Makes 16 in 20 x 20 tin

Ingredients

Muscovado shortbread

• 80g ground almonds
• 60g rice flour
• 100g dark muscovado sugar
• liqueur
• 70g coldsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Brownie

• 200g dark chocolate (70%cocoa solids)
• 130g salted butter,softened
• 2 large eggs
• 170g light muscovado sugar
• 4 tsp very strong cold coffee or coffee (2 heaped tsp instant coffee and 2 Tbsp water, stirred well)
• 90g teff/Buckwheat flour
• 1tsp gluten free baking powder
• 90g 85% chocolate cut into chunks
• 75g Walnuts
• 75g Sour Cherries

Method

• Preheat the oven to 190°C/Fan 170°C/Gas 5. Line the tin with baking parchment.
• Shortbread –
• Put the ground almonds, rice flour and sugar into a bowl and rub in the butter using your fingertips, until you have rough crumbs. Sprinkle in the Vanilla and toss with your fingers to incorporate. Tip the mixture into the lined tin and press into an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.
• Brownie –
• Break the dark chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the bowl is not in contact with the water, and allow to melt. Take off the heat when it is almost fully melted and stir well. Optional – Scoop out 2 tbsp into a little bowl and set aside for the decoration. Add the butter to the rest of the chocolate and set aside until it has melted.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and coffee together, using an electric hand whisk or balloon whisk, until thickened and slightly lighter in colour (about1 minute with an electric whisk, 2-3 minutes by hand). Add a little of the melted chocolate and beat with the whisk until it becomes glossy again, Repeat until all the chocolate is incorporated and the mixture is thick and glossy.
• Sift the flour and baking powder together over the chocolate mixture and then beat it until evenly combined and the mixture is smooth.
• Add the chocolate, sour cherries and walnuts if using and mix well to combine.
• Pour the mixture over the shortbread in the tin.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes (This was about 31 mins in Andy’s fan oven at 1700C) or until risen and fairly firm, and a skewer inserted into the centre brings out a little gooey crumb with it rather than uncooked mixture. Check after 25 minutes and err on the side of undercooking to get a truffley, dense brownie once chilled.  If you prefer a cakey brownie, give it the full 40 minutes, but check 5 minutes before the end. Leave to cool in the tin for at least an hour.
• Re-melt the reserved chocolate in a microwave or as above and drizzle decoratively over the top of the brownie. Leave for at least another couple of hours, to allow the brownies to set. Serve cut into squares -warmed, at room temperature or chilled. The brownies will keep for a week in an airtight container.