Smoked skillet brownie on the kamado, fudgy centre

Prep

20 min

Cook

35 min

Servings

10 servings

Temperature

175 °C

Ingredients

• dark chocolate 70%, chopped200 g
• unsalted butter120 g
• mild extra-virgin olive oil (replaces part of the butter)60 ml
• brown sugar220 g
• large eggs, room temperature4 ud
• plain (cake) flour110 g
• unsweetened cocoa powder (+ extra to flour the skillet)35 g
• orange (the zest)1 ud
• dark or milk chocolate in big chunks (for the molten pockets)100 g
• vanilla extract1 cdita
• flaky sea salt, Maldon-style (to finish, balances the sweetness)1 pizca

Method

1. 01

   Set the deflector and stabilise 175°C

   Light the charcoal, set the deflector to block direct heat and stabilise the chamber at 175°C with a reliable chamber probe, not the dome thermometer. It takes 20-25 minutes to settle. Do not load the batter until the temperature holds steady at 175°C for 10 minutes.

2. 02

   Melt chocolate, butter and olive oil

   Over low heat or a bain-marie, melt the 70% chocolate, the butter and the olive oil into a smooth, glossy cream; take it off and let it cool five minutes. The oil keeps the centre fudgy for longer and brings a clean richness that butter alone won't.

3. 03

   Whisk eggs and sugar, then fold

   Whisk the eggs with the brown sugar for 3-4 minutes until foamy and pale; that's where the crackled crust is born. Fold in the cooled chocolate and the vanilla, then sift in flour and cocoa and mix only until combined. Don't overbeat: too much air dries the brownie out.

4. 04

   Grease and cocoa-flour the skillet

   Grease the cast-iron skillet well with butter, dust with cocoa powder and shake off the excess: it won't stick and you avoid white streaks of flour. Pour in the batter, scatter the big chocolate chunks and the orange zest over the top, and level it without pressing down.

5. 05

   Bake indirect with apple smoke

   Toss a small handful of apple-wood chips on the coals and set the skillet in the centre of the grate, over the deflector. Close the lid. After 10-12 minutes, once the batter has set, the smoke has done its job: don't add more wood or open the lid out of curiosity.

6. 06

   Watch the fudgy point, 30-35 min

   At 30 minutes, check: the crust should be crackled and, when you pierce the centre with a toothpick, it should come out with moist crumbs clinging to it, never clean. If it comes out clean, you've gone too far. Between 30 and 35 minutes depending on the skillet. Pull it with gloves while the centre still wobbles slightly.

7. 07

   Rest in the skillet and cut

   Sprinkle flaky salt over the top and let the brownie rest in the skillet itself for 15-20 minutes: the residual heat sets the centre, turning it from liquid to fudgy. Cut into 10 portions in the skillet with a serrated knife, without scratching the iron. Serve warm.

About this recipe

Editor's tips

• The pull point is the whole dish. A fudgy brownie comes out while the centre still wobbles and the toothpick shows moist crumbs, because the cast iron's residual heat keeps setting it for 15 minutes off the fire. Wait for a clean toothpick inside the kamado and the rest dries it into a cake. The hot skillet cooks by inertia: count on it and pull earlier.
• With chocolate, less smoke is more. A small handful of apple-wood chips at the start is plenty for a fruity background; a big handful or wood throughout the bake leaves a phenolic bitterness that buries the cocoa. Chocolate is a sponge for aromas: treat it like a delicate white fish, not a rack of ribs that takes hours of smoke.
• Trust the chamber probe, not the dome thermometer. In a kamado the cupola holds more heat than the grate, so the dome gauge can read 175°C while the skillet sits at 190°C, and a brownie at 190°C dries at the edges before the centre sets. Sink a probe at grate level and govern the vents by that reading.

Gear for this recipe

• Petromax FP35 Cast Iron Fire Skillet 35 cm with Handles

  €72

• Weber apple wood smoking chips 700 g

  €9

• Big Green Egg ConvEGGtor plate setter (Large)

  €85

FAQ

• How much wood should I use so the brownie gets smoke without turning bitter?+

  Very little: a small handful of apple-wood chips, around 30-40 grams, on the coals at the start of the bake. Chocolate absorbs smoke extremely easily, and overdoing it turns it bitter within minutes with phenolic notes that bury the cocoa. The rule is counterintuitive: for a dessert you want a fraction of the smoke you'd use on a rack of ribs. Add the wood only at the start, in the first 10-12 minutes, while the batter is still wet and locks in the aroma; after that the surface sets and absorbs nothing useful, only soot. When in doubt, go short: a fruity veil you can just sense always beats a brownie that tastes of chimney.

• How do I get the fudgy, not dry, point in the brownie?+

  Three keys. First, the ratio: more chocolate and fat (butter and olive oil) than flour, with cocoa for depth; a fudgy brownie has little flour. Second, don't overbeat after adding the flour, only until combined, because excess gluten and air dry the crumb. And third, the pull point, which is what most often goes wrong: take the skillet out when the crust is crackled but the centre still wobbles and the toothpick comes out with moist crumbs clinging, never clean. The cast-iron skillet keeps cooking by inertia for 15-20 minutes off the kamado, so the centre finishes setting during the rest. Wait for a dry toothpick over the fire and the rest turns it into cake.

• Which sweet wood pairs better with chocolate: apple or cherry?+

  For a brownie I'd go with apple. It's the mildest, sweetest fruit wood, with a light smoke that settles as a fruity background behind the cocoa without competing with it. Cherry is excellent and very popular, but it's a touch deeper and slightly tannic, and over chocolate it tends to pull towards a bitterness that fights the cocoa instead of accompanying it, especially if you go heavy. If cherry is all you have, use an even smaller dose than apple and only at the start. What you must avoid in baking are the strong woods —mesquite, hickory, holm oak, oak—: superb for meat but they steamroll a delicate dessert, leaving it smoky and bitter.

• How do I season and grease the cast-iron skillet so the brownie doesn't stick?+

  Start from a well-seasoned skillet: if it's new, rub it with the thinnest film of oil and bake it in the kamado at 200°C for about 40 minutes to set the patina, repeating two or three times until it's dark and satin. For this recipe specifically, just before pouring the batter, grease the whole surface and walls generously with soft butter and then dust with cocoa powder (instead of flour, which would leave white streaks), shaking off the excess. That layer of fat and cocoa creates a non-stick barrier perfect for baking and blends into the flavour. After turning it out, don't wash the skillet with soap or leave it to soak: clean it hot with water and a brush, dry it over the fire and wipe it with oil to keep the patina.

• Can I freeze the brownie and reheat it keeping the centre creamy?+

  Yes, and it freezes surprisingly well thanks to its high fat and chocolate content, which stops it crystallising and drying out. Let it cool completely, cut it into portions and wrap each in cling film and then foil or a freezer bag; it keeps for up to 3 months. To reheat while keeping the centre fudgy, thaw at room temperature and give it gentle, short heat: in the kamado or oven at 150°C for about 5-6 minutes, just enough for the centre to soften again without the edges drying out. The microwave works in a pinch, 15-20 seconds per portion, but it dries the crackled crust and kills the charm. A trick: serve the reheated portion warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and the hot-cold contrast hides any loss of texture.