How to make a brownie better? Add Creme Eggs to the mixture like Phil Vickery 

And why he thinks that the store cupboard is the key to a well-stocked kitchen 

Undated Handout Photo of Phil Vickery's Creme Egg brownie. Picture: PA

“All the ingredients except the fresh orange zest are from the store cupboard,” says Phil Vickery of his super delicious Creme Egg brownies. “Just remember to allow the brownie to cool a little after taking out of the oven – or, better yet, chill in the fridge – or it will be too soft to cut.”

The recipe is from his new book The Canny Cook, an entire collection of recipes based around store cupboard or frozen ingredients. 

The chef, who’s been a mainstay on ITV’s This Morning for 23 years, first started using canned and frozen ingredients in the early Nineties when he took over as head chef of a hotel in financial difficulty. “That hotel owed a huge amount of money to the bank, all the staff had gone, it was the recession and the bank were going to shut the doors in six months, so I just couldn’t afford to buy expensive ingredients,” he says. 

So, he delved into the store cupboard and used what was there instead. “I never cooked halibut, I couldn’t afford it, I never cooked turbot.” Even when a famous chef came to lunch with a renowned food critic, Vickery served them soup made from water, stock cubes, tinned butterbeans, onions and garlic, with a sprinkle of thyme and olive oil on top.

“That food critic said, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s the nicest butterbean soup I’ve ever had – can I have another bowl?’ So I thought, ‘Hang on a minute, if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for my customers’.” What was originally conceived out of financial necessity made him “view things in a different way”, and he’s been cooking this way for years at home. His new book, The Canny Cook, celebrates all things canned and frozen, and the cheap, sustainable, easy meals you can make from them.

On This Morning, Holly Willoughby, Dermot O’Leary and co. give rave reviews of Vickery’s dishes using store cupboard ingredients (“They don’t fake that!” he says). You might have seen him rustle up rhubarb crumble with strawberry jam and instant custard, or corned beef hash, on the show – “As long as you explain it, it’s fine,” he says, but he’s been criticised by fellow chefs for ‘deskilling’ the industry.

“I don’t give a toss,” he says. “I’ve been called some awful things on Twitter… Some people say to me, ‘You’re the s***test chef on This Morning. I just laugh at it.”

Squidgy Creme Egg brownie

Oozy, gooey and perfect with ice cream, these brownies are a winner with everyone who tries them

Servings

12

Preparation Time

 13 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 53 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 2tbsp golden syrup

• 110g salted butter, softened

• 150g caster sugar

• 150g bitter chocolate

• 75g plain flour, sifted

• 4 eggs, at room temperature

• Finely grated zest of 1 large orange

• 4 Creme Eggs, halved

• Vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Line a 20 centimetre square baking tray with greaseproof paper, or oil well.

2. Melt the golden syrup, butter, sugar and chocolate together in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.

3. Remove the bowl from the pan, then stir in the flour, eggs and orange zest. Mix well but do not overmix, or the finished brownie will be chewy.
   Pour into the prepared tray, then carefully place the eight Creme Egg halves into the top of the mix, pressing down slightly.

4. Pop into the oven and cook for 35–40 minutes.
   Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before cutting. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if you like.
   
   The Canny Cook by Phil Vickery is published by Kyle Books, priced £16.99. Photography by Kate Whitaker. Available now.