A Dark Secret
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Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 200 g sugar
  • 25 g butter, melted
  • 140 g chopped dates
  • 50 g chopped walnuts*
  • 50g chopped hazelnuts
  • 50 g dark chocolate
  • 40 g flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 tbsp cocoa
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

* The original recipe has only walnuts, but I prefer to add a few toasted hazelnuts. Your choice.

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 25 g butter, melted
  • 1 cup chopped dates
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts*
  • ½ cup chopped hazelnuts
  • ½ cup dark chocolate
  • 4 tbsp flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 tbsp cocoa
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

* The original recipe has only walnuts, but I prefer to add a few toasted hazelnuts. Your choice.

A Dark Secret

Chocolate Brownies seem to have arrived in New Zealand after the Second World War, so this unusual 1935 recipe is unlikely to have American antecedents; yet friends who have tried the slightly chewy, spicy, nutty squares have commented that they are reminiscent both of brownies and of Italian panforte. I have a soft spot for oddly named recipes and this is a favourite. It is a small and perfect little morsel to serve after dinner or with morning coffee. A Dark Secret which keeps very well.

Getting ready

Preheat the oven to 290º F / 140º C. Grease a shallow 7 in / 18 cm square tin and line the base and two sides with a piece of baking paper. Bring the eggs to room temperature. Sift together the dry ingredients. Chop the chocolate.

Mixing and baking

  1. Whisk together the sugar and eggs until they are pale and fluffy. This will take about a minute with an electric beater, and about 2 minutes with a handheld rotary whisk.
  2. Fold in the melted butter and then add the finely chopped dates, nuts, chocolate and the dry ingredients.
  3. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin – it should be about 1 inch / 26mm deep. Bake for 1½ hours, or until the top is dry, but the cake is still soft to the touch.
  4. Cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before turning out of the tin onto a board.
  5. Remove the baking paper, cut the cake into cubes while it is still warm and roll them in sifted icing sugar. The edges of the cubes will be sticky and the icing sugar should adhere fairly evenly. Makes about 49 pieces. Store airtight.