Nigella's Brownies

This weekend I became a domestic goddess when I bought a cookbook by British baker Nigella Lawson and made these brownies for my party, to smashing success:

Brownies

1 2/3 c. soft unsalted butter (I used salted butter though, because I like things to be saltier than not)
13 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used 8 oz. generic baking chocolate, a 3.5 oz. Ghirardelli 60% cacao bar, and a handful of milk chocolate chips)
6 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 2/3 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. chopped walnuts

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan. In another bowl beat the eggs with the vanilla and sugar. When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a little and add the eggs and sugar, then sift in the flour and salt, and add the nuts last. Mix well, then scrape the batter into a 13 x 9 x 2 pan lined with foil (I put mine into individual cupcake papers in a muffin tin). Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (20 for the muffin tin method) until the top is dry and pale but the inside is still gooey.

Nigella says you can try it with dried cherries instead of nuts, or with nothing at all. And normally I don't like nuts in my brownies, but these were divine. It's also heavenly to top them with chopped strawberries and some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Really, the possibilities are endless, and the recipe is so easy I might not even bother with brownie mixes ever again.