This is one of our go to brownie recipes. I photographed this recipe for Doves Farm but have since adapted the recipe slightly. Just to make it quicker to make and a little less rich. I like the chewy, boozy prunes and the combination of macadamia and pecan nuts together with dark, dark chocolate. Just a note - soak the prunes if you can in any alcoholic beverage. Brandy, grappa, kirsch all work. I have also made this recipe with plain and self raising flour. Both work.

Panpepato is also known as peppered bread. Based on a very old Italian recipe it is predecessor of Tuscan Panforte. It is not really a bread at all. The ingredients: a mix of nuts, home made candied peel, Muscat raisins, bitter cocoa powder and spices, including pepper and coriander, are bound together with acacia honey and shaped with wet hands. I am not sure how many takers I would get if I served this but I love the bitter notes of chocolate, the crunch of nuts and a little sweetness from the honey. My recipe is from Antonio and Priscilla Carluccio’s ‘Baking’. It’s a gem.