These are based on Rosie's Chocolate Orgasms from the apparently out of print cookbook. These are yummy chocolately dreamy good, not a cakey brownie. You can cut these into small pieces and serve them in the mini cupcake papers and serve a lot of people a delightful bite. Or cut them into "normal size" squares and pig out.
Preheat the oven to 350. butter an 8X8 inch baking pan.
Melt the butter and the chocolate together. I like to put it all in a Pyrex measuring cup and go for 2 minutes at half power in my microwave, then stir it, and give it more if it needs it. Your microwave may vary. Or you can do it on a double boiler on top of the stove. Good luck with that.
Put the sugar in a mixing bowl and pour the chocolate mixture on top of it. Blend on medium until mixed, about 1/2 minute. Scrape the bowl. Add the almond extract and one egg. Mix on medium until the egg is mixed in...10-15 seconds? Stop. Scrape the bowl. Add the next egg. Mix, scrape, add the last egg. Mix until the mixture is smooth and creamy...1/2 minute or less.
Add the flour and mix on low for 20 seconds. By hand make sure all the flour is mixed in. Add the chopped walnuts and mix through. Pour batter evenly into the baking pan. If you aren't going to make the frosting, then evenly space the walnut halves in a 3X3 grid so you'll have one in the center of each of 9 brownies. But you should make the frosting, so save them for later. Put the baking pan into the oven for 30 minutes until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. The reality for me is that when this is done correctly in the center, the edges are a bit overdone. We'll deal with that.
Let the brownies cool on a cooling rack for AT LEAST an hour, overnight being better. You can eat them now, but then you'd miss out on the great frosting combo.
So you have cool (Really, you let them cool!) brownies. Turn the uncut brownies out onto a cooling rack or cutting board or some flat surface, and make sure the brownies are right side up (at this point it is still an 8X8 inch cake).
Put the sugar and evaporated milk in a blender. Melt the chocolate and pour/scrape into the blender. Put on the top and hit the high button. This is the part that takes faith. Somewhere around a minute you will hear the sound of the blender change. That tells you the frosting is done. Just try it. Really. If you make it to a minute and a half, just stop. It'll be fine. Use a spatula to scrape the frosting out of the blender and spread over the top of the brownies. NOW put your 9 walnut halves evenly across the top.
Let it sit for about an hour to "set up". For perfection, cut off about the outside 1/2 inch of each side of the cake before cutting into the 9 squares with the walnut in the center. This gets rid of the overdone edges (this is the cook's reward) and makes for beautiful brownies. For a clean cut, use your largest knife (I use my French chef's knife, but if I had a 12 inch slicer, I would use that) and cut straight down. I rinse the blade between cuts if I am doing this for a party because I want it to look pretty in addition to being wondrous.