This is a very popular recipe, as if you Google “Santa hat brownies” you will find loads of people who have made them. I chose to use Gary Mehigans Triple Chocolate Brownie recipe, but as a I had some Mars Bars in the cupboard because I was originally going to do Mars Bar Slice Presents, I added these as well.
Storing Strawberries
If you are buying your strawberries in advance, you need to store them very well to ensure they don’t spoil within a couple of days. First, get a nice big Tupperware/airtight plastic container, preferably one that is not much higher than the strawberries. Lay down a couple of sheets of paper towel and place the strawberries stem side down in a single layer. DON’T wash your strawberries first or hull them – you can do this when you are ready to use them. Also, if you put a strawberry in there that is already starting to go off, it will like spoil the rest very quickly, so keep any iffy ones out and eat them instead. Cover your layer of strawberries with more paper towel, close the lid tightly and place in the fridge. They should last a week if you have bought them fresh from the markets, or 3-4 days if from a supermarket. You can also do this for any other berry to keep them fresh.
So here is the recipe for Triple Chocolate Mars Bar Brownies!
- 150g unsalted butter, chopped
- 150g dark chocolate, finely chopped
- plus an extra 150g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 Mars Bars, roughly chopped
- 100g milk chocolate, roughly chopped
- 100g white chocolate, roughly chopped
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 330g brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 150g (1 cup) self raising flour
- 1 cup heavy or thickened cream (must be full fat for it to whip)
- 12-20 strawberries, tops cut off to leave a flat bottom
- You also need a small 1 inch cutter and a piping bag with star shaped or round nozzle for this recipe.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease and line a 20cm x 30cm (approx 8 x 12 inches) slice pan.
Place butter, finely chopped dark chocolate and tablespoons of water in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat for 3 minutes or until melted, then transfer to a bowl. Whisk in eggs, sugar and vanilla.
Sift in flour, then fold in the remaining chocolate and Mars Bar pieces. Spoon batter into pan and then bake for 35 minutes, or until firm around the edges but soft in the centre.
Tip: I used a slice pan that might have been a bit too small, so the mixture filled it right to the top. I knew these were going to rise a little bit so I put a large tray underneath to catch and drips and save bits burning onto my oven. Although I did get a bit of molten chocolate eruption, those bits were soooo chewy and delicious that I just ripped them off while there was still baking time left to go and had a cook’s treat while I was waiting. 🙂
Cool for 10 minutes, then refrigerate for 2 hours or until chilled.
Cut the brownie into small rounds using your cutter and place on a plate. Whip the cream (add some extra vanilla if you like) and place it in the piping bag. Pipe a circle around the edge of the brownie to create the bottom fluff of the Santa hat. Place the strawberry on top, then pipe a small bit of cream on top to make the pom pom.
Next time I’ll spend more time on my piping, as I was in such a rush to get everything done on Christmas day that it really left a lot to be desired.
