What is a chocolate brownie?From 1890s America to our warm brownie, and a vegan, gluten-free one, at Fiena, King's Cross

A brownie is a baked chocolate dessert bar. Depending on how dense it is, it can be fudgy or cakey, and a good one often has a glossy, crackly "skin" on top. Some have nuts, chocolate chips or frosting. There's even a version without chocolate in the batter, made with brown sugar and vanilla, which is called a blondie.

The brownie was developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century. Its story is surprisingly tangled:

• Brown parties: in the 1880s, dinner parties themed around the colour brown were fashionable in the US, and by the 1890s "Brownie Banquets" were decorated with figures of Palmer Cox's cartoon characters, The Brownies.
• No chocolate yet: a "brownie" recipe in the 1896 edition of Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking-School Cook Book was a molasses cake, with no chocolate at all.
• The first chocolate ones: in 1899 a Chicago cookbook published an unleavened chocolate "Brownie cake", which the food writer Stella Parks calls a "proto-brownie". By 1904, recipes with modern proportions were appearing in newspapers, and Farmer added chocolate to her recipe in the 1906 edition.
• Bangor Brownies: a 1907 cookbook by Maria Willett Howard added an extra egg and more chocolate, making a richer, fudgier "Bangor Brownie", named after the town in Maine.

There's also a famous legend from Chicago. In 1893, the socialite Bertha Palmer is said to have asked the pastry chef at her husband's Palmer House Hotel for a dessert smaller than a slice of cake that ladies could eat from boxed lunches at the World's Columbian Exposition. The result, with walnuts and an apricot glaze, is still served at the hotel. Background from Wikipedia's chocolate brownie page.

Brownies are often served warm with ice cream, à la mode, or with whipped cream or a dusting of powdered sugar. In North America they're a classic homemade treat, and they're just as popular in cafes and coffee houses.

On our dessert menu, which is served all day:

• Chocolate brownie: a warm chocolate brownie served with ice cream and seasonal fruit, marked vegetarian.
• Vegan & gluten-free chocolate brownie: a warm dark chocolate brownie served with blood orange sorbet, marked vegan and gluten-free. The sharp, citrusy sorbet is a lovely contrast to the dark chocolate.

That second one means everyone at the table can have the same dessert, whether they're vegan, avoiding gluten or neither. For more ideas, see our vegetarian and vegan guide and our gluten-free guide.

A brownie is perfect with an espresso or a flat white, or try an Affogato, ice cream with a shot of espresso poured over. After dinner, an Espresso martini with vanilla vodka, fresh espresso and coffee liqueur is a natural partner for chocolate. Prefer something else? Our other desserts include Tiramisu, Souffle al cioccolato and Profiteroles. See our posts on tiramisu, gelato and affogato, the chocolate souffle, Italian coffee and the espresso martini.

Guests often save room for dessert. Maria, who came for a late breakfast, wrote of fresh, quality food and excellent coffee (Maria, Google review), and James had pasta fiena and the cheesecake. Both very good. (James, Google review) Neil found that the Food was great, arrived quick, service was lovely. (Neil, Google review)

“food is so daaaamn good”

Julia, Google review, 2026