The season of love offers a swell op to whip up some delicious Fudgy Brownies at home.

Fudgy in the middle, chewy around the edges, these brownies are made with absolutely no leavening agents.

Garnish them with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, fresh strawberries, chocolate sauce or just have them plain -- they are sure to leave your date asking for more.

Fudgy Brownies

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 150 gm semi-sweet chocolate (I prefer Amul chocolate 75 per cent cocoa)
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup granulated or castor sugar (a kind of finer sugar manufactured by top baking brands)
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup maida or all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant 100 per cent coffee powder, no chicory
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla essence, no artificial flavouring
• ¼ tsp salt

Method

• Chop the chocolate uniformly into chunks.
  Using the double broiler method or the microwave, melt the chocolate and the butter together.
  Whip to mix and let it cool.
  Keep aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs.
  Mix in the sugar and the vanilla essence.
  Beat together until the mixture becomes fluffy and it colour lightens.
  Whisk in the melted chocolate-butter mixture.
  Now sift in the flour, cocoa powder, coffee powder and the salt.
  Mix with a spatula until just combined.
  Be careful not to overmix.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C and line an 8-inch by 8-inch squarebaking dish with parchment paper.
  Transfer the batter into the prepared baking pan.
  Bake for about 25 minutes depending on how fudgy you like your brownies, ideally they should be fudgy and moist.
  Let the brownies cool in the pan before slicing it into clean cut squares.
  Garnish with any topping of your choice and serve warm.

Mayur's Note: If you use salted butter, do not use salt.

Regular white sugar can be used if you can't find brown sugar and granulated sugar.

You can also substitute vegetable oil in place of the butter. The quantity will remain the same.

Toppings can run to Gems or M&Ms, fresh fruit, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, chocolate icing, liquor.

For vegan brownies, substitute the eggs with 2 tbsp ground flaxseed and 6 tbsp water.

WATCH: Mayur's simple tips to garnish your brownies.
Video by Afsar Dayatar/Rediff.com