*blows cobwebs away*

I’m working at getting back into the kitchen after a thoroughly craptastic summer dealing with some stuff that you don’t want to hear about (although there was a wonderful but all-too-brief sojourn in Croatia in July) and thought this might be a good way to ease back in. This recipe uses lots of bowls, but it is totally worth the extra washing up, I promise.

I’m a big fan of ermine frosting. It’s a cooked flour based frosting that is great for spreading or filling because it is quite robust, but it is fluffy and silky smooth to eat and not excessively buttery in flavour so appeals to buttercream non-fans.

Ingredients

90g (1 cup) quick cooking oats
480ml (2 cups) water
200g (7oz) dark chocolate, broken into pieces
115g (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 large eggs, room temperature
200g (1 scant packed cup) light brown (demerara) sugar
150g (1 cup + 2 tbsp) all-purpose (plain) flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Line or grease and flour a rectangular baking pan (mine was 22cm x 28cm – 9″ x 11″) and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine oats and water and bring to boil over medium heat until the oats are soft and there are no traces of water, about two minutes.

In a double boiler or a shallow bowl set over a saucepan containing 2cm of water, on medium heat, put the chocolate and butter and stir until both have melted completely and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Add the oatmeal and vanilla to the chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together. Add the chocolate-oatmeal mixture to the egg mixture and fold together with a spatula.

In another bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together, sprinkle the mixture over the wet ingredients and gently fold together with a spatula, just until there are no traces of flour left. Be careful not to overmix.

Pour the mixture into the baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Chocolate ermine frosting

Ingredients

120ml (1/2 cup) whole milk
1 1/2 tbsp (4 1/2 tsp) all-purpose (plain) flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder, or more to taste
small pinch salt
115g (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
100g (1/2 cup) granulated (white) sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Directions

Whisk flour and cocoa into milk and place over medium heat in a small saucepan. Heat until thickened, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes once warm. It should have the consistency of a thick béchamel. Whisk in salt and pour mixture into a small bowl, then cover with plastic wrap pressed to the surface to avoid a skin forming. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

In a mixing bowl or a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix in well.

With the mixer on medium speed, add the milk mixture one tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated and you have a light and fluffy frosting.

Spread the frosting over the fully cooled brownies.

Cut into pieces and dig in!