Nothing much to say other than "Hello, stranger!" from me (and also my favorite stuffed animals)! I hope you will enjoy what I have planned for this second blog attempt. For more info on me, please read the side description -->
This blog will not be just on baking/food but will also be about random things that happen in my life that I feel I should record for...unknown future purposes. I hope it will be as enlightening and constructive for you as it is sanity-saving for me. I'm sorry, but I don't handle college very well. The anxiety gets to me.
Having said that, for the record, I am an entirely normally human being and I love baking for my friends and family. I only started the summer of my sophomore year and have been baking consistently + food porn researching only for the past 12 months. I am still only a beginner and hopefully going through with this blog will make me a less amateur baker.
The first thing I ever baked was Giada de Laurentiis's Espresso Brownies...which I stupidly botched up by thinking all brownie mixes are the same and that you should follow whatever the recipe tells you. Well here's some news, for this recipe, ignore everything she says and follow the instructions on your brownie mix. Add around 1-2 Tbsp of instant espresso powder and you should get a pretty delicious brownie. Add a simple shortbread crust if you want to be extra ambitious.
After that day, I swore off mixes forever and went hunting for a from-scratch brownie recipe. And while there were many great ones like the Matt Lewis's Baked brownies, or Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownies, I was only a poor college student and didn't want to invest in all those giganto brownie pans and ingredients for an oversized recipe that I was unlikely to eat by myself. I went looking through more blogs until I found the Fudgy, Chewy, Caking Brownies from myBakingAddiction.com. Created by the genius Pam Anderson, these brownies were perfect for me. They bake in an 8"by 8" pan, need a few ingredients and are impossible to mess up. Ever since then, they have been my go to brownie recipe and I have made them for a lot for my college friends. They are everything they are named for and more and are so amazingly delicious with a really rich chocolate taste and crunchy top. Till this day I honestly cannot believe that I had such good fortune to stumble on this treasure on my very first attempt at homemade brownies. It was truly a profound, life-changing experience.
I don't have have really good pictures of these brownies other than one of a brownie pop I made using the recipe...sooo that will have to do for now. Sorry, guys! On a side note, since they are more fudgy than anything, they make for a really solid brownie pop. They freeze like rocks and stay well on the lollipop sticks. I suggest looking for other websites for more brownie pop information but this is definitely something to try for yourself. Brownies pops are awesome gifts and really fun to eat. I mean they're brownies. On sticks. What more could you want? Eat one of these babies and you will do your happy dance.
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| Or you could do it Pusheen-style. |
Fudgy, Chewy, Cakey Brownies
YIELD: 16 Brownies
INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
veg cooking spray
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate - I have made this accidentally with 8 oz all semisweet chocolate and it wasn't a problem at all, in fact, I actually kind of liked the sweeter brownie. Do reduce the sugar to 1 cup (or even a little less if you like) though, as the sugar load might kill you.
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
veg cooking spray
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate - I have made this accidentally with 8 oz all semisweet chocolate and it wasn't a problem at all, in fact, I actually kind of liked the sweeter brownie. Do reduce the sugar to 1 cup (or even a little less if you like) though, as the sugar load might kill you.
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1-2 Tbsp instant espresso powder (depends on how much you like coffee)
optional: 3/4 cup toasted walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, peanuts
DIRECTIONS:
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Whisk flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl; set aside. Spray an 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Fit a sheet of foil in pan and up two sides, so you can use it as a handle to pull cooked brownies from pan (I used parchment paper). Spray sheet with cooking spray.
3. Melt chocolates and butter in a medium bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat; whisk in sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each one before adding the next. Continue to whisk until mixture is completely smooth and glossy. Add dry ingredients, whisk until just incorporated. Stir in nuts, if using.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes out with wet crumbs, 35-45 minutes. Check the brownies at 30 minutes just to be sure. Even if they are underbaked it's really okay. If they're close to wet crumbs, I suggest pulling them out and leaving them to cool in the hot pan. I have overbaked these before and it kinda sucked (still tasted good though!) because I had to dig for the soft parts that could work for my brownie pops.
5. Cool brownies in pan on a wire rack for five minutes. Use handles to pull brownies from pan. Completely cool brownies on rack, at least three hours. Cut into squares and serve. If not serving immediately, do not cut brownies. Whole brownie cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap, then foil, and refrigerated for up to five days. Don't plan on eating them right away if you refrigerate them. They freeze like rocks and I do not want to send you on an extra visit to the dentist. I suggest pulling them out a few hours before and let them warm up a bit before serving. Even better, zap them in the microwave and serve with ice cream. YAY.
2. Whisk flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl; set aside. Spray an 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Fit a sheet of foil in pan and up two sides, so you can use it as a handle to pull cooked brownies from pan (I used parchment paper). Spray sheet with cooking spray.
3. Melt chocolates and butter in a medium bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat; whisk in sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each one before adding the next. Continue to whisk until mixture is completely smooth and glossy. Add dry ingredients, whisk until just incorporated. Stir in nuts, if using.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes out with wet crumbs, 35-45 minutes. Check the brownies at 30 minutes just to be sure. Even if they are underbaked it's really okay. If they're close to wet crumbs, I suggest pulling them out and leaving them to cool in the hot pan. I have overbaked these before and it kinda sucked (still tasted good though!) because I had to dig for the soft parts that could work for my brownie pops.
5. Cool brownies in pan on a wire rack for five minutes. Use handles to pull brownies from pan. Completely cool brownies on rack, at least three hours. Cut into squares and serve. If not serving immediately, do not cut brownies. Whole brownie cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap, then foil, and refrigerated for up to five days. Don't plan on eating them right away if you refrigerate them. They freeze like rocks and I do not want to send you on an extra visit to the dentist. I suggest pulling them out a few hours before and let them warm up a bit before serving. Even better, zap them in the microwave and serve with ice cream. YAY.
So folks, that's it for my first post. Hope you guys enjoyed it, if there is even anyone out there! Go discover your brownie epiphany.
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| Chocolate coma right there. |
Image: http://s3.amazonaws.com/images.ziplist.com/images/3153557/bc0bb6e8ebe6dd1c776d0509a3b0ea93_large_square.png
P.S: Okay I lied...I can't find my brownie pop picture. But I swear I made it! I will look again and post the picture hopefully sorta soon.
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