Orange Marmalade & Chocolate brownies

The best thing about making your own marmalade is that you can use it for other baking recipes and the flavour is going to be so much better than a basic supermarket marmalade.

This simple brownie recipe is delicious with very chunky bitter seville orange marmalade, but you can easily use any other type. And you know what? I’m not going to judge you if you use a shop bought marmalade either!

Why make this recipe?

• Orange & chocolate is a great flavour combination
• Easy recipe to make
• Uses up extra orange marmalade if you have any spare
• Makes a great gift for friends and family

My top tips on making brownies successfully the first time round

Don’t overbake the brownies – take them out when they are cracked on the top, slightly lifted off the sides and soft then you lightly push them in the middle.

Use a good quality orange marmalade with a strong flavour to make sure that the orange flavour comes through the brownies well, when they are baked.

Measure everything correctly

Use 70-80% cocoa solids dark chocolate to make sure the chocolate flavour is strong enough. Add a teaspoon of instant coffee, dissolved in a tiny amount of hot water if you are using lower quality chocolate. The brownies won’t taste of coffee, but the chocolate flavour will come through much stronger.

Add a good pinch of salt to balance out all the sweet flavours and make the chocolate and orange flavours sharper.

Ingredients & Possible Substitution

Chocolate

I prefer to use dark chocolate with this recipe, as it goes well with the bitter orange marmalade. If you prefer slightly sweeter version, you can use milk chocolate or half and half.

I usually use leftover chocolate coverture to make my brownies, but you are welcome to use any chocolate you can buy from supermarket. For dark chocolate, aim for about 70% and more cocoa solids to get the best flavour.

Butter

I use unsalted butter, because that’s what I normally have in the kitchen. If you use salted butter, don’t add any more salt in.

Sugar

White caster sugar is best for this recipe, anything darker than that could overpower the flavour of the oranges.

Flour

Brownies are perfect recipes for using various gluten-free and heritage flours, since they don’t need much (only about 130 grams). Brownies are basically tray-bakes and don’t need to rise as much as sponge cakes, where the use of gluten-free flours could be a bit trickier.

I’ve used successfully both plain and gluten-free flour and anything in between.

Eggs

Three medium eggs is all you need.

Orange marmalade

I use my own homemade orange marmalade, but any good quality dark Seville or Bitter orange marmalade will be fine with this recipe.

Alternatively, you can also use grapefruit marmalade or tangerine jam, but the flavours will be slightly different. You can replace the marmalade type and keep the recipe proportions as they are.

Variations on this recipe, allergies & dietary requirements

This recipe can be made with gluten free flour. Just replace the the regular flour with gluten free using the same weight and add 1/4 teaspoon of Xantham Gum to make sure that your orange chocolate brownies won’t fall apart.

Serving size & can I scale up or down this recipe?

This marmalade brownie recipe makes standard 12 medium size portions (I’ve used brownie baking tin). You could make half or double the quantity if you have a suitable trays.

You’d need to make sure that they are suitably tall (the same hight as the normal baking tin) and you’d also need to adjust the baking time. About 1/3 time less if you are doing 1/2 the size and about 1/3 more if you are doubling the recipe.

If I was doubling the recipe, I would double the recipe mix, but I’d still use two (same size) baking tins to make sure that they bake more evenly.

How to make my easy chocolate orange brownies

1. Preheat your oven to 170C (325F) Gas 3. 

2. Break your chocolate into small pieces and place it with butter in a heatproof bowl melt it slowly in microwave, 20 seconds at a time and stiring until completely melted.

3. Add the sugar stirring well until incorporated.

4. Add the flour and stir well.

5. Stir in the eggs and mix until thick and smooth.   

6. Add the marmalade and stir the mixture carefully.

7.Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes or until flaky on the top but still soft in the centre. 

8. Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack, before dusting with icing sugar to decorate.

How to serve orange brownies

These easy marmalade brownies are perfect as they are, but if you want to turn them into an extravagant luxury pudding, you can also serve them with different sauces or syrups.

Serve your brownies lightly dusted with icing sugar or with an ice cream, dairy free chocolate sorbet, orange curd, drizzling of real chocolate syrup or homemade caramel sauce.

How to store this recipe

Brownies have a good shelf life and will usually last 3-4 days, before they start to dry out. Keep them wrapped in a plastic bag somewhere cold and dry.

This recipe is also perfect for freezing. I often bake the whole batch, but freeze at least 1/2 straightaway to have later. They will keep for 3-6 months in the freezer.

Why not stay in touch…

I hope you enjoy making this recipe and if you do, I’d love to know what you think! Let me know in the comments below or find me on Instagram or Facebook and add the hashtag #cocoaandheart so that I can see your post.

Or why not subscribe to my weekly newsletter with new recipes and baking tips straight to your mailbox.

Magdalena