Lauden Chocolate Brownies
Leeds-based Lauden Chocolate have long been one of my favourite chocolatiers. Their beautifully distinctive chocolates are packed with fresh, zingy flavours always leave me wanting more.
These brownies have a lot to live up to though. I first heard about them well over a year ago when Lauden owners Sun and Steven Trigg told me they had made the most amazing brownies, but lost the recipe! Since then, they have been on a quest to recreate that mythical brownie.
Luckily for us brownie lovers, they seem to have succeeded and I was given this box to try at The Chocolate Show last weekend.
The box contains four small brownies. It’s an unusual format that works well for me. Each brownie is just enough to satisfy a chocolate craving without overindulging. They’re great for sharing or simply for pacing yourself. One little brownie makes the perfect afternoon pick-me-up.
Of course, the only things that really matter with a brownie are texture and flavour. The Lauden brownie is light in texture, but rich and chocolatey in flavour with plenty of chunky chocolate chips thrown in for good measure. It’s not particularly moist or dense (it’s certainly nothing like Paul A Young’s chocolate brownie) but it’s not too cakey either. For me, it’s a traditional, expertly made and extremely satisfying brownie.
I loved Lauden’s brownies, but experience has shown brownies are a very personal thing and everyone seems to have a different idea of what makes a good one.
One friend found them to be a little dry for his tastes, but I can’t help but think he might be comparing them to Paul A Young’s delicious lumps of moist gooeyness, which aren’t strictly brownies at all. If you’re after something more traditional, you’d have to go a long way to beat this particular brownie.