Brownie Birthday Cake

Our answer

Nigella's Brownies (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) are also known as Birthday Brownies as they are wonderful piled up and adorned with candles for a birthday celebration. This would be our preferred way to serve the brownies as a birthday treat.

The brownies are cooked in a large rectangular tin, approximately 33 x 23 x 5.5cm. In theory this should be enough batter for two cake tins with a diameter of 20cm, as long as they have a depth of at least 5cm. Brownies don't rise that much but the layer of batter in the tin is deeper than for a sponge cake. The brownie batter is fairly thick so you should be able to use loose-bottomed sandwich tins (if you have this type), but you may want to put the tins on baking sheets to catch any potential drips. And make sure that the tins are base lined with baking parchment (parchment paper) and that the sides are greased with butter or non-stick baking spray. You need to watch the baking time very carefully as the mixture will cook far more quickly in smaller tins, and we would suggest taking a look after 15 minutes. A cake tester inserted into the centre should come out with damp crumbs attached. Turn the layers out of the tins carefully and try to support the bases of the layers as much as possible. We would however mention that as we have not tried Nigella's Brownies in this form, we are unable to guarantee the results.