Freezing Flourless Chocolate Brownies

Our answer

Nigella's Flourless Chocolate Brownies With Hot Chocolate Sauce recipe (from Nigella Express and on the Nigella website) is made with ground almonds instead of flour and yields a very rich, damp brownie. It is baked in a 23cm (9 inch) square dish which is fairly large and baking from frozen can be a little tricky as you would need to bake at a lower temperature for a longer time to ensure that the edges of the brownie do not over-cook while the centre remains frozen.

As the brownie mixture does not contain any baking powder it is probably possible to make up the mixture, put it in the pan, wrap tightly and freeze, then thaw the mixture overnight in the fridge and then let it come up to room temperature before baking (take it out for the fridge about 40 minutes before baking if using a metal or foil pan). However we have not tried this method so regret that we cannot guarantee the results. Wrap the pan in a double layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and a layer of foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Alternatively the baked brownies can be frozen. Let the brownies cool completely, cut up and wrap each one individually in clingfilm. Stack carefully in airtight containers and freeze for up to 1 month. To thaw, unwrap the individual brownies and put on plates then leave at room tempertaure for about 2 hours, so that they thaw and also come up too room temperature before serving.