Make Ahead
The Wednesday Brownie
- Makes 36 minibrownies or 16 regular pieces
Author Notes
I'm clumsily experimenting with my first ever recipe on food52, so if you stumble upon this, please excuse the complete lack of propper spelling and gramma. I just haven't figured out how to remove the recipe, and don't have time to proof read yet. - promise the brownies are good though.
I'm the kind of person that often find myself in a baking crises, having voluntered to bring cake to a social or work function in the middle of a bussy week. Instead of automatically reaching for the bake-mix, I've come up with these brownies have become my go-to cake, to bake during the week. they tick off all the boxes for easy baking: Only based on pantry stables, can be put together in under 30 min, minimal clean-up, keep well for over a week, and very, very delisious.
The recipe is an adaption of Alice Medrich very popular, and delisiouce Cocoa Brownies with Brown Butter and Walnuts, in Bon Appétit. Changing the ratio of the ingredience, however, makes a very different brownie. It's much less sweet that the orriginal, and the texture is more truffely than fudgy - What I've come to think of as a european style brownie. —Lise
Ingredients
- Brownie batter:
-
200 grams
unsalted butter
-
300 grams
brown sugar
-
10 tablespoons
natural cocoa powder
-
1 tablespoon
coffee
-
1/2 teaspoon
vanila extract
-
1/2 teaspoon
salt
-
3
eggs
-
75 grams
flour
- Add-ins:
-
200 grams
hazelnuts, or you can use other nuts, chiped chocolate, fresh berries, whatever you have on hand.
Directions
- place hazelnuts on a baking sheat, and turn on the oven to 170 degree C. This way the nuts will toast while you make the batter - toasted nuts makes a world of diffrence to the flavour of the cake. If you use other typs
- Melt butter in a pan that's large enough to mix the batter in later. Let it bouil at medium high heat util it starts to brown - that is, allthe water has evaporated the fat has turned clear and slightly amber, and the little grains of whay at the bottom of the pan have turned brown. It will take about 10 min. After all the water has evaporated - it's stoped sizzeling - you'll want to keep an eye on it, so it doesn't burn, but you can still use this time to weigh out the rest of the ingredience.
- Once the butter is brown, dump in the cocoapowder, butter, vanila, salt and coffee. Give it a few stirs to mix it all together, then remove the pan form the heat. Continue to stir until it's well-mixed and the sugar is mostly disolved. Let cool down slightly before you add the eggs. Use this time to cover the inside of your pan with either greased aluminium-foil, or baking parchment, and weigh out the flour.
- after about ten minnuts the cocoa/butter mix should have cooled down enough to tough without burning. (if you love using a kitchen themometer chek that the temperature is below 135 degrees F (57 C) the temperature at which eggs start to set). Add eggs on at a time, whisking vigorusly.
- Add flours, fold in until it is ompletyly incorporated, but don't overmix. Add nut, choped chocolate or other add ins. Pour into the prepared pan, smooth out the surface.
- Bake for 30 min. When you check for doneness, there should be lots of moist crumbs stiking to the schewer. Let the cake cool completly before you cut it - preferably overnight in the fridge.
- Cut the cake into quaters, then cut each quater into nine equal pieces. Store in box on the kitchen counter for 3 - 4 days, in hte fridge for 10 days, or in the freezzer for ... well I haven't been able to leave them alone for more than a month, so I don't know about that.
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