White chocolate brownies

I have a confession to make. As a food fan and somewhat professional binge eater, it’s a pretty surprising one. But here goes – I’m not a big fan of chocolate cake. I can’t exactly put my finger on why. I’m a mega chocolate fiend in every other sense, but I’ve had so many dry, dull and tasteless versions of it in cake form that it just doesn’t do it for me anymore. Offer me a slice of chocolate sponge or its vanilla equivalent, and I’ll take the vanilla every time. And until I adapted this recipe, that went for brownies too.

Now, I’ll probably get sued by M&S for saying this, but these are not just any brownies. They are decadent, chewy, sticky white chocolate brownies, and they taste totally different from any other version I’ve had before. This recipe is an experimental adaptation of this tried and tested BBC recipe, and trust me when I say that there’s no lifeless cocoa crumbs leftover from these bad boys. I may just be a brownie convert after all.

White chocolate and peppermint snowflakes

It is much to my boyfriend’s eternal confusion that I adore the combination of mint and chocolate. He will never understand why I always ask for mint choc chip ice cream, the way that fudge chequered with green and brown makes my eyes widen with glee, how I can devour an entire box of mint chocolate Matchmakers in one sitting. Mint chocolate seems to have a bit of a Marmite syndrome going on – you either love it, or you think it’s vile and look upon your girlfriend with utter disgust when she licks the ice cream bowl clean. He may fall into the latter category, but I am definitely and eternally a member of the former.

These white chocolate peppermint snowflakes combine my favourite flavours in a way that a mint chocolate lover can only dream of – they are sweet, sticky, and so so simple to make. Whip up a batch and stack them in a cellophane bag – they make a lovely gift (for anyone who doesn’t retch at the thought of a peppermint cream).