I have always loved Brownies. When it comes to baked chocolate goodies, brownies are probably one of my favourite ones. Having said that however, in thinking about chocolate cake, I think brownies are second to chocolate cake. 

I do have several very good from scratch brownie recipes on here. I think as I get older I am a lot less into things like this than I was when I was younger. I think perhaps when you get older you get a bit choosier about how often you indulge and what you choose to indulge in. 

  

I have used a brownie mix for these brownies today. I used the Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate Brownie mix that you can buy in Costco. It comes with three bags of mix in the box. 

They are incredibly rich and moist. My friend Tina buys them all the time so her wee grandson Freddie can help her bake. He just stirs the mix up and he thinks he has done something really special! 

 

You will also need some flaked almonds. They get scattered around each dollop of the pie filling prior to baking as well. 

 

That's it in a nutshell really. Other than that all you will need is what the boxed Brownie mix calls for. In this case it was oil, water and an egg. 

 

If you wanted to really make it authentic to the Black Forest, you could stir some Kirsch into the pie filling. Or, once baked, poke some holes into the brownies here and there and drizzle in some Kirsch.  

About 18 years ago we took one of our first holidays together into the Black Forest and I treated myself to a slice of Black Forest Cake one day when we were out and about. 

  

It is a cake that the Black Forest is very famous for.   Can I be honest here? 

 

Why not! I always am!  Either it was a very bad cake or Black Forest Cake is not all it is cracked up to be. I just didn't get the appeal. 

  

The lovely hot chocolate I enjoyed along side of it more than made up for it however. All was not lost!  

Have any of you had the experience of enjoying a slice of Black Forest Cake in Germany? I had really hyped myself up to enjoy this cake and it was really quite a disappointment! 

 

So what are you favourite kinds of brownies? Do you use a Brownie mix ever? Do you like it? What is your favourite brand?  I normally make them from scratch and I am sure this would also work with a scratch brownie recipe. Here is my favourite Brownie Recipe. 

 What intrigued me about this recipe was that it was mixed and baked in the tin. I have made a cake like that since I was a teen, called Wacky Cake. It was a recipe given to me by my best friend Linda's mother.  I have been baking that one for nigh on 50 years now. 

This, too was a chocolate cake, very similar to Wacky Cake, but at the same time quite different. This one was in the cookies and bars section of the book, amongst the brownies and other squares.

 It also used an egg, which the Wacky Cake did not.  In the Wacky cake recipe you made three hollows in the dry ingredients mixed in the pan. Into one went oil. Into the other went vinegar, into the last went water.  This recipe has no vinegar either. 

It also used melted chocolate instead of cocoa powder. I was intrigued.  You lay a layer of walnut halves and chocolate chips on top of it prior to baking.  Again, intrigued.

 Not intrigued enough however to actually mix the cake in the pan. I wanted to be able to cut it into squares and so I mixed it in a bowl and the poured it into a baking tin I had buttered and lined with baking paper so I could lift it out. 

I didn't want to take any chances on it sticking to the pan. I also wanted to be able to cut it into perfect squares. Yes,  I can be a bit pedantic when it comes to things like that.

 The end result is a lovely and moist chocolate bar/cake.  Not too sweet, but with just the right amount of chocolate flavour. 

It is more like a cake than a bar. I don't think you could call it a brownie, unless you are wanting a very cake-like brownie.

 This is the kind of cake/bar my grandmother would have baked. I would love to know the history of it and how it came to have the name of Flash in a Pan.

I suspect it has something to do with it being mixed all together in the pan. Not to mention the ease at which it goes together and the short time it takes to bake. Indeed it is baked in a flash!

 There are a few things in life which make me incredibly happy. One of those things is trying out a new recipe. Another is chocolate cake. I also love walnuts and chocolate chips.

Combine all of those things and I am very happy. In fact I am truly ecstatic if you want to get right down to it!

 I don't know about you, but just reading that made my heart happy. Those are my values. Home.  Family. Traditions and good food.

The message is repeated again in French just beneath.  Did you know that New Brunswick is the ONLY truly officially bilingual province in Canada?  Its true. Both Engish and French are its official languages.  As are all of the street/traffic/highway signs, etc.

 You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe it is the law. I also think most children are able to be educated in both languages. My grandsons are being educated in both French and English. Its a good thing. 

Half of this cookbook is in English and half of it is in French.  Different recipes in each half. A great impetus to learn the language.  Thankfully my highschool French is good enough that I can easily sort it out.

 I was really pleased with how this "Flash in a Pan" turned out! It is nice and moist and quite chocolaty considering it only has two ounces of melted chocolate in it. Make sure you use a good dark chocolate. 

I love the walnuts on the top. I did not bother to toast them this time as I knew they would be baking in the oven on top of the batter and would get nice and toasty anyways. I didn't want to risk them burning.

 I was sent one of their best selling  Selection Bite Brownie Boxes.  It came packaged beautifully in a sturdy box wrapped in bubble wrap, and placed within another box for safe delivery.   I could hardly wait to unwrap them.   The smell was almost intoxicating.


Ferrero Rocher - This hazelnut brownie includes praline, crunchy wafer and caramelised hazelnuts is more delicate than its decadent counterparts. There is a crispy topping, which gives way to a milder chocolate taste with the slightest hint of hazelnut coming through at the end.

Triple Chocolate - Their signature dark chocolate brownie packed full of white and milk chocolate chips and then coated with all three types of chocolate on top. A truly decadent take on a classic.

But would they live up to the hype?   I needed to taste them.  Yes . . .  its a tough job, but somebody has to do it.




theenglishkitchen.co - 12 Bite Best Seller Brownie Box 

Just click the above link and it will take you to a widget where you can enter to win your very own box of Bad Brownies!  A value of £14.50.  (Unfortunately it is for UK residents only, but don't worry if you are outside of the country, I am planning another giveaway of something else for my other readers at another time!)

In the meantime I would like to thank Bad Brownies very much for affording me the opportunity to try these lush delights and for generously providing a Giveaway.   I was sent this box free of charge but do want you to know that I was not required to give a positive review in exchange.  Any and all opinions are quite simply my own and honest.

I mean . . .  Brownies . . .  they are pretty hard not to like, and when they are as tasty as these ones I would go so far as to say impossible not to like!

Bad Brownies

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