Dark Chocolate and Sangiovese Pear Brownies

bluemoon downunder's Note:

This yummy and super-rich chocolate brownie recipe has been adapted from a recipe by Maggie Beer, a revered Australian chef and author of many cookbooks. If Sangiovese Verjuice is not available use any Verjuice; and you could use glacé cumquat, ginger - or whatever glacé fruit you like instead of the pear - and you could use a mixture of fruit and nuts. I'd recommend macadamia nuts. Some conversions: 300g = approximately 91/2 ounces; 250g = 8 ounces; 60g = 2 ounces; 40g = 11/3 ounces. For the BEST results, do use top quality chocolate, such as Lindt 70% cocoa. Recently, I tried some German chocolate that was 85% cocoa... that was probably too rich and too bitter for most tastes, so rich in fact that you'd find that much as they enjoyed it people wouldn't be coming back for a second and third brownie - so your brownies would last longer!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 300 g dark chocolate
• 250 g unsalted butter
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 60 g plain flour, sifted
• 40 g Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups dried pears, re-hydrated in
• Sangiovese Verjuice, and chopped into chunks (of whatever size you want in your brownies)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350º-375ºF/gas mark 4-5.
2. Rehydrate the dried fruit in Sangiovese Verjuice.
3. Melt the chocolate and the butter together over a low heat in a bowl that fits snugly on top of a small pot, being careful that the chocolate does not come into contact with any steam; once the chocolate and butter have melted make sure that the chocolate and butter are completely blended and leave them to cool.
4. Beat the eggs and egg yolks together with the sugar in an electric mixer until thick and pale and you can make an ‘indentation’ in it with your spatula; stir in the cooled chocolate mixture and then fold in the sifted flour and Dutch cocoa; fold in the dried/glacé fruit.
5. Grease a 21cm x 21 cm or 81/2" x 81/2" baking dish and pour the mixture into the baking dish.
6. Bake at 180°C/350º-375ºF/gas mark 4-5 for 30 minutes; then reduce the temperature to 160°C/325ºF/gas mark 3.and cook for another 30 minutes; once fully cooked, the “brownie” will be springy in the centre and a skewer inserted into the centre will be only slightly sticky; leave the "brownie" to cool overnight before cutting it into individual brownies. What size you choose to make them is up to you!