Halloween Brownies with White Chocolate Spider Web
- Sweet
- Oven
Dense, fudgy brownies with a dark chocolate crumb and a glossy white chocolate spider web piped across the top. A simple Halloween bake made in one bowl and finished in the oven.
- Total
- 80 min
- Prep 20 · Cook 40 · Rest 20
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Folding · Whisking
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 175°C. Line a 20 cm square baking tin with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides.
~5 min
-
Break 150 g dark chocolate into pieces and put it in a heatproof bowl with 120 g butter. Set the bowl over a pan of just-simmered water, or melt in short bursts in the oven, until both are fully melted and smooth. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
~5 min
Gentle indirect heat melts chocolate without scorching; cooling slightly prevents the chocolate from cooking the eggs when combined.
-
Whisk 2 eggs with 120 g sugar and 0.25 tsp salt for 2 minutes, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture looks slightly pale. Whisk in the melted dark chocolate and butter until glossy.
~2 min
Whisking dissolves sugar and adds air for a slight lift; the glossy emulsion ensures a smooth, even batter.
Whisking Whisk briskly for the full 2 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the mixture pales slightly; this incorporates air for a lighter texture.
-
Sift 70 g flour over the batter and fold gently with a spatula until just combined, with no dry streaks. Scrape into the lined tin and smooth the top.
~3 min
Folding gently avoids overworking the gluten, which would make the brownies tough rather than fudgy.
Folding Use a spatula to gently lift and turn the batter, stopping as soon as no dry streaks remain; overmixing develops gluten and makes brownies tough.
-
Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the edges are set and a toothpick inserted 3 cm from the edge comes out with moist crumbs, not wet batter. The centre should still feel soft.
~25 min
Residual heat continues cooking the centre after removal, so pulling it while still soft ensures a fudgy texture.
Stop baking as soon as the centre wobbles faintly; residual heat sets it to a fudgy texture as it cools.
-
While step 5 cooks
While the brownies cool, melt 50 g white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water or in the warm oven, then spoon it into a small piping bag.
~5 min
White chocolate scorches easily; barely simmering water or a warm oven provides gentle, indirect heat.
-
Let the brownies cool in the tin for 20 minutes. Snip a tiny corner from the piping bag and pipe a spiral of white chocolate from the centre outward. Drag a toothpick from the centre to the edge through the lines, eight times around, to pull the web shape.
~20 min
Dragging while the chocolate is still fluid creates clean lines; cooling slightly prevents the web from melting into the brownie.
Pull the toothpick through the white chocolate while both the web and the brownie top are still slightly warm, so the lines stay clean instead of cracking.
-
Leave the web to set for 20 minutes, then lift the brownies out using the parchment overhang and cut into 9 squares with a warm knife.
~20 min
A warm knife glides through the chocolate and fudgy crumb without tearing or cracking the web.
