Iced Cappuccino Crunch Brownies

Earlier this month I attended the Good Housekeeping Celebrity Bake Stars event at D'Aria in Durbanville. There were bubbles and nibbles and foodies galore, and the audience was treated to a demonstration by Zola Nene and Clement Pedro who shared loads of fun recipe tips and tricks.

One of the ideas that was mentioned at the demo was to include a layer of biscuits between two layers of brownie mix before baking for a twist on the classic favourite. So later on when I opened my goodie bag and found a box of Romany Creams I knew just where those biscuits were going! I adapted a recipe that I got from a friend a few years back to make these brownies. I have a couple of favourite brownie recipes (because why just stop at one?) but what I like about this particular one is that it uses standard baking ingredients and there is no need to rush off to the shops to buy chocolate if you do not have any in the cupboard.

These are everything that I believe good brownies should be - dark, dense and fudgy. They are studded with crunchy biscuit pieces and topped with a thin layer of mocha icing and a sprinkling of biscuit rubble. I love the contrast of soft and crunchy textures too. 

By the way, if you love brownies you should definitely check out this other recipe as well as these - uh-mazing! Remember to share your favourite using the buttons at the bottom of this post. 

Cook's notes:

• I made these brownies with Cappuccino flavoured Romany Creams as they happened to be the ones I got in my goodie bag, but any flavour would work so choose your favourite! 
• When crushing the biscuits to sprinkle over the top do it gently. There is no need to turn in them into biscuit dust, it is nice to have a mixture of large and small pieces. 
• Serve as a tea time treat or as dessert at the end of a meal. I often serve brownies and vanilla ice cream at the end of a braai (barbecue) and they always go down a treat! 

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ICED CAPPUCCINO CRUNCH BROWNIES

Makes 24 brownies

2 large eggs

2 cups castor sugar

200g butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa

200g Bakers Cappuccino Romany Creams

For the icing:

1 cup icing sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

1 tsp butter, melted

1/2 tsp coffee granules

3 tbsp boiling water

Step 1.) Preheat your oven to 170°C. Grease a 20cm square baking tin (or a small rectangular tin) and line the base with baking paper. 

Step 2.) Beat the eggs and castor sugar together for a few minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the melted butter and vanilla extract. 

Step 3.) Sift in the flour and cocoa and fold into the mixture. Put four Romany Creams to one side, you will be using these to decorate the brownies later. Cut the remaining biscuits into quarters and stir them into the brownie mixture. 

Step 4.) Tip the brownie mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 25 minutes but keep an eye on the brownies towards the end. They should be set on top with a thin crust, but be a bit soft in the middle. Set the brownies aside until they are completely cool and have set. 

Step 5.) To prepare the icing: sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a small bowl. Add the melted butter. Dissolve the coffee granules in the boiling water and add this to the bowl. Stir until you have a smooth icing, it should be quite thick but still spreadable. Add more or less water if necessary. 

Step 6.) Place the four Romany Creams you set aside earlier into a small sandwich / ziplock bag. Use a rolling pin to crush them up gently. Spread the icing over the cooled brownie slab. Sprinkle immediately with biscuit crumbs then cut into squares.