I don’t like brownies and this dessert is not a brownie. Yes, it is named “Chocolate Cranberry Brownie” but it is somewhat different from the popular american sweet. I took advantage of the word “brownie” to give an idea of the consistency: very dense and full in chocolate. Since it doesn’t contain flour, is a dessert suitable for people who need to follow a celiac diet.

My recipe is a slightly modified version of an old traditional Neapolitan cake called “caprese”, a delicious dessert made with chocolate and almonds, externally crunchy and wet inside. It is easy and quick to prepare.

You can skip the typical steps typically necessary to bake a cake: no need to incorporate the flour, to mix the right quantity of yeast, to knead and wait for the rising.

You can keep your hands clean while making it (unless you want to lick your fingers).

I do not bake cakes very often here in London and I force myself to follow a diet low in sugar. I guess it’s because I’m a sugar addicted (!) and I need to contain my gluttony. Anyway this was a kind of half sin because of its reduced amount of sugar.

In this version of “caprese” I replaced the almonds with a fruity ingredient that can balance the otherwise too predominant chocolate flavour. I found out that cranberries are a perfect match, smoothing out the intense taste of this indulgent sweet thanks to the bitter and sour taste of the berries.

To make a simple and natural cranberry sauce just place the cranberries into a stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 10 – 15 mins.

Ingredients

4 eggs

300 g dark chocolate

50 g sugar

150 g unsalted butter

1 tbsp baking soda

200 g cranberry

Cut the dark chocolate in pieces and melt it in a pan on a low heat together with the butter. Stir continuously. When you get a smooth chocolate sauce, without lumps, turn the fire off and let cool down. In a bowl mix the egg yolks with sugar to get a creamy consistency. Keep the whites aside. When the chocolate sauce has reached the room temperature, add the yolks/sugar mixture to the chocolate. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites with a mixer till you get foam-like stiff texture. Now add the egg whites to the chocolate sauce gently stirring until you have a smooth mixture. Add the baking soda. Add some of your cranberry sauce and stir. Place on a baking tray and bake at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes. Serve with the remaining cranberry sauce.