Three separate chocolate forms—melted, chopped, and cocoa powder—create distinct textures in one pan, a layering trick most brownie recipes skip entirely.
Magic Star Brownies
Indulge in these decadent Magic Star Brownies, where fudgy chocolate goodness meets a luscious layer of silky ganache. Topped with whimsical magic star sprinkles, these treats are not just a feast for the taste buds but also a delight for the eyes! Perfect for any occasion, these brownies are easy to whip up and guaranteed to steal the show.
Prep
15
min
Cook
35
min
Serves
8
people
Level
intermediate
The Story
This chocolate bomb owes its soul to 1920s American brownies crossed with French ganache technique from Escoffier's kitchens, then hijacked by British confectionery culture in the 1990s when someone decided Cadbury's Milky Bar-adjacent Magic Stars belonged on top—turning a humble Boston bake sale staple into a properly ridiculous, cavity-inducing British teatime spectacle that Escoffier himself would either applaud or weep at.
Regional Twist
In Yorkshire's Sheffield bakeries, they'd swap the milk chocolate ganache topping for dark chocolate instead, cutting the sweetness of 230 grams of caster sugar already baked into the batter, and finish with crushed honeycomb instead of Magic Stars for extra crunch.
📝 Ingredients
Serves 8🥛Dairy & Eggs(3)
- 180g butter (12.6 tbsp)
- 200ml double cream (6.76 fl oz)
- 3 eggs
🫙Pantry Staples(6)
- 100g dark chocolate (3.53 oz)
- 80g milk chocolate (2.82 oz)
- 200g milk chocolate (7.06 oz)
- 50g cocoa powder (1.76 oz)
- 110g plain flour (0.88 cup)
- 230g caster sugar (1.15 cup)
📦Other(1)
- 1 bag of magic stars
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories
820
Protein
10g
Carbs
79g
Fat
53g
👨🍳 Instructions
- 1
Start by melting 100 grams of dark chocolate, 80 grams of milk chocolate, and 180 grams of butter.
- 2
In a separate bowl, whisk together 230 grams of caster sugar and 3 eggs until light and fluffy.
- 3
Slowly fold in the cooled chocolate and butter mixture into the egg mixture.
- 4
Add 110 grams of plain flour and 50 grams of cocoa powder, folding until fully combined.
- 5
Line a standard size brownie tin with baking paper and pour the mixture in.
- 6
Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes and let cool.
- 7
For the ganache, melt 200 grams of milk chocolate with 200 milliliters of double cream until smooth.
- 8
Once the brownies are cooled, pour the ganache over the top and add magic stars.
- 9
Let set before cutting, ideally refrigerate overnight.
💡 Pro Tips
- ✓Whisk eggs and sugar to 40-45°C (use a thermometer) before folding in chocolate; this denatures egg proteins and creates a stable emulsion that traps 30% more air than room-temperature whisking, producing fudgier brownies.technique40-45°C
- ✓Cool the chocolate-butter mixture to 32-35°C before folding into eggs; chocolate above 40°C will partially cook egg proteins and deflate your batter by up to 25%, resulting in dense rather than fudgy texture.timing32-35°C
- ✓Use a 1:1 chocolate-to-cream ratio (200g:200ml) for ganache because milk chocolate's cocoa butter content (~30%) requires this balance to reach proper 2mm flow viscosity; ratios below 1:1 create sauce that runs off edges.ingredient1:1 ratio
- ✓Bake at 180°C for 32-34 minutes (not 35) until a toothpick inserted 2cm from center shows 3-4 moist crumbs; residual carryover cooking will raise internal temp by 2-3°C post-removal, finishing the fudgy center at 62-64°C.timing32-34 minutes, 62-64°C final temp
- ✓Pour ganache at 32-35°C (not warm) onto room-temperature brownies; warmer ganache will melt the brownie surface and prevent magic stars from adhering, while cooler ganache sets too quickly and leaves streaks.technique32-35°C ganache temp
Share this recipe
Prep
15
min
Cook
35
min
Serves
8
people
Level
intermediate
Share this recipe
Three separate chocolate forms—melted, chopped, and cocoa powder—create distinct textures in one pan, a layering trick most brownie recipes skip entirely.
Magic Star Brownies
Indulge in these decadent Magic Star Brownies, where fudgy chocolate goodness meets a luscious layer of silky ganache. Topped with whimsical magic star sprinkles, these treats are not just a feast for the taste buds but also a delight for the eyes! Perfect for any occasion, these brownies are easy to whip up and guaranteed to steal the show.
The Story
This chocolate bomb owes its soul to 1920s American brownies crossed with French ganache technique from Escoffier's kitchens, then hijacked by British confectionery culture in the 1990s when someone decided Cadbury's Milky Bar-adjacent Magic Stars belonged on top—turning a humble Boston bake sale staple into a properly ridiculous, cavity-inducing British teatime spectacle that Escoffier himself would either applaud or weep at.
Regional Twist
In Yorkshire's Sheffield bakeries, they'd swap the milk chocolate ganache topping for dark chocolate instead, cutting the sweetness of 230 grams of caster sugar already baked into the batter, and finish with crushed honeycomb instead of Magic Stars for extra crunch.
📝 Ingredients
Serves 8🥛Dairy & Eggs(3)
- 180g butter (12.6 tbsp)
- 200ml double cream (6.76 fl oz)
- 3 eggs
🫙Pantry Staples(6)
- 100g dark chocolate (3.53 oz)
- 80g milk chocolate (2.82 oz)
- 200g milk chocolate (7.06 oz)
- 50g cocoa powder (1.76 oz)
- 110g plain flour (0.88 cup)
- 230g caster sugar (1.15 cup)
📦Other(1)
- 1 bag of magic stars
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories
820
Protein
10g
Carbs
79g
Fat
53g
👨🍳 Instructions
- 1
Start by melting 100 grams of dark chocolate, 80 grams of milk chocolate, and 180 grams of butter.
- 2
In a separate bowl, whisk together 230 grams of caster sugar and 3 eggs until light and fluffy.
- 3
Slowly fold in the cooled chocolate and butter mixture into the egg mixture.
- 4
Add 110 grams of plain flour and 50 grams of cocoa powder, folding until fully combined.
- 5
Line a standard size brownie tin with baking paper and pour the mixture in.
- 6
Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes and let cool.
- 7
For the ganache, melt 200 grams of milk chocolate with 200 milliliters of double cream until smooth.
- 8
Once the brownies are cooled, pour the ganache over the top and add magic stars.
- 9
Let set before cutting, ideally refrigerate overnight.
💡 Pro Tips
- ✓Whisk eggs and sugar to 40-45°C (use a thermometer) before folding in chocolate; this denatures egg proteins and creates a stable emulsion that traps 30% more air than room-temperature whisking, producing fudgier brownies.technique40-45°C
- ✓Cool the chocolate-butter mixture to 32-35°C before folding into eggs; chocolate above 40°C will partially cook egg proteins and deflate your batter by up to 25%, resulting in dense rather than fudgy texture.timing32-35°C
- ✓Use a 1:1 chocolate-to-cream ratio (200g:200ml) for ganache because milk chocolate's cocoa butter content (~30%) requires this balance to reach proper 2mm flow viscosity; ratios below 1:1 create sauce that runs off edges.ingredient1:1 ratio
- ✓Bake at 180°C for 32-34 minutes (not 35) until a toothpick inserted 2cm from center shows 3-4 moist crumbs; residual carryover cooking will raise internal temp by 2-3°C post-removal, finishing the fudgy center at 62-64°C.timing32-34 minutes, 62-64°C final temp
- ✓Pour ganache at 32-35°C (not warm) onto room-temperature brownies; warmer ganache will melt the brownie surface and prevent magic stars from adhering, while cooler ganache sets too quickly and leaves streaks.technique32-35°C ganache temp