California has more than just beaches…

I was browsing through the hundreds of pictures I took during my trip to California over the summer and when I came across this beauty, I just had to share this miraculous creation with the world.  The night I experienced this miracle of a dessert, we were having a delightful dinner at a sea-side restaurant named Moonshadows near Los Angeles.  Now, I must compose myself before I go into the description of this dessert because of all these sensory memories that are bombarding me right now.

Okay, thank you for giving me a moment to compose myself.  Now let me begin:  When it arrives at the table it looks like your typical molten chocolate lava cake elegantly sprinkled with powdered sugar and decorated with an adorable sprig of mint.  The scoop of coffee ice cream is melting off to the side, just begging you to dig in as soon as possible.  The cake itself sits in diminutive pond of spiced coffee sauce that takes the luxurious flavor of coffee in this dessert to a whole other level (which you can barely see because I have devoured into near extinction).  And when you just can’t seem to stare at the melting ice cream a moment longer you dig into the cake itself, unleashing a flood of hazelnut flavored cream mixed with a perfectly gooey chocolate center.  Oh my lordy.  What perfection.  And the hazelnut cream, it’s no wimpy cream that barely tastes of hazelnuts.  It’s an explosion of hazelnut flavor.  In your mouth.  It’s pretty awesome.

Well, now that I have revealed to you my desperate love for this dessert maybe one of you, yes you dear readers, will be inspired to try something similar instead of your ordinary molten chocolate lava cake (not to say that those aren’t amazing)?  I know I am.

Rick Katz Brownies for Julia Child

That Julia had good taste.

These are some darn good brownies.  Period.

Yet I am torn between whether or not they can actually be considered brownies.  They resemble the brownies most once they have cooled over night, preferably in the fridge, but even then they are more like delicious brownie flavored fudge.  Almost directly out of the oven these brownies are really more like a giant molten chocolate lava cake with chewy brownie edges.  Not that I mind.

And the flavor?  Outstanding.  Really.  These are the best tasting brownies I’ve ever had.  It was just so, so, so…. good.  They were a mess to get out of the pan while they weren’t completely cool and collapsed into a gooey, chocolaty , mess of brownies with a perfectly crispy top.  The brownies that had not been devoured and were left in the pan oozed slowly out like lava, begging to be “cleaned up” with a fork (and a mouth).

After a night of refrigeration the already not-brownies-like brownies turned into fudge-brownies.  They were much easier to eat because they didn’t leave a chocolaty mess all over my plate and face.  Yes, when I eat brownies I get so excited that I get them on my face occasionally.  Especially when the brownies have a deliciously chewy crust like these.

If gooey, under-baked brownie is your weakness you will not be disappointed.  Really.

Rick Katz’s Brownies For Julia

Ingredients

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
• 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs

Directions

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350º F.  Put a 9 inch square baking pan on a baking sheet.  Whisk flour and salt together.
2. Set a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the butter and chocolate in.  Stir frequently until the ingredients are just melted-you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Add 1 c. sugar and whisk gently just to incorporate it, then remove the bowl from the pan of water.   Stir in the vanilla.
3. Put the remaining cup of sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer or a medium bowl and whisking a whisk, stir in the eggs.  Switch to a rubber spatula and little by little add half of the sugar-egg mixture to the warm chocolate, stirring very gently without stopping-you don’t want the heat of the chocolate to cook the eggs.
4. With the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer on medium-high for about 3 minutes, or until they double in volume.   Using a spatula and a light touch, fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate, stopping just short of blending them in completely.
5. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the batter and delicately fold them in, working only until they disappear.   Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the spatula.
6. Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until the top looks dry.   Poke a thin knife intot he center and take a peek:  The brownies should be only just set and still pretty gooey.
7. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.
8. Decide for yourself if these can be called brownies.