Weekend treats

I'm celebrating my last day of four-weeks of hour-long, five-day-a-week, early-morning boot camp classes with one of my favourite things for a weekend treat - cocoa dressed up as a baked good.

I chanced upon this excellent recipe one day when all I had in the way of gluten-free flour was potato flour. Since potato flour likes to be baked with friends, I figured that I needed to find a recipe which minimises flour usage. I immediately thought of brownies.

The original recipe is over at Joy of Baking filed under healthy, low-fat desserts; but I've reduced the sugar content substantially, de-glutenised it and have used real butter/sour cream (I'm SO not one for using low-fat/artificial substitutions because I figure that treats are supposed to be exactly that - TREATS - not soulless imitations of the real thing!) Therefore, I am by no means asserting that these are low-fat, but rather lower sugar and lower fat than, say, a normal cake recipe. As always, moderation is key I suspect.

Quick tip: These are beyond excellent frozen. Yes, that's right, eaten right from the freezer after being frozen for about 12 - 15 hours. It's like some sort of ice-creamy-biscuity-chewy effect which is quite the taste sensation. Try it - you might like it :-)

Chocolate Brownies
(gluten-free)

Ingredients:

• 80 grams sugar
• 75 grams butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  
• 1 large egg
• 45g flour (I used potato flour)
• 35g cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarb + 1/2 teaspoon creme of tartar
• 60 millilitres (4 tablespoons) sour cream

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
2. Butter a 20cm square pan/oven dish.
3. Beat sugar & butter together.
4. Beat in egg & vanilla.
5. In a seperate bowl, mix together flour/cocoa/raising agents.
6. Fold flour mix into sugar/butter/egg mix.
7. Stir in the sour cream.
8. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes (till edges pull away from tin slightly, but centre is still soft).
9. Remove once cool & place on a wire rack to cool OR leave it in the glass baking dish pre-portioned and loosened, cover with foil/cling wrap and freeze (can be frozen for 1 - 2 months apparently, but it wont last that long unless you have the iron will of, well, Iron Man?)
10. Makes around 6 decadent slices, or 12 littler ones, which I can't handle because it seems cruel to dole them out little-by-little.

Born up a gluten-free-tree and viva cocoa-filled weekend treats!