Chocolate Traybake Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Oil and line the base and sides of a 33cm x 23cm roasting tin or cake tin with a lip of at least 2½ cm. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarb, sugar and a good pinch of salt in a large bowl. Rub any lumps of sugar between your fingers, shaking the bowl a few times to bring them to the surface.
• Whisk the oil, buttermilk, coffee, vanilla and eggs in a jug, then pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Use a spatula to stir well, removing any pockets of flour. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and bake for 25-30 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If any wet cake mixture clings to the skewer, return the cake to the oven for 5 mins, then check again. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for at least 20 mins.
• Meanwhile, make the icing. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then remove from the heat and stir in the icing sugar, cocoa powder and milk. The icing will be very runny but will thicken a little as it cools. (If the icing has set too much before the cake has cooled, reheat it slightly to make it easier to pour.)
• Pour the icing over the cake and leave to set. Decorate with the sweets, sprinkles, chocolate shavings or nuts, then cut into squares and dig in.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter a 20cm square tin and line with baking parchment. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn't touch the water. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly. Or, do this in 20-second bursts in the microwave.
• Mix the flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl, then stir in the walnuts, dried fruit and a pinch of salt. Beat the butter and brown sugar together in a separate bowl until light and fluffy using an electric whisk. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding 1 tbsp of the flour mix with each addition to stop the wet ingredients from curdling.
• Beat the cooled melted chocolate into the wet ingredients until fully incorporated. Mix in the tahini, then gently fold in all of the flour mixture, being careful not to knock out the air.
• Tip the batter into the tin, level with a spatula and bake for 30-35 mins, or until set with a definite wobble in the middle. Leave to cool for 20 mins in the tin. Lift out of the tin onto a wire rack using the parchment to help and leave to cool completely (the brownie will firm up as it cools). Cut into 12 squares and serve with ice cream, if you like. Will keep in an airtight container for three days.