Spooky Eyed Brownies (Not for the Faint-hearted!)

Chocolate eyeballs Part 1

To melt the white chocolate wafers, microwave it for 1 minute in 30 second intervals, stirring between each microwave session.

When the white chocolate is fully melted, add honey or corn syrup. Using a spatula, mix honey or corn syrup into the chocolate until fully incorporated. The mixture may look like it is breaking and separating while mixing, fear not! Wrap the mixture in cling wrap and set aside until it is ready to use.

Brownies

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 8x8" square baking tin with parchment paper.

Melt the butter either in a microwave or in a saucepan. While the butter is melting, put chocolate, 15g (1/8 cup) cocoa powder and espresso powder in a heat-proof mixing bowl. Pour the hot butter into the chocolate, mix with a spatula until all the chocolate is melted. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, whisk the sugars, vanilla extract, salt and eggs in a separate mixing bowl on high speed for about 10 minutes.

Turn the mixer down to low speed and pour the slightly cooled chocolate-butter mixer into the egg-sugar mixture. Mix until fully incorporated.

Sift the flour and the remaining cocoa powder into the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula, gently fold the flour in until just combined. You may add the optional chocolate chips in this step.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Once the brownies are out of the oven, while it is still hot, use a spherical sculpting tool (I used my measuring spoon with a round bottom) to make a round indent in where the centre of each piece of brownie will be (i.e. there should be 9 round indents in total). This is where each eyeball will sit. Let cool slightly in the baking tin for the brownie to set, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. In the meantime, finish preparing the eyeballs.

Once cooled, slice the brownie into 9 equal pieces.

Chocolate eyeballs Part 2

In a microwave, melt the dark chocolate chips with milk for 1 minute in 30 seconds intervals. Stirring between each microwave session to prevent burning. Set aside.

Divide the white chocolate into 6g or 1tsp chunks (there should be enough dough to make 11 eyeballs). Use the palms of your hands and roll each chunk into a ball.

Using a clean paint brush or a toothpick, paint a solid circle with the melted dark chocolate on the white eyeball. This will be the iris.

Pour the rest of the melted dark chocolate in a piping bag with a very fine tip (tip diameter of about 1mm). If you don't have a piping tip with a small diameter, you can also make your own piping bag with parchment paper (See "Tips")! If the chocolate has already solidified at this point, put it back in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to liquify it.

To paint the pupil, dip a clean paint brush with a fine tip in the black food colouring and paint a dot in the middle of the iris. The finished product should resemble the second picture above.

Place each eyeball in the round indent of the brownie.

Draw the eyelid with the melted dark chocolate. Using a toothpick to create a smooth chocolate eyelid by smoothing out the piping lines. Let sit until the chocolate solidifies and enjoy!