Brownies... Well, brownies are... The thing about brownies, you see is... Well, ... Umm....
Ok. Stop right there.
Before we go any further, there is one thing that you have to understand. There is only
one way to have a brownie.
No - Stop. You THINK you know what a brownie is supposed to be like, but you're
wrong. You are entitled to your opinion of course, but really, that's all it is - an opinion
and a wrong one at that. There are roughly 250 million people in the United States, and
each of them has a slightly different conception of a perfect brownie. Even more to the
point - each of them is CERTAIN that their favorite brownie is the ONLY proper brownie.
Seriously - stop the next five people that you see and ask them what a brownie should be
like. Not only will every one of them have a different answer, but each of them will look
you in the eye and tell you with fanatical certainty that theirs is the only correct brownie.
Ask somebody their phone number or the names and ages of their children, they will have
to pause to think, but ask them about brownies and they'll answer you without missing a
beat.
Or, even more interestingly, describe YOUR view of the perfect brownie to them. Watch
them carefully as you list its essential characteristics. If your vision is close to theirs, they
will start to grin, smiling more and more as you go down your list. They might even start
to chant, "Yes, yes.." as you move down the list. Eventually though, you will describe a
characteristic that they just can't agree with, and they will visibly slump with
disappointment, or even tilt their head back and grown. It's disappointing to think you may
have found your brownie soul-mate, only to find that you are mistaken.
Actually, it's not surprising that we all disagree about the character of the perfect brownie.
There are a lot of factors to consider - more than you might think - and it's highly unlikely
that you will ever find anybody who agrees with you on all points. These are just a FEW
of the points of contention that surround brownies:
The basic consistency - cakelike and slightly dry, chewy or moist and fudgelike?
Nuts or no nuts? (This category takes on a whole host of subordinate considerations - A
LOT of nuts or just a few?, What kind of nuts? On top of the brownie or blended
throughout?)
Sweeter or richer? - Heavier on the sugar or on the cocoa?
Frosted or unfrosted? (And if frosted, what kind of frosting - chocolate or cream
cheese? Also, frosted just on the top or all along the edges as well?)
Warm from the oven, cold from the fridge, or room temperature?
Cut from the center of the pan or from one of the edges, or in extreme circumstances,
from a corner?
What do you drink with it?
What time of day should you eat it? (Everybody has the same answer to this one - "Any
time!", but on deeper reflection, opinions vary widely - from first thing in the morning with
breakfast to a midnight snack.)
The whole "chocolate saturation" question. Is there such a thing as too much chocolate?
For instance, how do you feel about the concept of a chocolate brownie with chocolate
frosting and chocolate chips, served with chocolate ice cream and hot cocoa?
What about "Add-Ins"? Aside from the ubiquitous nut controversy, there are
differences of opinion regarding the thousand or so ingredients that people regularly mix
into their brownies - M&Ms, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, crushed toffee,
butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, coconut, coffee, rum, bourbon, miniature
marshmallows and gummi-bears, just to name a few.
(A side note: On his television show, The Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith once recommended
mixing in chili peppers. He explains that chocolate and chili were both developed in
Mexico at the same time by the Aztecs and that the flavors were developed to compliment
each other. Certainly worth trying once, anyway.)
Feelings about all these factors run deep. Get into a conversation about brownies with a
group of people and you will see a degree of resolve and passion that is really surprising if
you think about it. Everyone in the group will wear a smile throughout the conversation,
but part of the smile will be in recognition of the silliness of expressing such strong feelings
about a desert. The smile is also a social crutch - it tells everybody, "Hey, we're having a
FUN conversation," so the discussion won't take an ugly turn.
Children don't have that kind of inhibition. Ask a group of schoolchildren about brownies,
and within a few seconds, they will be shouting at each other, perhaps even coming to
blows. Brownies are strong stuff - a power to be reckoned with.
Fortunately, it's a power that can be used for good as well as for evil. Maria Callahan, a
Life Skills (what we used to call "Home Ec") Teacher at Keene Middle School. She uses
brownies to teach her students the basics of cooking. They provide a nearly perfect
opportunity to discuss some really important kitchen issues, she says. "Brownies provide a
good context in which to discuss various ingredients," she explains. "There are a lot of
steps involved in baking them, so brownies are a good way to introduce the kids to the
concepts of sequencing and teamwork. They aren't hard to make, so the students have
their confidence built up right away. Because they are so popular, the kids take a lot of
care in preparing them and they are familiar, so they know what they are supposed to turn
out like. They take a lot of pride in them, a feeling of ownership - 'Hey, look how MY
brownies turned out.'"
Professional bakers spend a lot of time and effort trying to nail down the perfect brownie
recipe. They try to juggle all of the factors of flavor, density and richness that are obvious
to even the non-professional, plus a lot of other factors that most of us never consider, like
appearance, shelf-life, how well they will travel and a mysterious factor called "mouth
feel".
Chris Fowler, the Plant Manager for Bagelworks, says that a LOT of thought went into
their basic brownie recipe when it was in development. "Our biggest concern was
customer perception," he says. "We wanted a brownie that was dense enough to have
some heft to it - when a customer picks up one of our brownies, we want them to stop for
a split second and go, 'Wow.' At the same time, we wanted it to have a decent volume - it
couldn't be too flat. We spent a lot of time experimenting with different leavening
ingredients to give us just the right degree of 'airy-ness'."
In the end, even though the development team came up with a recipe that was very good,
nobody was PERFECTLY satisfied. They all liked the end product tremendously, but it
didn't match anybody's vision of the ideal brownie. "I'd personally like to use about twice
the amount of nuts that anybody else would want," says Fowler, "plus I'd put in at least one
more add-in, like chocolate chips."
Sadly though, he's wrong. That would be a good brownie, but of course, there is only one
perfect type of brownie. It is as follows: (Ready? Go get a pencil to write this down - it's
important.)
The perfect brownie is chewy - moist, but not fudgy, NO nuts (None!), cut from the
corner of the pan, so that it has two distinct crispy/chewy edges, no add-ins, served at room
temperature, just before bed-time with an ice-cold glass of whole milk.
You don't agree with this, of course. It doesn't match YOUR image of the perfect
brownie. But then again, you are wrong.
The following recipes make some remarkably good brownies. They aren't PERFECT of
course, but they are much, much better than a sharp stick in the eye.
Simply The Best Chocolate Brownie
4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into 1/2 ounce pieces
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Lightly coat a 9x9x2 inch square cake pan with 1 teaspoon of butter, then flour the pan
with 1 teaspoon flour, shaking out the excess.
Sift together the remaining 1/4 cup flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt onto waxed
paper. Set aside.
Heat 1 inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium-high heat. Place
the 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and 2 ounces semi-
sweet chocolate in the top half of the double boiler. Tightly cover the top with film wrap.
Heat for 4 1/2 to 5 minutes, remove from the heat and stir until smooth.
Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a balloon whip.
Mix on high until slightly thickened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the melted chocolate
mixture to the egg mixture and mix on medium for 30 seconds. Add the sifted ingredients,
mix on low for 10 seconds, then on medium for 10 seconds. Add the sour cream and mix
on medium for 5 seconds.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to combine thoroughly.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, spreading evenly, including the corners. Bake
in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40
minutes.
Remove the brownies from the oven and allow to cool in the pan at room temperature for
10 to 15 minutes. Use a serrated slicer to cut into 12 portions.
- from Death By Chocolate: The Last Word On A Consuming Passion by Marcel
Desaulniers
Mocha Brownies
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/3 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons instant coffee powder
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Melt chocolate and butter together over very low heat, stirring constantly. Set aside to
cool.
Beat eggs until light; gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla.
Combine with chocolate mixture and mix well.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and coffee powder; stir into chocolate mixture and
mix well. Fold in nuts. Pour into greased 8 inch square pan.
Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) 30 minutes, or until a slight imprint remains when
fingertips touch center top. Cool in pan set on rack, then cut in 2 inch squares. Makes 16.
- from Farm Journal's Homemade Pies, Cookies & Bread
Chocolate Cream Cheese Brownies
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Six 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
3/4 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts, cut into medium-sized pieces
Cheese Mixture:
3/4 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
5 tablespoons honey
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 inch pan.
Mix flours and baking powder together. Set aside. Melt chocolate and butter in saucepan
on very low heat or in a double boiler. Set aside to cool slightly.
With electric mixer in medium-sized bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Add honey and vanilla.
Beat at high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until creamy-colored, foamy and slightly thickened.
Add chocolate-butter mixture, beat in and turn off mixer. Stir in dry ingredients by hand
until just mixed.
Set aside 3/4 cup of this mixture. To the remaining mixture, add 3/4 cup walnuts (same
1/4 cup for the top). Stir in nuts. Spread the chocolate mixture in pan.
With electric mixer in small bowl, mix the cream cheese with butter until soft. Add honey
and vanilla. Mix well. Add egg and beat until smooth. Pour cheese mixture over
chocolate layer. Place the reserved 3/4 cup chocolate mixture in spoonfuls on top of
cheese layer (about 10 mounds). Draw a wide-bladed knife or small metal spatula through
the chocolate mounds into cheese mixture to create a marble effect. Try not to cut into
chocolate layer below. Don't overdo the effect. Top with remaining walnuts. Bake 25
minutes (30 if in metal rather than glass pan). Cool completely in pan and refrigerate 1
hour before cutting. These freeze well. 12 brownies.
