As we settled into term three school holidays, my children organised a “Sweets and Treats” sidewalk stall selling home baked chocolate brownies and lemonade. They had asked repeatedly this year to hold such a stall and I finally capitulated, baking brownies last night in time for today’s stall. My girls mixed up the lemon juice cordial and chilled mineral water into tall jugs and took the lot outside, displaying it against the backdrop of colourful paper bunting strung up along the wooden fence. 

I blame the idea for today’s quaint stall it on the variety of fictional books my children have been reading. That and the childhood stories I haul out as entertainment – embellished around the edges but with enough truth remaining to make them believable, but also extraordinary at the same time. According to my children, I had an “exciting” childhood growing up in Perth, WA.  It was actually very ordinary, very suburban but my brothers, cousins and I managed to make up our own fun in the absence of electronic games and gadgets and very little pocket money. Lemonade and cake stalls were organised several times with the money raised being sent off to the Princess Margaret Children’s Hospital. 

Following a morning and afternoon shift, the entire batch of brownies had been sold along with three tall jugs of lemonade. My children were thrilled with their efforts which resulted in a jam jar crammed full of cash destined for the local community pre-school. Perhaps the stall was too successful, because I heard my girls planning on holding another one on the weekend featuring freshly baked muffins made by… yours’ truly. 

The brownies sold today are easy to make – in fact children could mix them up with a little supervision whilst on school holidays. I usually use the very dark Lindt 70% cocoa chocolate, but for today’s stall I substituted a less intense chocolate because I wanted to achieve a lighter textured brownie. The “Cadbury Chocolate Melts” worked perfectly. An equal combination of rich dark chocolate along with milk chocolate buttons or squares would also achieve this same caramel brown coloured brownie if you can’t find the “melts” product in your local supermarket. 

Light Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients
375 g soft unsalted butter 
300 g “Cadbury Melts” or similar chocolate buttons with no more than 50% cocoa butter or combine 150 grams dark chocolate (like Lindt 70% cocoa butter) and 150 grams milk chocolate. 
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
500 g caster sugar (well, it is a treat not a salad!)
225 g plain flour
75 grams cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan forced. Butter the brownie pan measuring about 23 cm x 33 cm and also line it with baking paper. I overhang the paper slightly along the length of the pan which makes it easier to lift out the finished brownie slab for slicing. 

Melt together the butter and chocolate either in a heavy based pan over the stove or in the microwave. Tip – you must keep a close watch to prevent the chocolate from burning. It takes about 2 minutes in my microwave but these appliances vary in strength. If you are not confident doing this in the microwave then use a saucepan over a low heat and stir continuously.

In a separate large bowl, beat together the eggs, vanilla, caster sugar, flour, salt and cocoa. Slowly beat in the buttery chocolate mixture until combined and smooth. At this point please resist the urge to dip a large spoon into the bowl to eat the raw mixture. Yes, the batter is tempting but so much better once baked. 

Using a spatula, scrape the mixture into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. The brownies are ready once the mixture just comes away from the sides of the pan, the top develops a slightly cracked appearance and the most divine chocolaty aroma fills your home. 

I leave the brownies to cool in the pan for an hour, before lifting out the slab and cutting into squares. I end up with 48 small but satisfying pieces, or 36 generous squares, depending on how I cut the brownies or who will be eating them.