Brownie sharing pudding

precision and grace at Roji (take 2), Nobody Wants This

Today’s recipe below: a brownie sharing pudding. This is definitely an alexcrumb Top 5. I am really obsessed.

Food news of the week:

I still maintain that some of the best brunch (and french toast) in London lives at Sunday. Think: well-saturated eggy slices, toffee-caramelised bananas, thick hollandaise on drooling eggs. Such a stark contrast to the much-hyped Brother Marcus, which also has runny eggs but their portions and variety don’t hold a candle to the Islington hotspot. Then there’s the newly opened Bao in Bloomberg Arcade, which does more large plates such as the chunky, sizzling garlic prawns exploding with bite (and brain). More on that next week. Finally, I was approached by an Elate Chocolate Dates salesman while on my way to WeWork, and the way they stuffed that dark chocolate date with the right type and amount of peanut butter got me hooked. They make for the most perfect gifts, and have a whole vegan range too.

the holy marriage of uni and otoro at Roji (episode 2), for this week’s review

Science of the week:

Being a female means a lot of things, and one of those things also happens to be timed gut care. During PMS, we are privy to experiencing exaggerated symptoms (bloating, constipation, mood swings) if we also are experiencing gut dysbiosis. It just means we have to take extra care of our guts during this time, specifically with probiotics and exercise, to reduce inflammation overall.

Insight of the week:

I’ve been watching Nobody Wants This, and it got me thinking about my own dating history with religious men. Focussing on the common ground that exists beyond religious labels with open communication has always been key to making those relationships really work. By respecting each other's beliefs and finding shared values like kindness, loyalty, and integrity, it becomes easier to navigate differences. Then again, what do I know!

Recipe of the week:

This is a cult alexcrumb favourite, and for good reason. So goddamn delicious, with pockets of melted chocolate everywhere, and it’s perfect for sharing. If you would rather have this as individual portions, you can still split the batter in a muffin tin, and cook it at the same temperature for 10-12 minutes. I had some extra batter left the first time I played around, so did that, and it turned out beautifully.

It’s muddy, gooey and all-round chocolatey. It takes 10 minutes tops to put together, and 20 to bake. You can prep the batter before guests come round for dinner, then put it in the oven just when dinner is about to wrap up!

Brownie Sharing Pudding (serves 6-8)

Ingredients

115g salted butter, melted (add 1 tsp of fine salt to the wet mixture if you only have unsalted butter)

100g brown sugar

100g white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

60g plain flour

55g cocoa powder

90-100g roughly chopped dark chocolate, or you can use a mixture of chocolates (e.g. dark and white)

Directions