I am probably going to get alot of flak for this but I have to say this anyway. I have never liked brownies. Facing trays of chocolatey brownies on many occassions, I have never had the impulse to help myself to them. I am trying to rationalise my reaction, struggling to find the right words to express my lack of zest or excitement for them. Brownies, to me are coarse, rich but bland - that's the best I can do until I came upon Dorie Greenspan's opening to Pierre Hermes Moist and Nutty Brownies Recipe, I found the exact words that depict my feelings toward this American all-time favourite pastry : insipd, indifferent. It lacks the sublime quality I fall for in French or Japanese pastries. I am not good at handling an overload of the richly rich... my appetite would go on strike and shut down completely. For example, I do have a weakness for chocolates but I would take them in small doses. 2 little truffles made from the best quality chocolate will keep me sailing in bliss for days (well, maybe 1 day) hence my box of Valrohna chocolate squares can last me for weeks.
So why have I chosen to bake brownies then? ... because I have a dinner gathering coming up and my friends seem to like brownies.... and because Dorie Greespan had written that this recipe is a prime example of Brownies of the sublime variety. Made with good quality bitter sweet chocolate, an abundance of butter and generously studded with nuts - they are baked to just set at the surface;" the center of the brownie remains moist - very moist." I got mesmerised by her description and decided to give it a try.
It was easy enough for I have loads of good quality chocolate in my fridge, blocks of French butter in my freezer and some macadamia nuts from a previous bake. These turned out to be short so I had to top up with some pistachio nuts in my chiller.
I did a small trial batch which yielded about 9 squares. I am not quite happy wth the way they look. I have a feeling I might have overaerated when I creamed the butter for it did not turn out as compact as the photo in the cook book. And even though I had baked as instructed at 180C x 20mins, the center still seems a little gooey - unsure if this is actually the Very Moist sublime quality as depicted by Dorie Greenspan.
Verdict? ... certainly moist and delightful. Sumblime? Not really... at least I have not achieved it yet.
Recipe :
145 g Bitter sweet chocolate, preferably Valrohna Caribe. (I used Tainori)
260 g Unsalted butter
4 Large Eggs
250g Sugar
140g All purpose flour
145g Pecans or walnuts, lightly toasted and very coarsely chopped.
1. Preheat oven to 180C. Prepare a 24x 30cm baking tray. Line bottom with a piece of parchment paper, butter the paper and dust the inside of the pan with flour.
2. Melt chocolate in microwave. Cool down to 45C before use.
3. In a bowl, cream butter with rubber spatula. Consistency of butter should be smooth and creamy but not airy. Stir in chocolate, egg (lightly beaten), sugar followed by flour and nuts.
4. Pour batter into baking tray and smoothen surface with spatula.
5. Bake for 19- 22mins; at this point the top of the cake will be dry but a knife inserted in the center will come out wet. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and allow brownies to cool.
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19 comments:
top it with vanilla ice cream will be nice for this super hot weather.
: )
Irene, yes, I thought of pairing it with one scoop of ice cream but of all the stuff I have in my freezer...no ice cream..LOL
You made me laugh Shirley....you have evrything in ur freezer except ice cream! that is unbelievable..but I suppose its better than having ice cream and nothing else!
the brownies look terrific and i understand you about chocolate. my daughter is like that too...she likes it but can only eat a morsel at a time..and the same with brownies ...so youre not alone ^_^
I am like that too..rich desserts are not for me..I know..I know..but the Toblerone was not for me:)
This is the way most people like their brownies Shirley..Fudgey:) Yours look done to perfection..Really..I bet your guests will love them.
Did you add some pistachios? I like the green there:)
Hi Monique! Yes, I did add pistachios. I didn't have enough Macadamia nuts. Yes, when I was writing this, I thought of your Toblerone:) I remember my remark was 'richness overload'... I didn't mean it in a negative way but I am just not that into richness...:)
No worries if you don't fancy brownies, just send a tray over to me after baking ;)
Shirley
You have milk and egg yolks..do some ice cream lah : O
LOL :O
let me be the first to push to the head of line screaming my love for chocolate! i think its my very favorite food group~ and brownies, like crack for me... i rarey make them because they are gone the same day~
thanks for your nice note about food for thought, i have found great books too, i hope you can join in soon, it really is fun playing with your books and food!
Try my steamed brownies then :)
My Chocomaniac husband loves it.
Anyway, urs look fine to me. I always see on TV that they don't cream the butter much, it's like mixing everything together, that's it.
Shirley, these brownies look great! Like you, I have to have a glass of milk to go down with brownie, no matter how small the square is. The last time I had a brownie was on a flight. When the flight attendant asked what drink I wanted & I asked for milk, she was taken aback. Haha... probably I was the first passenger she came across asking for milk... ^^
Brownies are sooo good aren't they! And French butter is sublime so I can really imagine how utterly good these would be!
For awhile I thought there were peas in those brownies! Looks really moist and fudgy. Brownies are good for parties, so simple but so yummy!
Lovely brownies. I want to grab a piece off the screen. Nice pictures :)
These look so awesome, I like the moist texture and loves the nuts, my kids would always forbid me to add nuts in brownies, I hope they will 'outgrow' this soon :)
Hi Shirley - Dorie can definitely make something blah into something fantastic. I love the addition of the nuts - are they pistachios? Recipe says walnuts or pecans?
Tris, yes I added pistachios because it's what I have in my fridge..:P.. Sicilian Pistachios -very green in colour.
Shirley, your fridge sounds like my dream come true! ;) The brownies look amazing.
they look really good to me, pistachios and macadamia nuts sound interesting, to bad you were not to happy with them...I like simplicity of this recipe...
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