Cuisine – New Year resolution

Happy New Year! Now, how many of you made the “lose weight and get fit” resolution, again? If so, then you are probably not going to want to see the delightful brownie recipe below. Then again, how many of you will fulfil that resolution? Will the temptation of something like this brownie make you just give up and throw it all out the window?

It shouldn’t. Enjoying a decadent treat should not make you feel guilty or stop you from making an effort to eat and exercise well. You just need to remember that something as sweet and rich as this brownie is a treat – you only need to indulge on occasion.

As long as every day you eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, with quality wholegrains and fats, keep hydrated and include at least 30 minutes of exercise, you should fulfil the “lose weight and get fit” resolution (yes, there are always exceptions to the rules so for some, extra effort is required). Forget about quick-fix diet hype and remember that we are in this for life so we might as well eat cake and enjoy it! Maybe that could be your new resolution – eat for life and enjoy it.

You may note that this recipe is gluten-free and that is because those of us who have to live that way like cake as well. Also, these days pretty much everyone knows someone who is gluten-free and this is so simple to make that you can easily treat your gluten-free friends too.

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Chocolate Raspberry Brownie

• 100g butter or margarine
• 225g sugar
• 50g cocoa
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 55g self-raising gluten-free flour mix • ¼ cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC and line a 20x20cm square oven dish with baking paper.

2. Place the butter/margarine, sugar and cocoa in a medium-sized pot and heat until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and beat in the eggs and vanilla essence. Stir in the flour and then gently stir in the raspberries.

3. Pour the mixture into the prepared oven dish and bake at 180oC for 25-30 minutes until the brownie bounces back when gently pressed. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin.

Delicious served as a dessert with ice cream and extra raspberries.