There are days when I am at home and I really want to bake, but I don’t want to make anything too time-consuming. There are also days when I want to spend hours in the kitchen experimenting and putting a lot of effort into producing something spectacular.

This recipe came about because I had some leftover caramel in the fridge (from a not-so-successful attempt at another recipe) made from sweetened condensed milk. I wanted to use it up but didn’t want to just drizzle it over the top of a cake as I have done previously.

I am a big lover of brownies, in fact, it’s something that I am renowned for among a select group of friends based on many weekends as teenagers (and adults) spent hungover and baking Betty Crocker fudge brownies. I’ve moved on from then to make more brownies from scratch than from packet mixes (although they do come in handy at times) and tried my hand at many different types of brownies.

This time, I knew I wanted to make salted caramel swirl brownies to really enhance the sweetness that comes from these delicious baked goods. And, in all honesty, this was a super easy bake because all I had to do was add salted caramel to brownie batter. Including cooking time, given that the caramel was already prepared (and didn’t need to be placed in a water bath for several hours to start with), the brownies were ready to eat in just over an hour.

I’m not one for Valentine’s Day – give me Galentine’s Day instead – but these would be a great treat to make for that special person (or people) in your life on any day!

Ingredients

115 grams 70% cocoa dark chocolate
115 grams unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
300 grams caster sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
140 grams plain flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
250 ml salted caramel (omit the sugar and butter from this recipe)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a baking tray with butter.
2. Place the butter and chocolate in a heat-proof bowl.
3. Bring a pot of water to simmer over medium heat, then place the bowl of butter and chocolate on top. Do not let water touch the bowl.
4. Allow the butter and chocolate to melt, stirring occasionally to combine. Once melted and smooth, remove from heat and allow to cool.
5. Stir the sugar, salt and vanilla extract and combine well.
6. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk until fully incorporated.
7. Sift the cocoa powder and flour into the chocolate mixture, and stir until smooth.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tray.
9. Drizzle the salted caramel on top and swirl with a chopstick or knife into the top layer of the batter.
10. Place the baking tray into the oven for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.
11. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the baking tray. After 10 minutes, slice brownie pieces and place on a wire rack to cool completely.