The very first thing I ever baked as a child was brownies. Mam had gotten the latest gadget in the kitchen at the time: a microwave oven. I can't remember which brand it was but I do remember it was a huge yoke and it came with a recipe booklet. We were all so excited about the oven (don't laugh, this is probably 1981 and the thing could cook/heat food in minutes!). The booklet had a recipe for brownies and although both, booklet and microwave oven are long gone, the brownie recipe remains my favorite. They are the quickest, nicest and most wonderful of desserts: you can serve them hot with ice-cream or let them cool and cut them in little fingers and eat them throughout the day (as the other half often does). They don't last long, two days max, but that's never a problem in my household as they never see the light of the next day!
Over time, I have tweaked the recipe and added flavour to it, but I'm convinced the original recipe was American hence the cup measurements. I usually prepare all the ingredients in advance, have them measured and mixed and just pop them in the microwave about 10 minutes before I need to serve them. I made these for my friends Lynn & John, who are visiting from England and will drop for a short visit later on today. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
These brownies are yummy, really easy and so quick to make. No excuses now, you can have these babies done in 15 minutes tops!
Melt the butter in the microwave in a medium size bowl. Add the sugar and mix with a spatula well. Set aside to let it cool.
In the meantime, generously butter a glass Pyrex dish (you can also use a silicon mold), any shape you want (I use a square one) just make sure that it fits in your microwave.
In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and vanilla essence with a fork or a little hand whisk and set aside.
Sieve all the dry ingredients and leave to the side; by now the buttery sugar mix should be cool enough to work with it.
Take the buttery sugar mix and add the whisked eggs & vanilla and mix with a spatula or spoon. Add the dry ingredients and combine everything into a very sticky and heavy batter, (don't worry that's how it should be). Add the cherries and pecan nuts and give it another stir. Pour the mixture into the buttered dish. At this point the brownies are ready to be cooked.
Cook them uncovered in the microwave on high for 8 to 9 minutes. The mix should be fully cooked, firm but a little sticky on the top. The microwave cooks from the rim in, so the center will always be the bit that cooks last. Leave them rest for one minute inside the microwave. Take the dish out and let it rest for at least 5 more minutes before you cut them out and serve them.
When I'm using the brownies as the dessert for a meal, I prepare the mix and leave them inside the microwave until the main course is served. Halfway into the main course I sneak back into the kitchen and press the start button on the microwave.
