I’ve got my foodie mojo back and it’s great.  But not so great for my waistline which I’d quite like to keep as it is, please and thank you.  It’s also not good for my kitchen fairy who has to do all the tidying up (me).  I’ll never be a tidy cook.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a foodgasm.  You know, when you bite into something so deliciously edible that you are willing to forego all other pleasures just to take another mouthful … OH. MY.

This recipe had been floating around Facebook land this morning and it just spoke to me  –  ‘bake me, eat me, love me’ … I had to do it and I wasn’t disappointed.  Absolutely no disappointment involved in these brownies whatsoever.  You’ve broken up with your boyfriend? Make these.  You’ve been sacked? Make these.  You need to do housework? Definitely make these instead.

Using the instructions on the above link I began to construct the pretty layers of gooey mixture and crunchy pretzel.  Lots of little hearts all wrapped up in chocolatey lurve! However, there wasn’t enough mixture for the size tin I used so I had to whip up some of my own brownie mixture using this recipe. 

I used a tin of condensed milk to make the dulce de leche topping.  I boiled the unopened tin in a saucepan of water for about 3 hours and let it cool before using.  I think 2.5 hours would have made a slightly softer caramel sauce.

Because the dulce de leche was quite firm I spread it on the brownie slab before it had cooled and then sprinkled with Maldon sea salt. It really is a taste explosion.  First the incredible sweetness from the caramel off set by the sea salt.  Then you get the crunch of the pretzels wrapped up in the soft, comforting blanket of rich, dark brownie.  You need to make these.  You really do.

I did worry slightly that the pretzels would soften, and they do when warm but as the cake cools they crisp up again.  Such a clever recipe and one I’ll be making again, and again, and again.