I am not usually a huge fan of brownies, but one of the girls in my Mummies Grroup made these last week for morning tea, and OH MY GOD...............I had one "to be polite" and nearly swooned with delight...they are fantastic...one of the others Mum's came out with......"Wow, these are better than sex.........." so I reckon they must be pretty good.

Perfect Chocolate Brownies

(Makes 15 small squares)

350g (2 ⅓ cups) dark chocolate, broken into pieces
250g (1 generous cup) butter
50g (½ cup) plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 medium eggs, beaten
250g (1¼ cups) soft brown sugar
175g (1¾ cups) pecan nuts, roughly chopped

~ Preheat the oven to 170° C, (150-160 °C fan forced).
~ Grease a baking tray measuring 29 x 18.5cm and at least 5cm deep. Line the base with greased greaseproof paper.
~ Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. ~ Once melted, remove from the pan and allow to cool slightly.
~ Sift the flour and baking powder onto a plate.
~ Whisk the eggs until thick and creamy, then gradually whisk in the sugar. (Use an electric mixer fitted with a balloon whisk or an electric handwhisk) The egg mixture will become really thick and mousse-like and a thick trail will be left on the surface when the beaters are lifted.
~ Gradually fold in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture in stages, alternating with the flour.
~ Fold in the nuts.
~ Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is cracked and the centre is just firm to the touch. (The brownies should not be of a crumbly consistency like a cake at any time).
~Leave to cool in the tin.
~Cut the brownies into squares in the tin before turning them out onto a board. Turn the brownies the correct way up. Serve warm or cold.
~Shovel into mouth in large quantities!