the chocolate mixture and mix to combine. Pour into a lightly greased 20cm x 30cm tin lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 40-45 mins or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in tin.

To make the caramel topping, melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Gradually whisk in the sugar until well combined. Add the golden syrup, condensed milk and salt and increase the heat to high. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring continuously or until thickened - whichever happens first. Remove from the heat and stir through the cocoa powder. Sprinkle the top evenly with a little bit more of the salt flakes at this stage. Refrigerate for two hours or until set and cut into squares.

The original recipe that this was adapted from says to cut into twelve but I think even for a generous dessert portion this is far too big. It is very dense and rich so even cutting into 16 will give you a very generous portion, 20 more elegant portions may be better. Served with a spoon of good ice-cream and a handful of toasted nuts it makes a lovely, decadent dessert.

Cut into very tiny squares and covered in a few cheerful sprinkles they make a pretty petit four as shown in the pictures.