If I were in charge of brownies and their taxonomy (which, sadly, I’m not), there would be a proper list of categories. The only thing that unifies them really is the chocolate, beyond which they can be cakey, crumbly, chewy or cocoa-ey (and many other things beyond those beginning with the letter ‘c’). This one is my perfect brownie: dense and fudgy thanks to the chia seeds; rich, but not sickeningly so; with a salted caramel-like flavour that comes from using white miso and salt together. It makes this brownie incredibly special. And there is no category for that.

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C and line a 20cm x 22cm cake tin with greaseproof paper. In a small bowl, mix the milled chia seeds with 270ml of water and set aside.
• Place the coconut oil and broken chocolate in a medium sized saucepan and set over a low heat. Stir occasionally until melted, then mix in the sugar, flour and miso, and crumble in the salt flakes. Finally, stir in the soaked and bloomed chia seeds, then pour into the lined tin and gently shake to distribute the mixture.
• Place on the middle shelf of the oven for 45 minutes, then remove. The brownies might be wobbly in the middle, but they will soon settle down and become deliciously fudgy.
• Leave to cool completely, then cut into 16 squares.

Recipe adapted from East, Penguin Fir Tree

First published in the JC November 01 2019