Salted Caramel Brownies

A few of the Filipino Care Staff leave the Nursing Home where I work on Saturday, and it seemed only right that I bake something nice to have with our morning cuppa on the day.  Truth be told, there’ll be quite a feast on the go with them bringing in a lot of delicious home-cooked Filipino classics such as Lumpia.  I’ve got savoury and sweet treats ready and prepared and, as always, I seem to have over-catered—better a feast than famine.

Initially, I was planning to bake a big, impressive-looking cake, and then I caught on to my stupidity.  The transportation alone would be enough to wreck my head. Then, it wouldn’t even be practical for us all to be eating slices of cake; sure the running of the Home won’t just stop, we need to be able to grab a bite and run. Although not, literally, I hope.

What could be better than brownie bites? Salted caramel brownie bites to be precise.

Salted caramel has continued to be extremely trendy.  Unlike many food trends, this one is really proving itself over the test of time.  And I love it.

Adding a bit of salt to something outrageously sweet makes it incredibly addictive. Nigella Lawson once claimed her favourite indulgence was a chocolate bar in one hand and a packet of crisps in the other.

In this bake, I’ve used salted butter in the brownie and added a little sea salt to the caramel, which is literally just swirled through the brownie mix before baking. The brackish hit is subtle but alluring.

And let me tell you, these are gorgeous. Moist, chocolatey goodness with just the right amount of gooeyness-to-cakeyness ratio with a sweet/salty tang. I defy anyone not to go for a second piece. Even those who consider brownies not to be their ‘thing’ will swoon over these.

I adapted a fabulous recipe for the Ultimate Brownies from Marian Keyes latest book Saved by Cake. Marian’s book is in a forthcoming post as I will be reviewing it.

Marian recommends the centre chunk of the brownies be given to someone special (i.e. the cook) as it is the very best bit. Me? I’d rather save one of the chewy corner pieces as the cooks treat. Which bit do you all prefer?

And, on that note, I’m off to eat my cooks treat alongside a nice cup of tea.