Put the kettle on and enjoy these wonderfully summery squares! Layers of rich chocolate brownie, a light and fruity strawberry marshmallow fluff filling and a dark chocolate topping sprinkled with extra freeze-dried strawberries for even more berry blast.
A treat on the eyes and on the tastebuds, wow your guests with this wonderful bake perfect with a cuppa. The combo of fresh berries and intense freeze-dried strawberry chunks is a real winner.
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Yields:
16 serving(s)
Prep Time:
40 mins
Cook Time:
45 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 25 mins
Cal/Serv:
298
Ingredients
For the brownie layer
100g
butter, plus extra to grease
200g
dark chocolate, chopped
2
medium eggs, beaten
175g
caster sugar
50g
plain flour
20g
cocoa powder
For the strawberry fluff
125g
hulled strawberries, finely chopped
225g
white chocolate, finely chopped
40g
freeze-dried strawberries (we used The Giving Tree)
150g
mini marshmallows
Directions
Step 1Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5 and grease and line a 20.5cm square tin with baking parchment, making sure the parchment comes all the way up the sides of the tin.
Step 2For the brownie layer, melt butter with 60g of the dark chocolate in medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Remove bowl from heat, cool for 1min, then stir in remaining brownie ingredients. Scrape into tin and bake for 18-20min until just firm. Set aside to cool slightly.
Step 3Meanwhile, mash fresh strawberries thoroughly with a fork in a medium heatproof bowl, add the chocolate and marshmallows, place bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until melted and combined. In a mini food processor, or with a pestle and mortar, crush dried strawberries so you have a mix of larger pieces and ground powder. Reserve a generous tbsp of the biggest pieces for the topping, and stir rest into the marshmallow mixture. Pour marshmallow mixture over brownie base and chill for a couple of hours until firm to the touch.
Step 4For the topping, melt remaining chocolate in a clean bowl set over simmering water. Leave to cool to room temperature then spread evenly over set strawberry layer and scatter over reserved freeze-dried strawberries. Leave until set (chill if needed). Serve at room temperature in squares.
Want to switch things up?
Swap the fresh and freeze-dried strawberries for raspberries.
Prefer milk or white chocolate?
You could definitely use either for the topping, and use milk chocolate in the brownie in place of the dark chocolate but be warned - the resulting squares will be very sweet!
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
Emma is Cookery Editor for Good Housekeeping and loves nothing more than sharing her bottomless enthusiasm for all things food and drink with anyone who wants to learn (and even those who don’t!). From super simple one pan suppers to showstopping wedding cakes and everything in between, there’s very little that doesn’t come out of her kitchen. When not developing recipes, writing features or styling food for photography she can be found hiding behind the mountain of cookery books that’s slowly overtaking her house, or exploring restaurants, food shops and festivals in search of the next big thing to share with readers. On the rare days when she’s not thinking about food, you’ll find her in a cosy pub at the end of a long walk with her dog and expert food taster, Angua.
