Archive for the 'Recipes' Category

Baked Brownies

Thursday, 8 Apr 10

Life is supposed to be all about balance. Lately though, the stars don’t seem to be aligning and everything feels all out of whack. First there was that horrendous lead up to the driving test, followed by the  euphoria of passing (note: I still haven’t driven since =P), which all got overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that needs doing. Law readings, statistics learning, falling asleep in learning and physiological psych lectures (who, me? Never…)—I was so glad mid-semester break finally came. This one week period following Easter is usually a great time to step back, take a deep breath, re-evaluate and just chill, before getting back into the daily grind. But then, realization struck that assignments and mid-semester tests immediately follow this ‘break’ and panic sank in again.

These brownies are (part of) my attempt to take deep breaths. They are all things good, and immensely stack-able (like lego!). Chocolate, coffee, liquor, butter…there is nothing better than simply taking an evening off from the mind-numbing textbooks and greek letters and equations, and just baking. Inhaling the deep aromas of chocolate melting ever so slowly alongside butter, whisking in sugar until the mixture is glossy…It’s very easy to forget those pesky assignments.

The recipe is one that has received much press recently, apparently voted best brownie in America by America’s Test Kitchen and the Today Show. I refer to the Baked Brownie. While the brownie was good….I can’t say it is the best brownie I’ve eaten, possibly because it is just slightly too baked for my liking (my bad, I know). The best brownie I’ve had was just barely set in the centre, and practically molten lava-cake like when warmed, and best eaten in a way that allowed for licking of chocolate-covered fingers. This is more dense cake like. Which isn’t a bad thing, because it cuts up beautifully and had the most amazingly crunchycrackly crust when fresh out of the oven (humidity on a rainy day got rid of that, alas). But it is still very very good.

I suspect that is due in part to the good teaspoon of coffee powder included in the recipe, and the shot of Kahlua I added to enhance the happy-making properties of the brownie. I also cut down the sugar, as I had no brown sugar (which would have added to the complexity of flavours and crackly top, I’m sure) and only had a little Lindt 70% Excellence on hand and had to substitute 200 grams of Lindt Couverture Milk Chocolate instead, as well as an extra teaspoon of cocoa powder. But as with all things, balance is the key.

So make sure you serve with a glass of milk. =)

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Posted at 12:03 pm in Recipes, Sweets | Respond?

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