Breaking It In with Brownies
There was a moment last night when the excitement of my new oven really hit me (just this one more time, then I'll stop). The timer on my oven had gone off (I had set it for the minimum time), so I turned on the light (the light!) and could see that the brownies were still wet in the middle. When they finally were done and I opened the door (there's that light again!) and pulled the pan out, everything was so gleaming, bright and smooth and chocolatey smelling. It made me realize how dark and cavernous my old oven was.
Anyway, the brownie recipe was from this great book I borrowed from someone here at work, BitterSweet by Alice Medrich. I had fallen in love with the book before I even tried a recipe (I want to try a couple more before I decide to buy one for myself). Each chapter has a long introduction, which is a mixture of what she learned from testing the recipes (in a very conversational way, though; not like a Cooks Illustrated scientific kind of approach), anecdotes about her life, history about the recipes in the chapter, the kinds of chocolate she uses. Almost all the recipes in her book include variations that use different types of chocolate, including chocolates with different percentages of chocolate liqueurs. Great explanations for why you use a certain technique and what each ingredient does.
The brownies: First you combine 10 tablespoons butter, 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa, 1 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a double boiler until the butter's all melted, everything's combined and the mixture is hot to touch (as Medrich says, "hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test"). Let it cool off a bit, then mix in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 2 cold eggs, one at a time, mixing "vigorously" after each. The batter almost seems like it's seizing up, gets thick and shiny and kind of like a big glob. Add 1/2 cup flour and mix, then stir 40 strokes with a wooden spoon. Spread in a 8-inch square pan lined with foil. (I sprayed my foil for insurance.)
Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes (I actually ended up going 28 on mine). Cool in pan on rack for a few minutes, then lift edges of foil to remove from pan, pull off foil and cool some more on the rack. We ate them kind of warm last night. Wow. Cut them in small squares because they're really rich and chocolately, dense.
My co-workers were highly appreciative of the samples you sent with me...
What an oven! As one of the appeciative co-workers to which Todd is referring, let me commend you on an extremely well-executed brownie. I don't have much of a sweet tooth so can't claim to be an expert but, thanks to you, the office is now also "gleaming, bright and smooth and chocolatey smelling". Delicious. Thanks for sharing the bounty.
i admit i am hooked on walker eats, as much for the comforting tone as for the comfort food. and today i was presented with an absolute treat. i work with Kim's husband and he generously presented me with one of these brownies...holy cow! i must confess here that i am not supposed to eat sugar -- in fact much of my pleasure in reading the entries on this site is from vicarious enjoyment...but i couldn't resist and i ate a big bite of brownie. it was utterly delectable.
Oh, these sound goooood. Think I might make 'em tonight for dessert.
Nice stove. Congrats.
this looks lovely - i've only ever had lentils (over-)cooked with bacon and generally reminding me of bad boarding school kitchen. this here looks utterly delicious and i will be trying it shortly... thanks for the eye-opener!