Making the cake
1 . Grease an 8 ” square tin with butter and line with greaseproof paper . Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F .
2 . Melt the butter in a pan or microwave and stir in the cocoa powder and leave to cool .
3 . Beat together the eggs , sugar and vanilla essence . Add in the cooled butter / cocoa mixture and mix thoroughly .
4 . Stir in the flour and finally the chopped pecans if using .
5 . Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes . The mixture might still look a little soft and wet but it cooks further while cooling so leave it in the tin .
6 . While the brownies are cooling , melt the chocolate and butter together in a saucepan to make the fudge sauce . Leave to cool slightly before pouring over the brownies in the tin .
7 . Leave the tin to cool completely and once set cut into 12 squares . The brownies should last up to two weeks in an airtight container though the chances are they will be long gone before then !
By Fay Millar brightoncakes . com
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