Chocolate Brownies

Those of you who are regular readers will know that I don't often do baking. This is mainly because I don't have the ingredients at home and the fact that I have difficulty following  a recipe to the letter. Indeed when I made these brownies I decided to add a bit of Vanessa. I decided to make these after finding a recipe in a supplement in the Telegraph, but an exact copy of the recipe can be found here. Instead of the white chocolate I added dried sour cherries as I love the combination of chocolate and cherries. I was slightly nervous as I would class myself as a baking novice, but these are incredibly easy if you follow the instructions carefully. The only difference I would make if I made them again is that I might use slightly less strong chocolate- I used one with 85% coco solids instead of the recommended 75%. This doesn't make then bad, it just makes them extremely rich, maybe too rich for some. But I will definitely make them again, probably around Christmas as they are perfect to offer to guests who have just popped in.
I would also add, in the reciepe it states to slice them into 16. I sliced mine into eight, a portion this size was just too big given how rich they are, also when it says leave to cool, as hard as this is to do, make sure that you do leave them to cool, they will taste so much nicer for it.

River Cottage Flapjacks

HI all,
Made these yesterday after my boyfriend saw them on River Cottage on Sunday night. I wasn't that keen on the look of them but decided that as I had nothing better to do, I may as well give it a go.
Well they were quite easy to make (I have the River Cottage Everyday Book), just a case of melting the wet ingredients, adding the dry ones then baking for half an hour. The smell whilst they were cooking was lovely so I couldn't wait to get them out and try them. When I took them out of the oven they were still quite soft, so I thought that I had done something wrong, but they do harden as they cool. (The instructions recommend that you don't try to cut them until they have cooled down completely). When they finally did cool down, I couldn't resist having a quick taste. They were really nice, quite sweet so could only manage one, but boyfriend has taken quite a few away on his trip. Will probably make these again at a later date.
9.5/10
p.s. unfortunately no photos as boyfriend has already gone with his. Take my word for it that they were extremely nice!!!!!!