Perfect chocolate orange brownies

Undoubtedly the worst part of having a gastrointestinal virus ON MY BIRTHDAY was not the subsequent unpleasant aftereffects, or visit to the out of hours GP service at our local Hospital.  It wasn’t even having to a cancel a ‘special treat’ lesson on Chunky or not being able to enjoy a glass of wine with my chosen birthday meal – a homemade lasagne.  No!  It was the torture of having to leave a beautifully wrapped package from the Isle of Wight untouched, in full knowledge of the mouth-watering deliciousness it contained 😦

For 4 days the parcel, a birthday gift from hubby, sat lonely and unloved on the kitchen worktop whilst my stomach attempted to regain its equilibrium.  With the final rumblings and gurglings fading I was finally ready to peel off the wrapping and savour the content – and did so, with almost ritualistic enjoyment in the company of my camera.

I have sampled these delightfully decadent chocolatey nuggets before.  Followers of my blog might remember how I found Anita – the creator of Say It With Brownies and master baker in this previous post.  But my taste buds have been tantalised recently with the revelation that Anita had created a new flavour for her delicious brownies – Chunky Chocolate Orange – and I just needed an excuse to try them – or at least to hint to hubby that he needed to buy them for me – so my birthday seemed the perfect occasion!

I peeled open the parcel as lovingly as Anita had no doubt wrapped it before sending it on its way over the Solent to arrive at my doorstep in Surrey.  Lifting the lid of the box revealed the carefully folded tissue paper protecting its precious contents.  Then a sweet chocolately orange scent wafted temptingly towards me and my stomach started gurgling again…in anticipation this time!

With the tissue unfolded the brownies were finally uncovered, dusted lightly in icing sugar and cut into perfectly sized portions.  The milk chocolate orange chunks clearly visible. I just couldn’t wait any longer and delicately nibbled a corner of my brownie.  Delicious memories of chocolatey orange Christmas mornings and birthdays started attacking my senses.  This wonderfully light and gooey brownie was really hitting the spot and was surprisingly not as sweet as I had anticipated.  It was, quite simply, perfect!

Buy them for your friends or family at Christmas and they will love you FOR EVER!!  What the hell, treat yourself and buy for one…some things are just too good for sharing 🙂

Go to Anita’s website to ogle at the pictures of her full brownie range and order a box straight away www.sayitwithbrownies.co.uk

Brownies from Heaven (via the Isle of Wight)

I’m sure I’m not the first and I certainly won’t be the last person to muse about the ‘power of Twitter’! Such a cliché. And what – I’m sure you’re asking – has this got to do with brownies? Is this just some kind of trickery to get you to view this post thinking it would reveal a delicious brownie recipe when in fact I just want to ramble on about Twitter?? Now, now! All will be revealed in due course. Patience!

I’ve been ‘on’ Twitter for ages – as an occasional lurker. I never really connected with it, but to be fair I probably didn’t really dedicate enough time or energy to ‘get it’. Whilst on holiday in Florida at our villa at the end of last year I was struck down by a particularly nasty bout of Bronchitis which rendered me incapable of any activity. Resigned, as I was, to the sunlounger by the pool, I decided to investigate the little blue bird icon on my iPhone which had lain dormant for such a long time and immersed myself into the Twittersphere, only to emerge every now and again to reach out for my antibiotics and a slug of Margarita!

Yes, I know I haven’t mentioned anything about brownies yet…! It’s coming OK?! I have to tell it from the beginning!

About a month into my new-found all-consuming ‘hobby’ I had amassed a fairly decent number of followers and selected a few of my own, based mainly on mutual interests related to horses, food and Florida. One day a tweet caught my eye:

“Any ideas what to get your loved one for Valentines?”

Well, it got me thinking. I remembered seeing an attractive blue heart logo from one of the tweeps that I follow – in amongst the constantly flowing river of my Twitter timeline – and it was for a lovely lady who makes brownies, owns two horses and lives on the Isle of Wight. Now what was her name? Ah yes! Anita from @saywithbrownies. So, thinking I’d offer my helpful recommendation to the original tweeter, I posted a response suggesting a lovely box of brownies would make a wonderful Valentines gift and that I was thinking of ordering one for hubby. I wasn’t, but I thought I should say I was!

Lo and behold the next minute I receive a Direct Message alert – this is all new to me having never received one before! It was from Anita. She wanted to thank me and offer me a sample box of brownies to try. Well, I was very touched and also a bit embarrassed. Perhaps it looked as though I was scrounging for some freebie brownies. I wasn’t, but maybe that’s how it came across and I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I replied and suggested that she was being too kind and that she really shouldn’t…. But in case she really did want to here was my address…. And I’m not fussy…. I like all flavours…. Digging myself deeper and deeper!

Two days later I returned home from work and waiting on the doorstep was a very inconspicuous looking parcel wrapped in brown paper. The first thing I noticed was how heavy it was, then I caught a slight hint of a chocolatey smell through the wrapping. It was my sample box of brownies! A bit large, I thought, for samples!

The unwrapping ceremony takes a while. I want to savour the moment.

The box which is revealed is stylish and understated. Wearing a satin blue ribbon like a pretty garter. Anita has handwritten a message hoping I enjoy her brownies….as if I wouldn’t!

Opening the box I find a block of chocolatey walnutty goodness, wrapped in tissue and nesting on a bed of shredded paper.

The rich sweet smell was intoxicating. Lightly dusted in icing sugar and scored to allow the recipient to cut the thick, dark, solid cake into 12 generous and uniform pieces.

I greedily serve myself two of the brownies on a plate…and one for hubby. Make a cup of coffee and retreat to the living room, mouth watering in anticipation of what I was about to do.

A few minutes later the evidence was clear. These were outstandingly delicious nuggets of rich chocolatey goodness. Very naughty and exceedingly nice at the same time.

Hubby never did receive a box of brownies for Valentines, but the postman has since delivered several boxes of Anita’s heavenly nuggets to our doorstep, where I squeal with delight when I notice the familiar neat brown wrapping.

They have become my guilty pleasure…and they should be yours too!!