Brownies!

I chanced upon this recipe on she bakes and she cooks's blog sometime ago and decided to try it today:). It looked reliable=p. I've always wanted to try my aunt's brownie recipe but my mum said it looked super complicated and the recipe is with my bro><. Anyway, this is by Alice Medrich. I hadn't known who she was before, but she's actually a chocolate expert who had written quite a number of books, example recipes on cookies, brownies and chocolate desserts. Ya so this recipe is in fact very reliable! Other than the fact it was by a chocolate expert, I read of people trying out the recipe and producing fantabulous results. I made brownies before, but they turned out quite a disappointment):. So I want to make great ones this time round^^

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Classic Bittersweet brownies
By Alice Medrich

6 ½ ounces bittersweet chocolate (184g)
7 tbs. unsalted butter (98g)
1 cup sugar
2 cold eggs
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

8 inch square pan (lined with foil or parchment paper with 1” overhang)


Position rack on lower third of oven and preheat to 350°F (around 176°C)

Combine chocolate, butter and sugar in a heatproof bowl and melt atop a skillet with barely simmering water. Stir with a wooden spoon. When chocolate and butter is all melted, and the mixture is hot enough that when you dip your finger into it you would want to pull it out fairly quickly. Remove bowl from skillet, stir in the vanilla and salt. Add the egg one at a time making sure the first egg is fully incorporated. Stir in the flour and beat until smooth and glossy and batter is pulling away from the pan. Mix in the nuts if using then pours the mixture into the prepared 8-inch square pan.

Bake for about 20 minutes. The brownie is ready when it is starting to pull away from the sides, the top is dry and when you stick a toothpick in the center, it is still slightly gooey. Let cool on a rack before slicing into 16 or 25 pieces.

[Remember to butter your baking tray before you lay the parchment paper:) Cutting brownies will be an easier job if you butter your knife or dip your knife into hot water then wipe it dry before cutting.]

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I also tried the "Steve Ritual" which I read from Brownie Secrets, and that is how Alice Medrich keeps her brownies moist on the inside yet crisp on the outside. It is basically submerging your brownie (along with the baking tray) into an ice bath right after baking. Also, the brownies are baked for a shorter time at a higher temperature (190-204°C).

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Anyway, I made a few changes.

:: 210g of semisweet Hersheys chocolate chips (the rest of the pack left in my fridge after baking muffins)

:: 150g of sugar (my mum insisted that normally the amount of flour exceeds amount of sugar)

:: 140g of butter (adding more butter to the chocolate+butter+sugar mixture made the mixture even yummier. proven by she bakes and she cooks's blogger too! (click HERE)

:: My butter was still the salted one, so I omitted the salt in the recipe.

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The end-product:




Packing into boxes~




Have a look at the moist center! Sadly, the moist center hadn't worked on the sides of the brownies. The side brownie pieces were quite dry. Maybe I had overbaked the brownies a little. I had forgotten about the shorter baking time and baked for about 25 minutes at 190°C.

I guess overall it was quite successful, maybe I need more practice to make them taste even better:). Next time, I'll add one more egg to make it more chewy, add dark chocolate to make the brownie richer in taste, and add more butter to make it even more sinful heh heh.



:DD.