Amayzine

Happy & Healthy

Among all the greenery, here are 10 things that we secretly all really enjoy...

Not a day goes by in the editorial office without plates filled with pastel-colored macarons, mini cupcakes, or chocolate truffles. If no one from the team has a birthday, then one of our friends does, or the mister from DHL is at the door with a box. It's just that I have a good dose of self-control and don't care about all those sugar killers; otherwise, I would probably have gained five kilos in these three months.

While chewing on a mini red velvet, a colleague who says ‘I-never-say-no-to-chocolate’ asked: ‘Can't you write a post about the top 10 guilty pleasures?’ It's something different than those cakes sweetened with applesauce and bananas. Nothing healthy, clean, and green, but just hardcore cheats. As if I'm writing this post full of butter, cheese, sugar, and whipped cream, I do it. Don’t hate me now...

1. Tony’s Chocolonely brownies. Best of both worlds, right? Chocolate with salted caramel, not much can go wrong there. And yes, it would be mean if I didn't give you the recipe for that.

Brownies

  • 225 g butter and a little extra for greasing
  • 100 g dark chocolate
  • 150 g Tony’s caramel sea salt (and a little extra)
  • 225 g brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 150 g flour
  • Salted caramel
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 40 ml whipped cream
  • 15 g salted butter
  • 100 g sugar

We start with the caramel:

Place a small saucepan over low heat. Add the cream, half of the butter, and a teaspoon of coarse sea salt to the saucepan and slowly bring it to a boil. Stir with a wooden spatula until it starts to bubble. Remove from heat and set aside. Take a new saucepan and add the sugar, moving the pan so that the sugar melts slowly (do not stir). Return the saucepan to medium heat. Keep stirring until a golden brown caramel forms. Add the vanilla. Slowly add the cream to the sugar syrup and stir it through with a wooden spoon. Place the caramel in the fridge once it has cooled.

Line a baking dish with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat and add the chocolate. Once all the chocolate has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the sugar. Once the mixture has cooled, pour it into a large bowl. Mix the eggs into the mixture and sift in the flour. Mix the batter well and pour it into the baking dish. Take the caramel out of the fridge and mix it through the chocolate batter with a spoon. You do this by ‘drawing’ in the batter with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle the dish with some extra sea salt and chunks of Tony’s chocolate.

Bake the brownies for 20 minutes. Personally, I think it’s the BEST when it’s still nice and gooey in the middle.

“Do you think that's weird? Says Rens...”

2. But what about freshly made pasta with a creamy gorgonzola sauce, pieces of fried pear, and crumbled walnuts? HELP, I want that NOW. And so does Kiki...

3. Well, that plate of nachos, under a blanket of jalapeños, sour cream, and lots of cheese, with a bowl of homemade guacamole on the side. Have you made it yet?

4. Warm apple pie with ice cream AND whipped cream. Maybe a warm chocolate with whipped cream on the side? Oof, so good.

5. According to colleague Rens, nothing is better than thick Belgian fries with extra mayonnaise. Mayonnaise in general. Actually, mayonnaise is a guilty pleasure on its own. Mayonnaise, sometimes I just open the fridge and take a spoonful of mayo. Do you think that's weird? Says Rens...

6. Yesss, my absolute, absolute, biggest guilty pleasure is and will always be the cinnamon roll from Cinnabon. And I don’t even need the whole thing, you know. The core, the middle, the heart. That’s what the whole cinnamon roll is about. And you have to eat it right away when it’s still warm and then with extra frosting on the side. Jeez, can I please fly over now... I need this.

7. Colleague Elke needs a box of eclairs NOW. One is definitely too little, but by the sixth, she gets nauseous. So five, just right.

8. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Ginger nuts. Chocolate ginger nuts. A bag where you can definitely see the bottom after half an hour because just eating a handful of ginger nuts doesn’t work. Okay, three-quarters of a bag then, because we all leave the dark brown ones neatly here at the desk. Free to take. Anyone?

9. Just an ordinary can of hot dogs, a hot dog on a fresh white soft roll, with ketchup. AND mayo, Rens calls... Okay, and mayo, Rens. I’m skipping this one by the way.

10. Well, and then that Mont d’Or, huh, it always does well here in the editorial office. Warm from the oven, running over a fresh piece of baguette. With a good glass of red wine on the side. Life is beautiful.

I believe I’ll run to the Appie for a moment... Because I want number 2 tonight. Speaking of running. An extra round tomorrow then?