I did a little bit of baking over the bank holiday weekend - on Saturday I made scones and then on Monday I made some brownies. Since the sun was shining so gloriously on Saturday, I thought it'd be rude not to sit out in the garden and partake in a cream tea - after all, the scones were still warm from the oven and I was a mere whisk of cream away from having all the necessary components. Admittedly, I could have done a bit better on the serving front, i.e. prettier plates and made use of a teapot, but I was that desperate to stuff my face (the most ladylike of terminology, I know) that a frantic fling of a paper doily was as much as I could muster when it came to dressing the table.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MlNSofkbU4TAELM1IYqhG-EOfp9fuL0GDfJxb0lhD5nZNxIDhGOjHfieqGoFEdH2-Un-P5557jijyT3EXuJw4eeQVchqrzSZWYUVpMDZ9YY2q70-oZ3sP6BbDg9dSXkmE4_6yVDYArua/s200/P1050410.JPG)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fH3TTapzzPqov6p_ucsrENpAyjX1CLYduTNMBN3Gce9kl-qXj1rU2L7HV7xDD5V4OPnPkkEPbxf82OV8wYpfJzp08NUys4V3yyTKY8J-aXoeWTBU_n-ydDbcp2XJdclbcoQe5_HcIU5B/s200/P1050411.JPG)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm1Vxfa83uC1qasM4wXaFhLtHIFdJCo78g8K8GI8DUlU9tn1bRGbTCbiMOtdB5ZOrl7T2ZWLBfpKmAlWkr0Mwi8f0b3S7ARtYkWHZoPPfrwXXNuzGsmmMlF-2uaHU3FKVNkEUkgLkAb77/s200/P1050414.JPG)
By Monday, all the scones were gawn. Well, by Sunday afternoon in fact, when I had another cream tea avec ma famille after a trip to the garden centre. So I fancied making something else, something devilishly chocolatey... Queue the entrance of
Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies. Mm hmm. I'd watched the lovely Lorraine Pascale make these beauties a while back on her BBC 2 show, and I happened across the recipe again whilst browsing through her book at a friend's house on Saturday. Now, the recipe says it makes sixteen brownies, but I got.. well, nine. I think this was purely down to how big I cut them, (3x3 as opposed to 4x4? I think that makes sense. My maths ain't all that) as I do like a generous slab of brownie. I also didn't have enough dark chocolate - recipe requires 200g but I only had a 100g bar (bright spark)... Fear not, this is the Peajeux house after all, and I was sure I could muster enough chocolate to make up the extra 100g. I snuffled out a 1/4 eaten 40g bar of the dark stuff and chopped up some fruit and nut to make up the rest. I was two squares over actually, which was fortunate, as I was on the verge of using some Easter egg - an incredibly distressing prospect.
Here's the chopped choc:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVVG6BcHlslISgjCZeZenSKNlQeJkBRATdtHnJgg6Vu4-C908_3naxQSAnzVoBEx_EU8ZOUpKPidcZP0JZaxJfOKFChyTIE3eUcyI218YbsXFYrBbcL0ntTHCVgoXzRWMilNpoK4NAKcV5/s200/P1050420.JPG)
The melted butter, just in case you can't imagine what melted butter looks like:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfLTQrBh9en0TISCAcd-fGyVBQnVG07iE1BXwCPMDC1qm_4scl6Fph1coCacwH1b0iYP1B5NiC3gHKxmYQTsIxRS34St_tpCzs0HWQEMDRHjti9llowvbGVK6z02pbij9B0GAyUSuH3BPi/s200/P1050422.JPG)
The chopped chocolate, added to the melted butter and the whisked eggs and sugar. Plus a wee bit of flour, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and possibly something else but I can't quite remember. Oh! Oreos, yes yes, some Oreos:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZT1NbaYCQVofMpT55jIOQlXCGS9W1OEuFBmuZD_D6xEmnD1W6f1uKLEP2c4MbdXKUf3ioYdOsjL7yoX9UHzCub6jM4YZTFl9_KLjMpO_xdvRZqFaaIYJtTo6u6u5lUTimOnRJf4caBLlL/s200/P1050423.JPG)
Pouring into the greased and lined baking tray:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKRmXxVNqz1oN8w-xX7xeVhzgwWMTurswoFoXQNLs7vvCNeHYYXFxU_JdFJt2Qnen3mR5vbxogHAqkXclTJLTwtJ6gYj_0sBJPrtI-Jnsns_UjSe7sVg8MdDiwOzHXkOkKYhnBaXRSAvAp/s200/P1050425.JPG)
The rest of the Oreos waiting patiently to be broken and scattered:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxumQNAPGfAAFySi9GPVrYJ0BVHepU-HUIeQjFlbIJIclK7gdEpHRQgDldmAajRwmWhTo2MSocUIBLQj58wq3cjD8LDwJZGOusaVZIsJacTojPK_VmNEPC9ireFZBgyDXtdLkrdUPBBJ2/s200/P1050424.JPG)
There they go:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4Lki0KVS-U-SaN5Nl5PzVRkOhsZF56Km3NEHtVitz6ND3rCN26TPzdjRs1it5_akzDuL_JJ3Pd5zYn9-eUDE1wCGscH34BLzhw4UNk2D9hIjyTrKmJQ5yNBQFAOBnb72GITS6Itv8JZd/s200/P1050427.JPG)
Close up. Mmm:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvv4yogvoOikH3-vCTaTTLY0H695DTB2-YridrVE9kUYQRkjJop1-B9XPsOcNlsp-_6cSmz7TA2kMeQ0uPPzj_wItNe87SsTsKugGvxBKsGv-4GVXKoO3oRMb__-sj68Of21NF2wVYL3sr/s200/P1050428.JPG)
Out of the oven, 25 minutes later:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSiLAct8An4ykoaIJERsce15IkREietTQs-ZgZ7tSsmiVietxE2GzKDYdXAHhpw9CcQSMoIlKqAaXLkPUHbHkoRngB0FYq6IclTlj1p70OgKts7VmdxpGtQ-snanilkO_tQOIhcC7kHFkv/s200/P1050430.JPG)
Cut into squares. Now honestly, 3x3 is way better than 4x4. (Excuse the blurriness, I think it was down to the excitement):
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqvIQVztMmHsumtsSB3w21LOsnzjAvRZ_q3ZQj-s99ixabylaldGNAhwUz6dMw1vF9rehp236YNxEU33WPlZNsHYeBm0ppCg86VHfaIwHbi1iR_AjasYxkxOPQYEtwW9ZOh1_dJaqhgSG/s200/P1050432.JPG)
And there we have it! Now I really should get back to updating this blog with drawings...