bittersweet brownies

It’s been a long week. One incredibly fun photo shoot, three days of music playing, eardrums blasted in front of amps at a bar, and met the cutest 6 month old baby yet. Yes this week has been trying, long, but amazing. I think it’s time we deserved some brownies.

Okay, so a friend of mine requested for brownies to be brought to rehearsal. I flipped through Dorie’s book and found recipes from minty brownies to Katherine Hepburne’s brownies… What I wanted was something less than elaborate, easy, and fudgy. This recipe for bittersweet brownies fit the bill. Dense, moist, and like what Dorie said, easily mistaken for a dense mousse. I kept wondering if it was because I substituted 2/3 of the sugar with soft brown sugar or if I had under-baked them a little too much. I guess the mystery was solved when I read the recipe again specially for this post!

Case in point, you bake these, knife inserted comes out clean, and what your teeth sink into is this soft, fudgy mousse-like cake…it’s all fine!

For the win, top these with a dollop of whipped cream, creme fraiche, or better yet, vanilla ice cream. Classics never fail, and with chocolate, the day just gets better by the minute.

Bittersweet Brownies

by Dorie Greenspan from “Baking from my home to yours”

makes 32

(this recipe can be easily halved if you think 32 brownies are a bit much.)

2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces

9 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp instant espresso powder, optional

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 C all purpose flour

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Put the butter in together with the chocolate and stir occasionally till just melted. Do not overheat it that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the water.

With a whisk, stir in the sugar. It might get grainy, but it will even out. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and whisk enthusiastically to smooth the batter. Finally, gently whisk in the espresso powder, salt and flour, stirring till just incorporated. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake the brownies 20-22 mins, or until the top is dull and a thin knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool them to room temp.

Once completely cooled, turn out onto a rack, peel away the foil and invert onto a cutting board. Cut into 32 slender rectangles, each roughly 2 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches.

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