You will need
2 extra large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup (125 ml) canola or sunflower oil
¼ cup (60 ml) melted butter
½ cup (125 ml) full cream milk
1 x 550 g Ina Paarman’s Chocolate Brownie Mix
90 g dark Albany eating chocolate
¼ cup (60 ml) fresh whipping cream
2 red roses and silver balls
cocoa powder
Place a little cocoa powder in a small strainer or in a sugar dredger and gently sift over the plate. Test on a piece of paper first, to get the rhythm right.
Method
Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare a swissroll pan (25 cm x 36 cm) by lining the base of the pan with buttered baking paper. Beat eggs, oil and melted butter for 2 minutes on high speed until well blended. Add milk and beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Add Brownie Mix and chocolate chips (included with Brownie Mix) and fold in carefully with a spatula. Blend until just combined – do not beat. Mixing by hand gives the best result. Scrape mixture into the prepared swissroll pan.
Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Brownies are done when the cake pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan. Leave to cool down completely.
Warm the cream, remove from heat, add chocolate blocks and leave to melt. Stir until uniformly blended. Leave to cool and thicken.
Use heart shaped cookie cutters to cut out hearts, big and small. Spread the ganache over the hearts. Sprinkle with silver balls. Dust the plate with cocoa powder and garnish with a red rose.
Edible flowers
Cornflower (Taste: sweet to spicey, clove-like)
Impatiens (Taste: very bland, nondescript flavour)
Lavender (Taste: floral, slightly perfumey flavour)
Rose (Taste: sweet, aromatic flavour)
