If you know me, you will know that I love a good fudgy chocolate brownie. This Death by Chocolate Brownie is a super fudgy and chocolaty brownie smothered in chocolate Ganache. Since I wanted more of a ‘brownie cake’, i decided to make this version round. This also helps with cutting thin slices. Be warned, you might just die from all the chocolate goodness if you eat too much.
Since this is one of my Halloween recipes for 2021, we had to make this Death by Chocolate Brownie a little more spooktacular. So I used some melted white chocolate to create the spider web effect and some dark chocolate truffles and balls for the spider’s head and body.
I love the way it turned out. And it definitely tastes absolutely delicious. This is a fun one to do with the kiddos but I do think it’s elegant enough for and adult celebration as well.
Feel free to use milk only for the Ganache if it’s for the kids. I used half dark and half milk to ensure it wasn’t too sweet.
This is my staple cocoa chocolate brownie recipe. It’s super quick and simple to make. It uses cocoa powder instead of chocolate, so it’s not heavy on ingredients.
Check out the Halloween Recipes page in my recipes list for more ideas.
If you make this recipe, please do send me feedback and pictures either on here or on my social media accounts. I love to see how people make my recipes their own.
Death by Chocolate Brownie
Ingredients
Chocolate Brownie
- ½ Cup Unsalted Butter Melted
- 1 Tbsp Oil (Vegetable/Sunflower or Coconut Oil)
- 1⅛ Cup Castor Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ Cup All-Purpose/Cake Flour
- ½ Cup Good quality cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
Chocolate Ganache
- 2 Bars of chocolate (approx. 160 – 200g)* Very finely chopped
- 160 ml Fresh Cream
Optional extras for decorating
- ½ Bar of white chocolate (40g) Melted
- 1 Chocolate truffle for spider body
- 1 Chocolate ball for spider head
Instructions
Chocolate Brownie
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Melt your butter and let it cool slightly while you grease a standard size cake tin with non stick cooking spray and line the bottom with baking paper. Set aside
- Add the melted butter, oil and sugar to a mixing bowl and mix to help the sugar start to dissolve. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined
- Place a sieve on the bowl and sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until well combined
- Add the batter to your prepared tin and spread to the sides form an (mostly) even layer (This mixture is thick and sticky and doesn't spread easily. This is normal)
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until the centre of the brownie no longer jiggles and is just set to the touch (the brownie will keep baking in the hot pan out of the oven)
- Let cool in the tin for at least 10 – 15 minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely before decorating
Chocolate Ganache
- To prepare the brownie for decorating, I placed it on my cake stand with two overlapping pieces of baking paper underneath. This is to catch any extra Ganache that runs off to keep the stand/plate as clean as possible Using separate pieces of baking paper to protect the edges of the plate makes it easier to pull out from under the brownie later
- Finely chop or grate your chocolate and place in a heat proof dish. Set a piece of plastic wrap or other kind of tight fitting lid for the bowl aside ready to use
- In a small saucepan, heat the cream until very hot but not boiling (tiny bubbles start appearing around the edge)
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and cover. Let sit for around 5 minutes to melt. If planning to do the white chocolate web effect, now is the time to melt your white chocolate. If using the microwave, melt in 30 sec bursts and stir between each, as not to burn the chocolate
- For the melted white chocolate you will also need a piping bag or small jug or spoon and a skewer/sosatie stick or point of a knife
- When the 5 minutes are up, use a whisk to mix the chocolate and cream mixture until all the chocolate has melted and a thicker, smooth Ganache has formed. Pour the Ganache evenly over the top of the brownie, starting from the middle and moving towards the edges if you want to cover the sides like mine
- Work quickly as the Ganache and white chocolate will set quite fast
- Make 4 – 5 circles with the melted white chocolate, starting at the centre or offset like mine. Then use the skewer to drag the white chocolate from the centre of the middle circle to the edge of the cake. Repeat as many times as you like. This will create the web effect
- Pop your spider onto the web and place the cake in the fridge for the Ganache to set
- Once set, you can remove the paper around the edges. Any jagged edges can be smoothed with a warm knife
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