Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4

(Makes approx 16 squares)

100g Plain chocolate
125g Unsalted butter
275g Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence
2 Large eggs (beaten)
85g Plain flour
2 tbsp Cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
100g Pecan nut / walnut halves (OPTIONAL)

1. Lightly grease an 8 inch square (20cm) tin and then line the bottom with greaseproof paper and grease that too.

2. Put some water in to a pan and rest a bowl on the top of it then turn on the heat to bring the water to a simmer then break the chocolate up in to the bowl. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water or the chocolate will spoil (smaller kids will need an adult to do this bit)

3. Stir the chocolate occasionally to help it melt.

4. Put the butter in a seperate bowl and beat it until it is creamy.

5. Add the sugar and vanilla essence to the butter and beat it until it is fluffy.

6. Gradually add the eggs to the butter mix and beat it well after each addition.

7. Sieve the flour, cocoa and salt in to the butter mix then pour in the melted chocolate and stir the mixture thoroughly.

8. Stir in the chopped nuts (the nuts are optional and you should make sure that no one who will be eating the brownies has a nut allergy before including them in the recipe)

9. Put the mixture in to the prepared tin and bake it for 30 to 35 minutes … you can test if the brownies are ready by sticking a skewer in to the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean take the tin out of the oven. The centre should still be sticky rather than a cake consistency.

10. Cool the cake in the tin then turn it out and cut it in to squares.

11. Sieve icing sugar on the top to serve (optional).

You can make this cake in advance as it can be frozen for up to a month.

Caster sugar is best for this recipe as it is finer but don’t worry you can use your usual bag of sugar if you don’t have caster.