TWD Rewind: French Brownies

This week on Tuesdays with Dorie, baking bloggers will make Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream, a delectable treat chosen by Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiousity. Options were given to make ice cream with or without a machine, or to select a past recipe.

As much as I love ice cream, the prospect of running to the freezer to stir frozen custard every twenty or so minutes as I do not own an ice cream machine and will not be purchasing one anytime soon made me turn to Ms Greenspan’s French Chocolate Brownies instead.

How could something so American be French? Well, the story goes that Ms Greenspan was making fondant for dessert. She had the flash of inspiration to throw in some flambeed raisins to the batter, and came up with something that her French guests happily mistook for brownies.

This is my second sojourn in fondant cakes. The first incarnation on this blog appeared last April’s fools as the gooey chocolate lava cake also called a fondant au chocolat:

Looking at the fondant au chocolat above, you can just imagine how intensely creamy this would be when baked as a brownie.

The crisp exterior crackles when cut and reveals an exquisitely fudgy centre:

As for the flambeed raisins and nuts? I skipped them. I’m a bit of a brownie purist and think that large chunks of nuts, cream cheese, marshmallows and other frills are excessive to the point of being gaudy. Rather than extending my ingredients list, I would rather upgrade quality. Use Callebaut chocolate, please, and leave the ubiquitous Baker’s brand to gather dust on grocery shelves..

Notes:

• Thanks, Dolores, for hosting this week’s event. Please excuse that I am choosing a past recipe.

• Hardcore brownie traditionalists will specify unsweetened chocolate only – a stipulation that I find results in a one-dimensional taste and far too limiting.

• A thin, crackly crust can be achieved by not beating the eggs.

• Stir the brownie batter as little as possible for a fudgy result.

• Brownies are always better slightly underbaked. Take it out when there a tester inserted into the centre pulls out with lots of moist crumbs. If it pulls out with batter on it, then a little more baking is needed.

• The higher the cocoa percentage, the quicker the brownie will bake.

• Brownie failed to set? Don’t worry – you are on your way to the fudgiest bars ever. Cool the pan to room temperature, cover with foil or Saran, then pop in the fridge for a few hours to overnight.

• Some other exquisite brownie recipes: Nick Malgieri’s Supernatural Brownies, Alice Medrich’s New Classic Brownies, Dorie Greenspan’s French Chocolate Brownies, and my first love, Martha’s Fudgy Chocolate Brownies.

This blog’s a year old

I’m celebrating that this blog is now a year old. To celebrate, I made a cake for a co-worker:

I used Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Perfect All American Chocolate Cake and paired it with an adaptation of Martha Stewart’s Rich Dark Chocolate Frosting. The frosting is a departure from my usual Swiss meringue buttercream, which never yields a dark shade of brown. No eggs used in this one, just an inordinate amount of chocolate:

Three sticks butter, teaspoon salt and quarter-cup confectioners’ sugar were creamed until fluffy with a Kitchen Aid mixer. A pound of melted and room-temperature cooled dark was slowly stirred into the creamed butter. Flavour was intensified by slowly adding in a cooled mix of six tablespoons of Dutched cocoa dissolved in six tablespoons of hot espresso.

I found this frosting to be slightly tricky so I jotted down some notes below.

Another departure from my usual style, I did not tort this cake into four layers. RLB’s cake (seen above wrapped airtight in Ziplock, where they were frozen and thawed) is incredibly good so I wanted my tasters to have more of it in proportion to the frosting and filling for every bite.

I fiddled a bit with the frosting, not sure if I wanted it to come down in thick swags along the sides of the cake or to go with my favoured spatula swirl. I went with the first option, but after fiddling too much, I knew that I was no longer in a state that’s Zen enough to make relaxed swoops of frosting. Spiral swirls it is, I decided.

Notes:

The key to the frosting is getting it to the right consistency. Pull some frosting onto the inner sides of the bowl in which it is being mixed. If the frosting holds up and doesn’t drip down, it is ready to use. When done correctly, this frosting spreads, swoops and swags like a dream.

Starting with butter that’s soft but cold and making sure that the melted chocolate and dissolved cocoa mixture are on the cooler side of room temperature helps in getting it right the first time.

If you end up with a frosting that’s too liquid and it drips when you test it agains the inner sides of the mixing bowl, pop the frosting in the fridge. Stir and scrape the sides of the container every 20 minutes.

Now, if you’ve overshot and the frosting has become too solid, try vigorously stirring the frosting with a spatula, pressing the frosting agains the side of the bowl. If it’s still solid, turn your stove on and lightly wave the bowl a foot above the flames (or heated elements). When a bit melts at the sides, take the bowl away from the heat and stir again.

The All American Chocolate Cake is fragile when mixed according to RLB’s instructions – or at least, in all my attempts. Instead, I mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ingredients in another. To the dry ingredients, I mix on low cut pieces of butter until sandy and well blended. I add the wet ingredients in three parts, mixing on medium-high for two minutes and scraping in between. Thanks to Nick Malgieri for this technique.

Gearing down for September when I will be attending UBC medical school, I will maintain this blog with bi-monthly posts. I find baking and blogging calming so I don’t see any reason to say goodbye just yet. Thanks to all of you who have been browsing on to my humble blog and please keep coming back.

I can tell I’m excited about September because I seem to be inclined to paste images of the rod of Asclepius these days.

Next week: Tuesdays with Dorie.

This blog’s a year old

I’m celebrating that this blog is now a year old. To celebrate, I made a cake for a co-worker:

I used Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Perfect All American Chocolate Cake and paired it with an adaptation of Martha Stewart’s Rich Dark Chocolate Frosting. The frosting is a departure from my usual Swiss meringue buttercream, which never yields a dark shade of brown. No eggs used in this one, just an inordinate amount of chocolate:

Three sticks butter, teaspoon salt and quarter-cup confectioners’ sugar were creamed until fluffy with a Kitchen Aid mixer. A pound of melted and room-temperature cooled dark was slowly stirred into the creamed butter. Flavour was intensified by slowly adding in a cooled mix of six tablespoons of Dutched cocoa dissolved in six tablespoons of hot espresso.

I found this frosting to be slightly tricky so I jotted down some notes below.

Another departure from my usual style, I did not tort this cake into four layers. RLB’s cake (seen above wrapped airtight in Ziplock, where they were frozen and thawed) is incredibly good so I wanted my tasters to have more of it in proportion to the frosting and filling for every bite.

I fiddled a bit with the frosting, not sure if I wanted it to come down in thick swags along the sides of the cake or to go with my favoured spatula swirl. I went with the first option, but after fiddling too much, I knew that I was no longer in a state that’s Zen enough to make relaxed swoops of frosting. Spiral swirls it is, I decided.

Notes:

The key to the frosting is getting it to the right consistency. Pull some frosting onto the inner sides of the bowl in which it is being mixed. If the frosting holds up and doesn’t drip down, it is ready to use. When done correctly, this frosting spreads, swoops and swags like a dream.

Starting with butter that’s soft but cold and making sure that the melted chocolate and dissolved cocoa mixture are on the cooler side of room temperature helps in getting it right the first time.

If you end up with a frosting that’s too liquid and it drips when you test it agains the inner sides of the mixing bowl, pop the frosting in the fridge. Stir and scrape the sides of the container every 20 minutes.

Now, if you’ve overshot and the frosting has become too solid, try vigorously stirring the frosting with a spatula, pressing the frosting agains the side of the bowl. If it’s still solid, turn your stove on and lightly wave the bowl a foot above the flames (or heated elements). When a bit melts at the sides, take the bowl away from the heat and stir again.

The All American Chocolate Cake is fragile when mixed according to RLB’s instructions – or at least, in all my attempts. Instead, I mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ingredients in another. To they dry ingredients, I mix on low cut pieces of butter until sandy and well blended. I add the wet ingredients in three parts, mixing on medium-high for two minutes and scraping in between. Thanks to Nick Malgieri for this technique.

Gearing down for September when I will be attending UBC medical school, I will maintain this blog with bi-monthly posts. I find baking and blogging calming so I don’t see any reason to say goodbye just yet. Thanks to all of you who have been browsing on to my humble blog and please keep coming back.

I can tell I’m excited about September because I seem to be inclined to paste images of the rod of Asclepius these days.

Next week: Tuesdays with Dorie.