Chocolate Overload - A bribe to see more of the Azkals

Two weeks ago, I had this chance to see a qualifying match between Thailand and Philippines for Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2012.  I'm not a crazy sports fanatic but when I found out that the AZKALS were playing, I bought a ticket. The team's soaring popularity got me intrigued. Is their good physique the reason for them being famous? Well, they're in Bangkok to play. I would not miss it for the world.

Fast forward to the night I watched the game.When the AZKALS came out for the first time to do some warm up, I was standing one hop away from them.Yeah boys! I got starstruck  but I made sure I click my camera as they walk past me. I was not able to take good pictures of some and I didn't want to go home without getting a better shot. I made a promise to  the girls  (sister, cousin and friends) that  if they  let me stay a bit longer to meet the AZKALS "backstage" I  would make them a nice dinner. Well, they did but imagine how I felt when I found out that the "backstage" was off-limits to fans. Bummer!

Anyway, a promise is a promise. I cooked an awesome dinner on Friday. I baked brownies loaded with dark chocolate chips. I served it with double dutch ice cream and drizzled them with chocolate syrup. Yum Yum!

The original recipe called for unsweetened cocoa powder but I opted to use a mixture of tablea (Chocolate tablets) and cocoa powder.

 Recipe: Fudgy Brownies

30 g tablea
2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 g baking soda
80 ml vegetable oil
60 ml boiling water
180 g brown sugar
1 egg
85 g all-purpose flour
3 ml vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and flour a 7 x 7 inch pan.
Chop the tablea. In a mixing bowl, mix together chopped tablea, cocoa powder and baking soda. (I forgot to mix them)

Add half of vegetable oil and boiling water. Mix until well blended and thickened. Stir in the sugar, eggs and the remaining oil.

Lastly, add the flour, vanilla and salt. Mix just until the flour is absorbed. Fold in the dark chocolate chips.
Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes. I like underbaked brownies so I took it out of the pan after 30 minutes. The result was gooey and delicious brownies.

Allow to cool. Cut into squares and enjoy with your favorite ice cream.