Guest Author - Anita Burroughs

I have to say that this is my all-time favorite brownie recipe. This recipe will wow any chocolate lover, guaranteed. Do use good quality chocolate in preparing these brownies, preferably unsweetened chocolate that has not been sitting on a shelf for more than six months. Fresh, intensely dark chocolate makes all the difference in the world.

Here’s the recipe:

1/3 cup raspberry preserves, forced through a fine sieve to remove
seeds if desired*
3 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and chopped fine.

You can purchase unseeded raspberry jam, or remove the seeds from the jam by forcing slightly warmed jam over a fine sieve. You can also opt to leave the seeds in the recipe.

To toast the nuts, place them in a preheated, 300 degree oven for approximately ten minutes. Remove from oven, place in a clean towel, and then rub to remove as much of the skin as possible; you do not need to get all of the skins off. Take the nuts off the towel, and chop by hand or in a food processor. Make sure not to chop the nuts so fine that you have a paste.

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter and flour a nine inch pan, and then remove the excess flour. I like to use a springform square or round pan with a raised base, as this makes it easier to cut and remove the brownies. You can use a round, traditional baking pan for this recipe.

Place the raspberry preserves in a small bowl, and stir until they are smooth. In a medium sized pot, melt the chocolate and the butter over low heat and stir until the mixture is smooth. Make sure the pot is large enough to add in the rest of the ingredients. Cool this mixture for about ten minutes, and then stir in the sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Then, add the eggs, one at a time, making sure the eggs are well incorporated, beating well with a spoon. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and add this to the chocolate mixture. You can do this right in the pot with the chocolate. Beat until the batter is well combined.

Put half of the batter in your baking pan. Then drop tablespoons of the jam onto the batter, and smooth over the surface with the side of a dull knife. Then place the remaining batter over the preserves, again smoothing it out over the raspberry surface. Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts over the batter evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick or tester comes out clean. Be sure not to over-bake these brownies as you do not want to dry these babies out. Cool the brownies completely before you cut them into the desired size. These brownies can be kept at room temperature for up to five days, and they freeze beautifully in plastic containers.

Be sure not to be home alone in the house with these brownies!!