Castle Combe

A rainy day adventure

Sometimes you encounter the unexpected whilst travelling. In the UK, this generally relates to weather conditions. A grand day out is always better with plenty of sunshine, there's no doubt about it. But there's got to be a bit of rain every so often to balance things out. 

Arriving in Castle Combe 

The Yellow House

And that's precisely what happened when I first ventured into the picturesque county of Wiltshire.

Clearly, heading outdoors would not be ideal under such wet conditions. But I like to be daring every once in a while, so it was off to Castle Combe for me.

Quackers

The lone bridge

With a population of only 344, this is probably one of, if not the, smallest and prettiest villages I have ever visited in England. Despite its size and demography, it's played a major role as a backdrop for several poignant films and TV shows. Think War Horse,  Agatha Christie, and also Downton Abbey. 

Interesting...

Time for (another) cuppa

Taking photos is clearly a must. If you want a photography bucket list, then I suggest including pictures of doors, postboxes and souvenirs - they've all been so uniquely designed haven't they? There's a nice array of signage dotted all over the place as well. 

Birdie!

Homemade delicacies 

Still really pretty though!

Oh and don't forget about the scenery. Definitely a worthwhile snapshot.

Picture perfect

Pano again!

Another highlight of my day trip was lunch. The salmon I ordered at The Castle Inn hotel was delightfully scrumptious. There's also the Manor House Hotel in case you fancy a taste of 5-star luxury dining experience. 

Delicious

All in all, another wonderful UK adventure. Who would have thought that a rainy day could be so beautiful?

Fudgy, (pure) Chocolate Brownies

Death by Chocolate

Quite simply, the best way to die in my opinion. I'd have chocolate in anyway - milk, dark, white (I don't care if it doesn't have cocoa in it, it's still an amazing type of chocolate), fruity, nutty, you name it. Chocolate and I are definitely  best friends. And what could be better than spending a day indoors baking something extra chocolatey whilst listening to the pouring rain outside? That basically summarizes one of the many highlights of my Saturday. I was in the mood for brownies but didn't have any cocoa powder. After a quick google search, I managed to find the perfect brownie recipe (from the website, journeykitchen.com) that didn't require any cocoa powder - just pure dark chocolate (delicious, period).

Mmm...melted chocolate... :)

Ingredients

Quintessentially easy-to-purchase essentials are needed for this recipe. I didn't have any walnuts in my pantry but otherwise I would have definitely added some/ a lot into the brownies for an extra bit of crunch and texture.

Note: I could only make half the amount because I only had 100g of dark chocolate - definitely worth making the whole amount or even double that (dieting can start another day ;)

Yields: 12

• 200g dark chocolate
• 175g butter
• 130g all purpose flour
• 325g caster sguar
• 3 eggs

Utensils

• A baking tin (33x23x5cm is the recommended size)
• Pot
• Scales
• Wooden spoon
• Rubber spatula
• Baking paper
• Whisk
• Knife
• Metal bowls x 2

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 170°C

2) Line the baking tin with baking paper

3) Measure the needed ingredients using the scales

4) Boil water in the pot and place one metal bowl on top of it.

5) Place the chocolate and butter into the metal bowl and let them melt; stir until well mixed/ incorporated

Resist the temptation to eat the entire mixture immediately (not as easy as it looks!)

6) Take the bowl off the heat and whisk in the sugar

7) Pour in the flour and mix until well incorporated

8) Whisk in the eggs until thick and smooth

9) Pour the mixture into the prepared pan - use the rubber spatula to scrap every last bit into it (wasting is a big no no in my household/ kitchen).

10) Bake the brownies for 30-35 minutes.

11) Cool before cutting it up into squares or rectangles. 

Before the oven treatment :)

And c'est tout! Very simple and obviously delicious. I do advise everyone to wait until it's cooled down to eat as the brownies can burn your tongue if they're too hot. Although...I wouldn't say that it's necessary to wait too long because then you'll miss out on having a brownie with a crunchy top, a chewy interior and a minutely but perfectly moist centre. I basically melted as I had my share of the lot. 

Death by chocolate, literally.

Definitely a keeper and a great thing to share with friends/ eat by yourself when you're feeling down or is simply craving (a lot of) chocolate ;)