Banana, chocolate & pecan brownie

I still remember the first time I ever made a chocolate brownie. It was actually not of my own accord, but an assignment we got from our English teacher. So homework could be fun after all!
That day, I made it home in record time, not wasting any time chatting to friends or eyeing up the cute guy waiting on the opposite side of the tramway station (unobtainable because he was much older and I was probably up against at least 100 other contenders - not to speak of my unbearable looks: a teenager in the 80s, legwarmers, net T-Shirts and all not to speak of my teeth studded with braces... a combination that is bound to scare away even the most desparate guy!) Nothing could distract me that day, though, and I was home in a flash and straight into the kitchen.
While I was busying myself getting all the ingredients together, my Mum was studying the recipe - breaking out in a sweat at the mere thought of it.
You see, if you've been brought up eating and baking Austrian patisserie, you would never believe the proportions of ingredients in a brownie. Our cakes are all airy and fluffy, light on the butter (never, ever would we think of putting oil in a cake like that recipe indicated) and under no circumstances would you make a cake without separating the eggs and beating the whites so stiff that you can cut them with a knife! And hardly any flour? What kind of "Mehlspeise" should that be??? (Mehlspeise is the general term for all things sweet in the baking department - from danishes to cakes to elaborate patisserie and sweet dumplings and strudels, everything is a "Mehlspeise", which translates into "a dish made of flour"). So all this seemed entirely wrong but after a heated argument she just gave up... probably thinking that she wouldn't be the one who'd ruin her tastebuds with it ;-)
Despite my culinary heritage, I have come to love brownies - learning that not everything has to be light as a feather and experiencing the beauty of tons of butter, sugar, (whole) eggs and chocolate forming a heart-warming and satisfying union... forget about the flour! If you're going to consume your daily allowance of calories in one dish, you might as well do it in style!
This recipe is quickly becoming a staple in our family - I keep buying bananas which invariably ripen quicker than I want them to and the kids are funny about eating them once they sport the tiniest brown spots... so as soon as they do, we make this brownie and indulge, indulge, indulge...

Banana, chocolate & pecan brownie
(yields a 20 x 40 cm tray, or 12 generous slices)

250 g dark chocolate
250 g lightly salted butter
3 eggs
200 g caster sugar
2 bananas (peeled)
100 g pecan nuts
150 g self-raising flour

For the icing:
150 g dark chocolate
50 ml double cream
150 g white chocolate

Melt the dark chocolate with the butter in a non-stick saucepan and stir thoroughly until smooth. Leave to cool slightly.
In the meantime, preheat your oven to 180 C. Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and creamy. Mash the bananas and stir them into the egg mixture. Slowly add the chocolate, continuously whisking. Gradually incorporate the flour.
Chop the pecan nuts and fold into the batter.
Line your baking tray with a re-usable non-stick baking mat (or baking paper), pour in the dough and spread evenly.
Put into the pre-heated oven and bake for 20 minutes. The cake should be very moist, but not underdone.

Leave to cool before decorating. Heat the dark chocolate and cream, as well as the white chocolate (separately) in a bain marie. Transfer into a squeeze bottle (alternatively use a plastic bag, tied on top and one of the edges cut off to form a small piping bag, making sure that the opening is not too wide.)
Cut pieces of roughly 8 x 8 cm, then drizzle the brownies with the chocolate sauces in a criss-cross fashion. Leave the chocolate icing to set before serving the browie slices with vanilla icecream or whipped cream.

Comments

[Scott at RealEpicurean]

My wife just loves brownies. I've developed a sudden addiction to food blogging "memes", but didn't enter this one due to being a pastry novice.
I'll have to try this recipe in my own time, to try and win my Wife's affections!

[Jennifer Klinec - Eat Drink Talk]

What a nice idea! The bananas must keep the brownies really moist!

What kind of chocolate have you been using? I've recently been doing a bit of research into chocolate and discovered a brand called 'Amadei' from Italy which I think is pretty amazing! I've only been able to find it in the Harvey Nichols Food hall but its worth seeking out. The story behind the company is an interesting one and they really put their hearts into producing really high-quality chocolate.

http://www.amedei.it/jspamedei/index.jsp

I sometimes put macadamia nuts in my brownies - they are massive but I like that big bit of crunch.

[Caryn]

Looks divine! Never thought of using banana in a brownie. For one that will make your mother even more afraid, try this one (yes, that is SIX whole eggs there!)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/102992

This is quite possibly one of the most decadent brownies ever.

[Simonetta Taccuso]

Ciao. From an Italian living in London (with a daughter) congrats for your amazing blog.
I'd love to link you to the San Lorenzo one which I've recently started to support.
Let me know if you agree. I hope you will.
Simonetta

[andreea]

oh my god they look delicious. absolute heaven. perfect for a rainy day in brussels

[Cindy]

Lots of calories, but gosh your brownies looks delicious !

[Mimine]

I'm french and I just discover your blog. It's very beautiful ! I want eat everything because everythings looks like so tasty ! Congratulation !

[Andrew]

Not a great fan of the yellow-ones I am afraid; but could I use pear in its place do you think?

[johanna]

jennifer, i used a simple meunier cooking chocolate, as this was the only thing I had at hand. I am pretty sure it will work with anything. i use valrhona when it matters and for those cakes which don't really live by the taste of the chocolate alone, i will also use the regular supermarket cooking chocolate...
andrew, not sure about the pears, i can see it working with mushy stone fruit, but do let me know how it goes. if anything, maybe stew the pears a little before adding them to the dough to make them softer.

[johanna]

Merci bien, Mimine, je viens juste de regarder le tien, et - quelles tartes!!! Je vais surement essayer d'en faire moi-meme. Malheureusement, les prunes qu'on achete ici a londres ne sont pas aussi bonnes que sur le continent, j'ai un faible pour les quetches, moi, et ca ne se vend pas par ici.

[vijay]

Hi,
This is vijay.i have gone through this site it was excellent about Banana, chocolate & pecan brownie...i love it...we can gather good information about this....

[TsaraBe]

I've been craving fo banana chocolate brownie for days now. I'm gonna taste your recipe. It sounds wonderfully yummy!

[ksklein]

I made these brownies today and they are indeed very good.
Thanks for the recipe.