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How to decorate chocolate brownies

Thursday 18th February 2016

Brownie decorating hints and tips

Chocolate brownies are a delight as they are, or perhaps finished with a slim layer of gooey chocolate icing, or a dusting of icing sugar. However, there are all sorts of ways to enhance and augment the appearance and taste of a chocolate brownie. We explore seven seductive decoration favourites:

  1. Chocolate and raspberries is a match made in heaven. The ruby-like berry adds a tang to the brownie that is matched by no other fruit.
  2. Pistachio nuts are a delicious addition, adding texture and a toothsome quality to each bite.
  3. Chocolate offsets bright colours very effectively. Embellishing them with Smarties, marshmallows, sprinkles or tiny candied fruit chunks make them both fun and tasty.
  4. White chocolate chunks stand out against the darker sponge very effectively, as well as injecting another texture. You can also add white chocolate before the bake.
  5. Embedding crunchy Maltesers into chocolate icing creates a satisfying contrast to the soft sponge.
  6. Pipe chocolate into organic designs like leaves and flowers and allow it to set before popping them onto the brownies for a more artistic appearance.
  7. Use small cutters to create fondant-icing shapes and arrange little stars or blossoms on top of your bake.

Getting the best out of your brownies

Before you get decorating, it helps to have the perfect brownie to work with.

Find the right recipe

There are chocolate brownies and there are chocolate brownies. Finding the right recipe is your first step. These triple chocolate brownies are a popular choice, but you might opt for chewier, fudgier or peanuttier brownie, so find the recipe that suits you.

Use the best chocolate you can afford

When there are so few ingredients and the main one is chocolate, opt for fair trade or the chocolate you most love to eat rather than using cooking chocolate. Though you can use it, cocoa powder doesn’t always make for the chewy consistency many brownie lovers crave.

Treat your chocolate with kindness

Temper your chocolate using a bain-marie to gently melt your broken chocolate pieces or buttons. Ensure the water doesn’t touch the chocolate and that it doesn’t overheat, or it will become crystalised.

Don’t go nuts on the flavour

You’ll want to make your beautiful brownie mixture speak for itself. So go easy on adding bits and pieces. Less is more, so choose either fruit, or nuts, or sweets as your extra ingredient.

You can under-bake them

Even though gooiness is desirable in a brownie, raw cake mix is not. Stick to the recipe baking times; the goo factor will be accounted for.

Be patient

Brownies will cool to the optimum consistency; so waiting for them to cool will pay off.

Brownies are the ultimate sharing cake and will be popular at work and at home, so have fun making them. Why not browse our recipes to explore more exciting baking and decorating ideas?