I must say I didn’t quite understand the fuss about baking without eggs until I attempted to bake a vegan version of my all time favourite: chocolate brownies. Now, that’s a challenge! I rose to it and over the past couple of weeks made about 15 different brownie versions.
Some landed straight in the bin (even though I HATE binning food), others have been eaten by us or my neighbour, Suzie, who has kindly volunteered to do taste testing of all sweet stuff I make. Poor girl, she has had to eat some proper Frankenbrownies and did not complain one bit. Don’t get me wrong, a few versions were pretty tasty, but they certainly weren’t a brownie as I know it. They were a bit like an undercooked cakey cake. My perfect brownie has a crispy outer shell that reveals a soft, gooey and very chocolaty centre and not being able to use eggs was making this a mission impossible. I must admit I was pretty disheartened and depressed that I will never get to eat a proper brownie ever again. I mean, I gave up meat, dairy and eggs intentionally, but I had no idea that meant having to give up brownies too? Finally, after a few more tries, lots of reading on eggless baking and coming across a great brownie recipe on veganbaking.net, I nailed it. I could see I did by how quickly Duncan reached for another piece. While previous attempts only managed to elicit an unconvincing ‘yeah, they’re…OK’, this one singled-handedly stormed it – ‘OMG! These are soooo good!’ he said grabbing another piece. These brownies have a crispy exterior, very gooey interior, a satisfying crunch from roasted hazelnuts and a subtle taste of hazelnut liqueur. If you don’t have any handy, you can simply swap it for a different kind. It will work as long as the alcohol content is roughly the same (20%) and you use matching nuts on top – almonds and Amaretto would be my second choice if I didn’t have a self-imposed ban from making baked goods for the next two weeks at least. Now, excuse me but I need to grab a piece before they are all gone!
2 tbsp* flaxseed meal mixed with 3 tbsp / 45 ml water 225 g white plain cake (as opposed to bread) flour ¼ tsp baking soda 6 tbsp cacao powder (I used raw) 110 g dark chocolate (I used 70% cocoa) ¼ tsp salt 2 tbsp /30 ml hot espresso (or ½ tsp instant coffee and 2 tbsp water) + 35 ml boiling water (65 ml liquid) 1 and ¼ cup brown sugar (I used raw cane) 90 ml / 6 tbsp mild olive oil 40 ml hazelnut liqueur (I used Frangelico) 50 g roasted hazelnuts, chopped
