Chocolate Brownie Christmas Trees

With so much festive food in the stores ready for Christmas it's a pretty good time to indulge; you can always think about the calories in the New Year!

The Mini Mes have their end of term parties this week before they break up for the holiday so we have been making some treats of our own too. I'd normally pop to the shop and purchase some fruit, crisps and a few other nibbles for all of the children at school quickly but thanks to shopping online with PayPal this year I seem to be really organised. I have a lot more spare time to do some baking, something that I really enjoy and the Mini Mes do too, snuggle up to watch some Christmas movies and do some Christmas crafts. 

Brownie Hearts with Raspberry Filling

We are definitely a family that loves sweet treats and baking so I regularly make brownies for the Mini Mes' lunch boxes or just as a dessert served warm with ice cream. With Valentine's Day just around the corner I thought I'd make a batch that are ideal to give as a gift or to share with loved ones - heart shaped with a delicious pink centre!

Ingredients (makes around 12 bites)

For the brownies
180g butter
100g chocolate (we use milk or dark)
270g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
80g plain flour
40g cocoa

For the filling
55g butter
150g raspberries
300g icing sugar


Method

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
• Line an ovenproof dish (9" by 12" approx.)
• Melt the dark/milk chocolate with the butter over a low heat. Alternatively microwave for 1 minute, check, and continue to microwave for 30 second intervals until melted. Leave to cool slightly
• Cream the eggs and sugar together in a bowl and then add in the flour and cocoa
• Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and mix well
• Pour into the lined tray and cook for 25-28 minutes until crisp on the top (the edges should be browned) but still slightly gooey inside. Use a skewer to check the consistency. It should be sticky/moist but not runny. It will set slightly harder as it cools
• Once cold, use a heart shaped cutter, cut out pieces of the brownie and place them onto a plate, crisp side down so they don't stick

• Heat the raspberries in a pan until they become a sauce then sieve to remove the seeds and allow to cool
• Mix the butter with the icing sugar and mix in the raspberry sauce
• Put the filling into a piping bag and add on top of half of the hearts
• Add another heart on top to make the bites and pop in the fridge for an hour to set

Scoff!


*For an alternative, drizzle the raspberry sauce over the top of each heart*