Monday, November 1, 2010

BROWNIES 15





Hanaa very kindly suggested a new Brownie recipe for me to try recently, she said that she had baked them a couple of times in a couple of weeks, with a recommendation like that, how could I resist!

Unfortunately I used normal  55%  chocolate to make the brownies, and think that by not using at least 70% I didn't do the recipe justice, they really needed a bigger cocoa punch.  I also used half milk chocolate for the chunks which was another nail in the coffin of their chocolatiness (chocolate taster #1 usually prefers milk chocolate chunks, but would have preferred all dark this time too).

That said, these brownies had a wonderful texture, beautifully moist without  any cakeness or sogginess, just perfect actually, and I imagine with a more powerful chocolate punch they would be truly wonderful.




Brownies
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated


1/3  cup                cocoa
1 tsp                     instant espresso powder
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp   boiling water
2 oz (55g)            dark chocolate (at least 70%) finely chopped
2oz (55g)             butter - melted
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp  vegetable oil
2                          large eggs
2                          egg yolks
2 tsp                    vanilla extract
2 cups                 sugar
1/2 cup                brown sugar
1 3/4 cups           flour
1/2 tsp                 salt
6oz (165g)          dark chocolate (again at least 70%!) chopped into pieces

Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F
Line a 9" brownie tin with parchment paper, or just butter it.

Whisk cocoa, coffee and boiling water in a large bowl.
Add 2 oz chocolate  and whisk until melted.
Whisk in the melted butter and oil.
Add eggs and egg yolks, vanilla extract and whisk until totally blended.
Whisk in the sugars until well incorporated.
Add the flour and salt and combine carefully with a large spoon.
Scatter the chocolate pieces over the brownie mixture.
Bake 30 - 35 minutes - you know how to check it's right!
Allow to cool for 1 1/2 hours and then cut into nice big chunks.

Enjoy!

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey just wondering if you'd consider voting for me on cheffactor.ie Thanks vick
http://www.cheffactor.ie/content/competition-entries/vicks-rabbit-pie

Rhyleysgranny said...

Well they look rather perfect to me. Lovely pic too.

Brownieville Girl said...

Just heading over to your blog Vick.

Thanks a million Granny, an experiment with white plate and background!

Anonymous said...

They do look very moist. All your food always looks good (and since I've tried a few of your recipes, I know they're good).

Thanks for your help with my tea party. It went pretty well. I have another one this month that I think will go a bit better since I'm preparing the food for this one. Your expresso loaves will definitely be on the menu!

Chele said...

We are milk chocolate lovers too but I always find brownies suffer for it. These days I make brownies with a half and half approach, half milk, half dark chocolate which seems to do the trick. They look great, can't wait to try them ;0)

Rose H (UK) said...

It must be hell living at you house! Torturing folk with all these brownies...LOL.
They look fabulous :o)

The Caked Crusader said...

Can you taste the coffee in the finished brownie? I see a lot of chocolate recipes with coffee and always avoid them as I hate coffee so much.

Unknown said...

Those look awesome I am very jealous all my brownies look like bricks lol..I think most of it is not being use to the ovens still after three years in Germany. :)

Unknown said...

dribbling...

Please Do Not Feed The Animals. said...

Mmmmmmm. Now I have a craving for brownies!

Danielle said...

Wow, you've made a lot of brownies! These look delicious(: I love the chocolate chunks.

mr. pineapple man said...

one slice for me please!

Brownieville Girl said...

M & M delighted everything went well.

Chele, personally I'd go for the highest % possible (in baking), #1 taster prefers the 55% though!! For just eating it has to be milk every time though!!

Rose - it's pure hell!!!!

CC, the coffee is supposed to make the chocolate taste more chocolaty, I'd start out with a pinch and see how you like it (worth a try!)

Tessie, I'm sure yours are lovely :-}, although I find that recipes that start by whisking the eggs and sugar until frothy are pretty foolproof.

Oh please have two Mr P!!

Dom, LOL!

PDNFTA, plenty of recipes here to try!!

Thanks Danielle.

Catherine said...

I am going to bake these right now for work tomorrow - I like to bring stuff into the tearoom for the break - we need a lift in the HSE right now and chocolate makes you happy! And we have students on placement this week so we can show them how nice it is in the community - they'll go back to college with positive impressions! Thanks for commenting on son's grad over on my blog - have replied to you there.
all the best, Catherine

Anonymous said...

oh yum! this looks so rich and delicious. i love it.

Hanaâ said...

They certainly LOOK wonderful and chocolatey. I'm glad you gave these a try!! I made them again not too long ago (yes, I really like them) and this time I used the amount of sugar specified (2.5 cups of white sugar instead of my adaptation of 2c white sugar and 1/2 c brown sugar), and they were a little too sweet for my taste.

I agree that the texture of these brownies is perfect. Like you said, you can always use darker chocolate to "up" the choc flavor without messing up the texture. I hope you make them again and report back how like version #2 of these brownies :o)

Cakelaw said...

These definitely look delicious, and they are nice and substantial - my kind of brownie.

Brownieville Girl said...

Catherine - hope the brownies work out well - the students might never go back!!

bbkd - Thanks!

Hanaa - thank you so much for the recipe, I totally agree that your alterations make a big difference :-}}

Cakelaw - Thanks for popping by.

Catherine said...

Just to feedback - the brownies went down a treat and the students might have a totally warped impression of our work! They may think we drink tea and eat quality home-baking all day! (we do visit babies and run clinics and do dressings in between!) Modification - I put in a handful of chopped pecans - roughly chopped, more crumbled. I will post on my blog as I took some pics. Will credit you of course with the original recipe and thanks for sharing it!
Catherine

freerangegirl said...

Now im on a cake free diet (only for a little while mind!) im reduced to torturing myself admiring pictures of yummy brownies like these. Thank goodness we dont have scratch and sniff screens, I think Id go demented!!!

La Bella Cooks said...

Texture is important too so now you know how to kick it up to make it into the perfect brownie for you. The pics are lovely though.

Catherine said...

http://deise-dispatches.blogspot.com/2010/11/comfort-zones-chocolate-pecan-brownies.html just blogged with photos of my brownies variation of yours - and credited you with links. Thanks a million! My socks are in there too, it's all feelgood stuff!
Catherine

Unknown said...

they look fantastic! and I can totally understand your alterations...it's sometimes hard to find and expensive to get the higher cocoa content. But hey...chocolate is chocolate and it's all good

Brownieville Girl said...

Catherine - delighted you like them, but I have to pass on all credit to Hanaa!! Love the socks!

FreeRange Girl - oh an apple would be just as nice! ;-}}

Bridgett - Thanks a million, not up to your standard but I'm trying!!

Danielle, totally agree - Chocolate is always good!!

Karen said...

They do look great. Brownies with the perfect texture are so addictive. I could practically eat the whole pan!

Anonymous said...

Those look amazing, I should try these. I've never actually made brownies from scratch, I'm ashamed to say, only from boxes LOL.
*kisses* HH

Diana's Cocina said...

I could go for one of these right about now. Looks delicious!

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

These look decadent. I usually just use a box mix and add nuts and chocolate pieces. These are too good to pass up.

My Little Space said...

Oh my, this doubel chocolate brownie sound absolutely marvellous! Thanks for the recipe.
Kristy