Making some Brownies for Memory Lane

After five minutes of my friend staring at my yellow gift bag filled with brownies, I finally acknowledged her and the hungry look in her eyes.

“Yes, I made brownies.”

I reassured I would never give my bag of brownies to anyone else except my best friends.  Well, except for that day the priorities were the teachers who had written college recommendations for me, but that was a one-time exception.  I passed them out, warning everybody that these were super fudgy.

“Holy shit.”

“Ah my gawd.”

“MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM”

*silence from my friend M who was too busy devouring every last crumb*

“SACRILEGE!” – S screamed as a crumb fell to the floor.

I sat and watched my friends responses, a deep satisfaction rising inside of me that manifested itself in a brighter and larger-than-normal smile.  All was as it should be – perfect.  S was descending upon her brownie as if she were going in for a first kiss.  L and M were taunting each other as usual with their drastically different paces of eating – L eats slower than a sloth savoring its greens while M eats as ravenously as a hyena who’s prey it would seem, might disappear at any moment.  As M devoured her brownie in less than a minute, L watched, disgusted.  And while L nibbled at her brownie, eating one crumb at a time, M had to shield her eyes and turn away.  All the while S seemed to be having a moment with her brownie.  Despite the bickering and the intimate moments my friends had with the brownies, our lunch was filled with our usual laughter.  Like I said – perfect.

It’s times like these, as simple as a lunch at school with my best friends and a few super-fudgy brownies for dessert, that make me unexplainably happy.  The fact that a simple batch of chocolaty, delicious brownies could bring such joy and laughter to a school lunch fills me up with satisfaction that even a brownie cannot achieve (okay, maybe these brownies can).  It just goes to show how food is not just food.  Food is society.  Food is culture.  Food is laughter and friendship.  Food is childhood memories.  Food is more than just something to fill up your empty stomach.  Food is what fills your soul, your heart, and your nostalgia.  In a few years, I know I will make these brownies again and as I sink my teeth into their fudgy yet ethereally light interior – all these memories will come rushing back, and I can’t wait.  But until that day, all I can do is bake more brownies, feed my friends, laugh until my face aches, and make memories that will last a lifetime.

Make these brownies, and you will never forget the joy they will bring to you, and your friends and family.  Or in the words of my friend S, “SACRILEGE!” if you do not make these brownies.

Super Fudgy Brownies from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/4 cups sugar – I used one cup.
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup chocolate chips – I added these in because I like variation in “texture”.  I also like extra chocolate in my brownies.  Seriously, you can never have enough chocolate.

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-inch square baking pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the two sides. Butter paper, and set pan aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.  Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes; remove bowl from pan.
3. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened (do not overmix).
4. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely (still on paper). On a cutting board, using a dampened serrated knife, cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.  Give to friends, make memories and laughter, and enjoy.

A legendary quest

Some go on quests to find their true selves.  Others persue their dreams in an effort to find their purpose.  And others make it their mission to save Middle-earth by throwing a thin, golden ring into a fiery pit of lava and brimstone (I apologize for the lord of the rings reference).

I am also embarking on a quest.  I am in pursuit of  my prince charming.  Cindarella, Snow White, and Sleeping beauty all found theirs so why shouldn’t I?  My ideal man is devilishly dark but just sweet enough.  He has a soft, but not too gooey center.  He has pockets of melty chocolate chips scattered throughout a dense, chewy interior all hidden by a deceptively crispy, shiny crust.  Ok, so maybe my prince charming isn’t actually a man; he’s a brownie.

This will be a long and arduous quest.  Judging by the sheer amount of brownie recipes out there I would say days, weeks, maybe even months (a girl can only eat so many brownies).  I will meet many brownies along the way but only those who are worthy enough will survive against my brownie critique.  I promise the next 10 posts won’t be brownies, maybe just every other one

For the sake of my mental and physical capacity for brownies I’m limiting myself to just plain brownies without any extravagant add-ins or variations; at most I’ll add chocolate chips because what isn’t made better by melty chunks of chocolate?  There will be a few other things I plan to keep constant in the recipes I try:

1. I refuse to wait until completely cool to cut and more importantly eat the brownies (as most recipes instruct to do) – I made brownies because I want brownies… now.  But I guess I’ll have to try one after completely cool too, you know, for testing purposes.

2. I will use 72% dark chocolate when it calls for bittersweet because I’m looking for a dark chocolate flavor in my perfect brownie.

3. I will always use white whole wheat flour because I love sneaking in whole wheat flour any where I can and I won’t feel as bad eating brownies in such large quantities.

If you’re wondering why I’m doing this my answer is: why not?  Brownies are one of my favoritest (for lack of better words) foods and I’ve been looking for an excuse to eat brownies in copious amounts for a long time.

I actually started my quest “unofficially” with these classic brownies – I just didn’t realize what I was getting myself into at the time.  So those brownies are included in my quest since I feel classic brownies are a good starting point.

And on to my first “official” contender for the position of perfect brownie.

CHOWs intense brownie

Flavor:  strong dark chocolate flavor, no hint of coffee flavor that was added, not too sweet, melty chocolate chips = intense bursts of chocolate, mmmm (I will probably say this for every recipe so I’ll get it out of my system now – mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, yuuuummmmm)

Texture:  the edges, like in any brownie recipe were relatively dry, but these were also very crumbly.  I like a chewy crust and this one shattered into a hundred chocolaty crumbs the moment it hit my tongue.  The brownie itself was also very crumbly and almost seemed to melt in my mouth.  The crumbliness could easily be mistaken for being dried out but I think it is just the nature of this brownie.  The chocolate chips, as always, gave a nice change in texture and picked up loose crumbs in my mouth – dare I say, “cleansing” my palate.

2nd Day

Flavor:  seemed just as chocolaty as before but otherwise no huge difference in taste.  Of course I also believe that brownies taste better warm so when I warmed it in the microwave for a few seconds it made a perfect breakfast on a chilly New England morning.

Texture:  became much denser and slightly harder overnight (which is another reason why I warmed it up because I like my brownies softer).  The middle became very dense and it was almost like eating pure chocolate except so much better because it’s a brownie!  It was still very crumbly, but don’t worry, I didn’t let any crumbs go to waste.

Overall Rating:   It’s hard to say it’s not the best because I don’t think I’ve tried enough brownies, but I’ll admit that I did go back for another thin slice – to “remind” myself of how it tasted.  A glass of milk complements the intense chocolate flavor very nicely.  The thing that stood out to me the most was the crumbliness of this brownies – I’m searching for a more chewy brownie – especially a chewy crust so this one cannot be called the best, but it is most definitely delicious in all its chocolate intensity.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon brewed espresso
• 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Line an 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish with aluminum foil.
2. Combine chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until evenly melted. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
3. Combine eggs, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, espresso, and salt in a large bowl and briefly stir until just evenly incorporated. Add cooled chocolate and mix until uniform in color. Add flour and stir until just incorporated (no white streaks should remain).
4. Transfer batter to the prepared baking dish and bake until a tester inserted in the center of the brownies comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before cutting.