Brownies, queensday and a new design!
I woke up this morning and realised that for the first time in, well in forever, I have to work on April 30th. Weird if you think about it. For as long as I can remember we celebrate a bit of a party of April 30th or at least have a day of. But today I am in Rotterdam with the girls of Kromkommer to photograph their new soupline so well, that is a bit of party all in itself right?
And also I figured today would be the perfect day to show you my new design! Another reason for a party!!
It’s not entirely finishes yet, a few small things will need to be adjusted (email subscriptions don’t work yet for instance) but I am really happy with it! Design is made by the awesome Lindsay from Purrdesign. I hope you like it and a few things you will probably see changing over the next few days!
And because no party is complete without something sweet; I made these delicious chocolate and vanille brownies. I saw the recipe on one of my favorite blogs Life’s a feast (again that party!) by Jamie, She made these brownies for her blog and I know her recipes are always good so do the math.
And let me know if you like the new site! Good, not so good and if you see anything that doesn’t work; let me know!
- 4 oz 110 g melted chocolate (see note above) 2 cups (240 g) sifted flour (sift before measuring) ¾ tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt Rounded ½ tsp ground cinnamon 18 Tbs (255 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar 4 large eggs, at room temperature if possible 1 tsp vanilla 1 ½ cups (125 g) coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
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Break your chocolate into smaller pieces and melt it using au bain marie. Set aside to cool slightly. Coarsely chop the nuts and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly butter a baking pan (I used a 25 x 25 cm square one) or line with foil and butter the foil. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy on low speed. Beat in the sugar in four additions then beat in the eggs one at a time, adding the vanilla with the last egg. Scrape down the sides and beat until creamy and whipped up a bit. Beat in the flour mixture in about 3 or 4 additions. Fold in the chopped nuts while scraping down the sides of the bowl and blending in the last of the flour. Divide the batter in half and - using a spoon - place the vanilla batter in mounds into your baking pan. Beat or stir the cooled, melted chocolate into the remaining batter, blending well, then drop the chocolate batter in mounds in between and around the vanilla mounds of batter in the baking pan. Swirl the batters together with a knife to marble. Bake… this could take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour depending upon the size of pan used (and depth) and your oven. When baked, the top of the brownies should be glossy and crispy, the center set; a tester stuck into the center should come out mostly clean.
I love this new design! It’s fresh, young and quirky like you.
Delicious brownies.
Cheers,
Rosa
Lol… Thanks so much Rosa! Glad you like it!
Gorgeous design Simone!
Thanks Wendy!
Well look at you in your new dress. I knew it was coming but had no idea it would be so fancy. I love it.
I’m a brownie tragic and I could be very happy with these!
Thanks so much Maureen! I’m really happy with my new dress!
Oh my god, Simone, I LOVE the new design! I’ve wanted to revamp my blog for essentially as long as I’ve had it, but could never find a promising designer. I will definitely investigate your design genius- The results are stunning. The only thing that I might like even more than the look of your blog is perhaps the look of those luscious brownies… But it is a close race. 😉
Yes Lindsay is definitely a good choice if you need a designer to vamp your site. She’s busy too so that’s the only downsite but hey, you’ve waited this long right? 😉
The new design looks great! Nice and clean. Brownies look great too — what a great way to celebrate the new design!
I thought so too John… 🙂
Huge congrats on the new design, Simone! I am really LOVING it! It’s absolutely beautiful. 🙂
Thanks so much Sonia! I’m loving it too!
New design is so fresh!
And brownies – oh my, I wish I could bake them now and not to go to uni 🙂
Thanks so much Indre. You can always bake them after uni… 🙂
I am seriously craving these brownies right now. Why do I look at food blogs late at night??
That is never a good idea right? I do the same early in the morning which can also be a very wrong choice!
Those look soooo good. I want to try this recipe this weekend.
O you should! It’s totally delicious. Love the chocolate and vanilla combi!