ONE - BOWL DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Last Thursday was a stressful day for me. I never get stressed that easily but when I do, I go crazy! I had to get out that stupid feeling and what else can bring my mood back other than Baking! I decided I shall bake something chocolate-y, something soft, something sweet and something yum. Didn't that sound like I should be baking a brownie? :-)
So Chocolate Brownies, it was!



I've had this recipe with me for a while now and every time I looked at it , I postponed the idea. That day seemed to be perfect to make them because I wanted something really good and at the same time I didn't want my sink to be filled with vessels. So I set out to make a batch of one bowl brownies.
While I put a saucepan half filled with water to a simmer,I pulled out my digital weighing scale and measured out the chocolate and butter into a stainless steel bowl.Then I let them melt over the simmering water.I usually go for the fast track option of melting them in the microwave oven but this time I wanted things to go slow, so that I can calm down. It did the magic. There's something so magical in seeing the chocolate and butter melt together and become one.

The rest of the process was just a breeze. I added  the ingredients one by one making sure I don't overdo the beating because I don't like my brownies to be cake-like. I never cared for all that maybe 4-5 years back but now, I prefer my brownies to be soft bellied, almost fudgy in the centre. I also cannot imagine eating an overbaked brownie which ends up being nothing but a dried piece of chocolate something.

While the oven was preheating, I poured the luscious brownie batter into the lined baking tin and using an offset spatula, I smoothed out the top. I thought twice of sprinkling some nuts over it but then chose not to. I placed them gently into the oven and set the timer for 25 mins. While the brownies were baking, I set to clean up the kicthen and by the time I was done,they were done too! The next step is the worst part of baking brownies...letting them cool completely before cutting into them. If you don't do that, you will be ruining the texture of these good heavenly little things.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
Recipe source: Joy of Baking
Makes 16 pieces

Ingredients:
150g semi sweet chocolate
1 stick butter
1 c sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 eggs
3/4 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Method: Preheat the oven to 350 F/ 180C and line an 8 inch square baking tin.
In a large stainless steel bowl, melt chocolate and butter together. Add sugar + cocoa powder and whisk together. Add in the eggs one by one and whisk till they are just mixed. Fold in flour + salt . Add the vanilla and give it one final whisk. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 25 -30 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs.Remove from the oven & let it cool in the pan completely. Cut into 16 squares and enjoy!

As soon as the brownies were cooled and cut into pieces, I packed half of it for the freezer so that I could use them up when Jobin's cousins would visit us in Summer. The other half was used up by the two of us and our friends. But the fate for those frozen brownies was something else...we had a friend over for dinner last night and before we wore our jackets to head out for the musical Mamma Mia!, we munched on those yummy goodness! And before I knew it, I was packing up the remaining for him to take home :-)

Now that our freezer is empty, my brains are working on what to bake next!

COCOA BROWNIES WITH CRUNCHY MACAROON TOPPING

One of the best things living in Minneapolis so far is that I got to meet and greet some of my favourite people. When I say my favourite people (in this context), they are not my family, but friends through blogging. Earlier last year, I met Zoe & Jeff of ABin5 fame. I went for their bread baking class on Healthy Bread In 5 Minutes a Day and it was fun!!A few weeks ago, I met Alice Medrich.She was on a tour for her new book Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-mouth Cookies and Minneapolis was her first stop.When I got to know about it, I booked my seat right away because I couldn't wait to hear that they are sold out.This happened in July. The class was in November :-D I just couldn't risk not being there when she was in town!!

 So, that Nov.15 evening, Jobin said he would get back home as soon as possible from work,so that he could drop me at the cooking school. Everything went smooth. I checked my bag for my camera and pen. Everything was in place. All we need to do was to leave. And we left for the school.It is just a 15 minute drive and it's a road that we are very used to. We even got onto the HOV (special lane for cars with 2 or more people in it) to avoid the after-office- hour traffic. Everything went smooth till we took the wrong exit! My hands went cold. I just didn't want to be late, atleast that day. I kept calm because I could see the worry on his face. Poor thing, he knew how much I had longed to be a part of Alice's class and I had been waiting for months now! I said, 'It's Ok,as long as we get there before the class gets over'.

Finally we reached there, maybe 10 mins late.He left me on the sidewalk and I ran. Yes,I ran on the slippery pavement (it snowed the night before). I felt I was running,but later he said, 'I thought you'd run to the class, but you just walked!'. So, maybe I was running inside :-)
Here's some cookies that she made for us ME! :)

Meeting Alice was definately a blessing, because I am a true fan of hers. I simply love all her books and the way she takes us through each of the steps.She is such a lovely lady to meet and greet.I shouldn't forget to mention...her recipes are fool proof! Here are some of her pictures, in action!

If you have this book and you are searching for this particular recipe, you maynot find it because I combined 2 recipes together to give some crunch to the otherwise plain brownie (which is by the way ,absolutely delicious!).

COCOA BROWNIES WITH CRUNCHY MACAROON TOPPING
Recipe: Chery Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich



Macaroon Topping:
Page no:176
Ingredients:
1 large egg white
Scant 1 1/4 cups dessicated coconut (The original called for unsweetened dried flaked, since I didn't have any, I went ahead with this)
1/4 c sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Large pinch of salt

Cocoa Brownies:

Page222

Ingredients:

11 tbsp unsalted butter

1 1/4 c sugar

1 scant cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/3 c plus 1 tbsp all purpose flour,preferably unbleached.

Method:
For the topping:
Combine all the ingredients together in a stainless steel bowl and double boil it by setting it over a large pan filled with barley simmering water.
Stir the mixture, scraping the bottom to prevent burning until the mixture is very hot to touch and the egg whites have thickened slightly and turned from translucent to opaque,3-5 minutes. (For me, none of these worked!So I went ahead stirring it for almost 10 minutes.)
Set the batter aside for 30 mins to let the coconut absorb the moisture while you make the brownie batter.

For the brownie:
Pre-heat the oven to 325F.Position the rack in the lower third of the oven.
Line your tin with aluminium foil.

Melt butter in a bowl set directly in a pan of simmering water. Add the sugar, cocoa and salt.Stir until the ingredients are blended and the mixture is hot.
Remove the bowl and let the mixture cool till it is warm to touch.Mix in the vanilla.
Add the eggs, one at a atime, mixing vigorously with a spatula after each addition.
When the mixture looks thick,shiny and well blended, add all of the flour at once and stir until you cannot see it any longer.
Then mix vigorously for 40 strokes with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula .
Spread evenly in a pan.
Top with the coconut topping and bake for 20-25 mins (mine took 32 mins) or till a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dirty looking.
Let it cool.Peel away the foil and cut them into squares. Enjoy!

Verdict:
Jobin is a big fan of macaroons. So he had a double treat! Trust me, you will never miss the chocolate here. It is so fudgy and nice that it is hard to believe that we can get the same texture as that of chocolate browines with the cocoa powder.

So now don't give me an excuse saying,'I didn't have chocolate, so I couldn't make brownies!' :-) Go ahead and try them just as is or with the topping.You are going to love it!