It was no contest when Maison Cupcake challenged us with the latest Forever Nigella to 'Seduce with Chocolate'. Chocolate brownie bowls are not brownies as you know them. They are not gooey but more sponge-like so that they can hold whichever filling you wish to load them with. In Kitchen, Nigella strongly advocates using a special 6-Cavity Dessert Shell Pan. She does also say that you can use Yorkshire pudding tins instead, which I did (I do live in Leeds after all). My brownie bowls were actually saucers which I prefer as I was able to fill more ice-cream into mine!
I added horlicks, cocoa powder and boiling water to melted butter mixed with sugar. To the mix I poured in some yoghurt, flour, bicarbonate of soda, egg and vanilla and whisked up. The mixture was then poured into a couple of Yorkshire tins and oven-baked for just over ten minutes, pressing down on them with a teacup to get the 'saucer' effect, and voila, perfect little holders for a never-ending list of fillings. My choice du jour was good quality vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce.
The great thing about these puddings is that they can seduce just about anyone with chocolate because the bowls are not rich so you can really go to town with the topping. Master M reckoned they would be good with poached pear or stewed apple, and even suggested a Black Forest brownie bowl (eighties chic)! Nigella's dried cherries soaked in cherry brandy (from her Christmas book) would work a treat for this. I like 'death by chocolate' so would go for choc ice-cream, sauce, sprinkles and might even add a cheeky flake.
One last fab thing about these bowls is that you can make up a batch and freeze them to seduce yourself whenever you have the urge. Now if you will excuse me, I have a date with a brownie saucer...
Goddess Mx
