Best brownies in East Dulwich

[Smiler]

Have recently eaten a very large number of brownies in ED, which can be soooooo good or a sad let down with follow-up guilt. Since it is vital to get your money and calories' worth, I thought would share my findings on these and other sweet baked goods.

ED deli: my favourite, very chocolaty indeed, but too rich for some. Also do excellent carrot cake.

Bakery stall on Northcross Road on Fridays and Saturdays: very nice and also large, big enough to share. Flapjack things also delicious.

Green and Blue: bit disappointing, dry and not enough chocolate. But like some of their other cakes.

Bakery stall outside Moxons: terrible, taste of wholemeal and damp breadcrumbs: wholesomeness in a brownie is not good. Likewise their fairy cakes which am sure must have been made with lentils.

The Cheese Block sometimes has nice meringues, v.good with whipped cream and any kind of fruit.

Couldn't believe how many cupcake stalls were open last Saturday, but not complaining!

[aliceb]

If you really want brownies, it has to be Flour Power City Bakery at the Peckham Farmer's market on a sunday morning! Though I think they've gone downhill in the last year - too dry.

I tend to make my own though. After many years of experimenting, I go for Jamie Oliver's recipe (on his website) but with a LOT less sugar and a bit more cocoa, substituting for some of the flour (I like them chocolate-y). I also do them milk-free, but that's a personal lack of lactase thing.

[nancysmum]

I'm with smiler - east dulwich deli brownies all the way. Cut them up really thinly and eat them slice by slice. That way, you get more air on the surface area and so the chocolate flavour really comes out. Also, the pleasure lasts longer! We had one last night - better than sex!

[veryseriousgirl]

You've left out the controversially priced but incredibly delicious Franklin's shop brownies.

Mmm...

[Michael Palaeologus]

I like Brownies but couldnt eat a whole one.

Rainbows I find are tender but lack taste.

Guides are just tough and stringy.

Give me a lightly poached member of the Boys Brigade any day, with fennel.

[carolyn]

don't forget cafe 2050! it is my not so humble belief that they make the finest brownies in all the land

[Brendan]

My wife makes the best brownies in ED, London, Europe and the universe.

And no I?m not sharing.

Sod off!

[lozzyloz]

To earn extra brownie points from Mrs Lozzyloz I buy her the Brownies from Romeo Jones in the Village. They really are excellent.

[Coach Beth]

ED Deli Brownies - so fantastic - so rich and chocolately - almost like fudge. yummmy. Not hard and crusty - yuck. I do like the Bluebird Bakery ones as well - not as much as the ED Deli brownies though!

[Pickle]

I agree with Carolyn - Cafe 2050's brownies are fantastic. I was an addict, but started to look more pregnant than when I was pregnant so have had to give them up for now. Might get myself one on Friday though, this thread has got me wanting one!

Close second (in my opinion) are the ones from the stall outside Moxons.

[nancysmum]

where is cafe 2050?

[Cassius]

Any Brownies that will clean my windows for less than a tenner will be the best in ED.

[boosboss]

Cafe 2050 is on Forest Hill Rd. A few doors along from the CO-OP. And I agree thier brownies are delicious

[Fudge]

How strange - my husband and I have also been doing a little chocolate brownie tasting test and we can also confirm that East Dulwich Deli wins the prize hands down. I even told them that last week !

Added to the list we have also tried Blackbird Bakery - but dry and less chocolate than ED Deli.

And if you are bored with chocolate brownies the other cakes in the deli are also very nice

[Jimbob]

I think the 1st Lordship Lane Bugaboo Pack are the best Brownies in East Dulwich.

[carolyn]

off topic, i know, but it also bears mentioning that cafe 2050 has amazing rice krispie cakes. sometimes i tell myself they are okay to have for breakfast because they are made of cereal

[ralphation]

Franklin's brownies only taste of treacle.

The problem with ED Deli is that you have to engage with the ED Deli staff to buy them. The brownies may be sweet but the experience is bitter. I've never been served with a smile in there. Last time I was in, thinking surely this time they'll be polite seeing as how the shop is empty and all, I was 2p short of the money I needed. Admittedly this was my fault having read the wrong price label. However, I asked if, rather than go all the way to the cash machine, would they be willing to do me a favour and let me off the 2p. The jobsworth said she had to check with her boss. The boss sort of flung his arms around in the air like I'd forced him into selling the whole business for a tenner and the jobsworth came back telling me it would be fine but "only as a one off" (which was delivered in a stern schoomasterly tone). As if this was likely to lead to me coming in everyday and haggling them down 2p on every purchase I made citing precedent.

Anyway, back to brownies. My flatmate and I have recently experimented with making brownies and finding the easiest, quickest and tastiest recipe possible. We have found a few good ones that taste way better than Franklin's, cost bugger all to make and take, from going to the cupboard to turning off the oven, less than half an hour craft. As such, all other brownies just seem like a massive waste of money.

[wee quinnie]

I had a very nice brownie from the new cake lady outside The Cheese Block last week - the downside is she is only there on a Saturday. She also does a first class coffee slice.

It must be said - although there ED does seem to have a cut throat fancy cake industry - there is a lot of so-so cake out there. And I should know - I pride myself on eating a lot of cake!

[Smiler]

Ooooh, many more places to try, fab!

I feel it is worth braving rude staff for quality brownies, though it seems very wrong that people who sell sweet goodies should be sour-faced and quibbling over tuppence. They should all be smiley and pink-cheeked with bosomy aprons, urging you to have some more because you're looking too thin.

Ralphation and Brendan, how about sharing those recipes? Though am not finding that baking is money-saving: am making a lovely chocolate mud cake for my brother in law's birthday and the ingredients have cost at least ?10, 100g of 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate is ?1.68 in Somerfield, and caster sugar ?1.99. Am bound to destroy kitchen, get really knackered and frazzled trying to bake cake / get baby to bed / be general domestic goddess and end up rowing with my husband: should just stick to buying brownies really.

[Keef]

Mrs Mockney Piers makes a fine brownie, not that I got much of it by the time I got to the cricket.

[lozzyloz]

Landcroft House Brownie Recipe

[aliceb]

Yes, making your own cake can often be more expensive, but brownies should work out as less than ?1.50 a slice (or whatever the standard ED price is). Brownies often last reasonably well (if you let them) and most versions improve if you leave them a day or so.

As well as Jamie's, I can also recommend this and this, from over the pond. Nigella's one in How to Eat is good too, as is her (very sweet) blonde brownie recipe. My flatmates all liked the batch I did from the Rose Bakery book, though I found it too eggy - like a chocolate omelette.

Generally, I find too much sugar goes against the chocolate taste, and so always decrease the sugar (sometimes by two thirds), but that's a taste issue. I also tend to increase the cocoa suggested and prefer dark sugars which give a fudgey taste, though I generally just use whatever is in the cupboard. My brother always demands a chopped up Mars Bar added to the mix - this is sticky, but very, very wonderful. Most recipes work fine with soya-based marg substituted for butter (for dairy-free people), though use about a fifth less of the stuff as marg seems to go further. You use so little flour for a good brownie, gluten-free versions tend to taste fine. Do use good chocolate though, and melt it slowly. To keep ED-specific, SMBS often have the Green & Blacks cooking chocolate, which melts beautifully.

A good brownie does need eggs, though there are options for the vegans...

This blogger has hosted a few brownie 'roundups' (see sidebar) which links to a loads of brownie recipes - worth a look just for a drool. I'm thinking of trying spinach brownies for halloween.

[redjam]

Bakery stall outside Moxons: terrible, taste of wholemeal and damp breadcrumbs: wholesomeness in a brownie is not good. Likewise their fairy cakes which am sure must have been made with lentils.

Glad I'm not the only one to find their fairy cakes deeply joyless - even the kids wouldn't eat them after the first bite! Franklins' ones are much nicer.

[andypandy]

Stirling work from aliceb... now onto serious stuff

Looby-loo is currently away with the kids. I have some carrots, a pack of feta cheese, some cheddar, a cauliflower an bit of bacon, and several thousand pints of milk in the fridge (LL forgot to cancel milk delivery). What shall I cook tonight? Meal for one, can't be too arsed but the take-aways are killing me.

Please post suitable options

Thanking you kindly in advance

AP

[Izodia]

Personally I'd make a cauliflower cheese. But fry up the bacon first and add that in too. Not sure how to incorporate the carrots and feta cheese...maybe have the carrots on the side?