Salted Caramel Brownie

Ingredients

+ 250g butter

+ 220g dark chocolate 

+ 2 teaspoons vanilla paste

+ 4 eggs

+ 1¾ cups brown sugar

+ 1¼ cups plain flour

+ ½ cup cocoa powder

+ 1 teaspoon baking powder

+ Pinch of salt

+ 2/3 cup caramel (one small tin or half a jar)

+ Sea salt flakes

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius

2.  Grease a square baking tray and line with baking paper

3. Place butter and chocolate in a microwave safe jug or bowl. Microwave on medium heat for 20 second intervals until smooth.  Ensure that you gently stir between each interval to reduce the chance of overheating the chocolate.  This step can also be done using a double boiler.

4. Once mixture is smooth and combined, stir in vanilla and brown sugar

5. Add eggs and stir until well combined

6. In a separate bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt

7. Add the chocolate mixture to the flour mixture and gently fold until just combined

8. Pour half of the mixture into the baking tin

9. Dollop half of the caramel on the surface of the mixture.  Avoid going to close the the edges, since this can cause the caramel and catch and burn while baking

10. Pour in remaining mixture 

11. Dollop remaining caramel over the surface and use a skewer or knife to lightly swirl caramel through brownie mixture

12. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes 

13. Bake for 1 hour or until the mix there is only a slight wobble in the centre

14. Place on a cooling rack and cool to room temperature before attempting to removing from tin.  Unless you can't wait...in which case you may need to scoop it out with a spoon.

Notes:

I have always used one block of Old Gold dark chocolate for this recipes.  You could experiment with any type of chocolate.

My favourite brand of caramel for this recipes is Bonne Maman (they make the jams with the gingham lids) but it can be difficult to find at times.  A can of Nestle Top'n'Fill also works just fine.  Particularly if you have no self control with half a jar of left over caramel sitting in your fridge.

This recipe is not overly sweet, so if you are making it for kids, you could replace half of the brown sugar with white sugar for added sweetness.