The secret is out!!!...(and I'm back to blogging).... I've finally constructed the perfect brownie! In my earlier post: Totally Heavenly Edible Big Outstanding Mocha Brownies (T.H.E.B.O.M.B.) I had begun a quest of sorts to create the perfect, heavenly, gooey, chocolatey, moist, dark brownie, and here it is! Though these are minus the 'mocha' part, I think you'll still love them. Brownies aren't that difficult to make but to conjure up the perfect textured brownie to your personal liking can take quite a bit of chemistry; and that is what I have been working on. More eggs yeilds a "cakier" brownie, less, a "fudgier" brownie. Then theres the decision of whether to melt the butter or cream the butter with the sugar; melt the chocolate or use cocoa, and which type of chocolate to use, as different chocolates have different cocoa butter proportions. A lot of these conundrums depend, in fact, on what type of chocolate you use. So, I am still in the process of making the perfect brownie recipe with 'regular' cocoa, as the hubby is not a huge fan of overly chocolate confections. (pffshhh! an outrage!)
A little research on the becoming of The Brownie will show many tall tales going a little something like "so-and-so forgot to add flour to their cake" or "so-and-so melted the butter in their cake by accident" but no one knows exactly how it came about, except that it was not to long ago, in the late 19th to early 20th century. I came across an interesting tidbit that a lot of you Mainers will probably like too. Apparently, legend has it that the most likely story is that the brownie was created in Bangor Maine when a woman forgot to add baking powder to her cake. Now destroyed, she didnt throw it away but instead cut it into flat bars of "cake," served it and that recipe is published in a 1912 cookbook. (I got excited!) Unfortunately the first brownie recipe published was in 1906 by the famous, Fannie Merritt Farmer....and the Bangor recipe was almost identical. Still cool though!
So here are my brownies, the butter is melted and then heated with the sugar. This heating process is what gives the brownies their light flakey meringue-like tops. The most sinful detail of these brownies is the dutch cocoa (read more about dutch cocoa and chocolate types in my Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake recipe.) As I said, I am still working on the perfect simple chocolate brownie recipe, so stay tuned....I'll find it someday :)
Deep Down Dark Chocolate Brownies
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup dutch process cocoa
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and very lightly grease an 8x8 or 9x9 pan.
2. Melt the butter over low heat, once melted, stir in the sugar and cook until hot but do not boil! Mixture should become shiny and "glossy." Cool a little
3. Meanwhile, beat together the eggs, cocoa, salt, B.P., and vanilla. Mixture will be sort of dry.
4. Stir in the butter/sugar misture and mix until smooth. Add the flour and chips last, when youre ready to throw them in the oven. Stir in until JUST combined. (Its okay if the chips melt a bit, they will be heavenly in the end.)
5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes. Maybe 21 :)6. Remove and let cool. (Remove yourself from the room for about 15 minuts, I have to so that I dont eat them and burn my face off haha)
Enjoy!
Photos by the Chocolate Cookie
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