Sunday 16 September 2007

Rich-Moist Brownies



BROWNIESS..how i love brownies!!!The first time i had brownies was when i was about 6 years old and i had them in an Australian family friend's house(the Kings) in Malaysia. I recollect being very puzzled at the texture of the brownie after taking a bite into it. What is it i thought to myself?? It wasn't soft like a cake yet it wasn't hard like a cookie, so what was it i remember thinking to myself...Its a brownie Aunty Debbie uttered from across the room after seeing the look on my face! It didn't bother me much on what it was called as it tasted really good and that made me a really happy 6 year old kid.

I had an exam last Friday to study for and was a bit stressed out. Therefore, after reading and going through my notes for what seemed like the 100th time, i decided to bake something to divert my attention for about an hour. Since, my registrars and consultants in my rotation were really nice to us students and always insisted on paying for our morning coffees and muffins, baking them a batch of rich chocolate brownies was what i decided to do to show them my appreciation.

'How to be a Domestic Goddess' by Nigella Lawson was where i got my brownie recipe from. I knew Nigella will not let me down. And guess what..she didn't :)

Ingredients

(makes bout 48 according to the book-but i got about 25 pieces)

375g soft unsalted butter
375g best- quality dark chocolate
6 large eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
500g caster sugar
225g plain flour
1 tsp salt
300g chopped walnuts

tin measuring approx 33x23x5.5cm


Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.Line the brownie pan
2. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan. Beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla.
3. Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.
4. When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar, and then the nuts and flour. Beat to combine smoothly.
5. Bake for about 25minutes. When it's ready, the top should be dried to a lighter brown but the middle still dark and dense and gooey.

Note- Keep checking your brownies. It only takes a few minutes for it to turn from a perfect moist brownie to a dried up yucky brownie

Have a good weekend :)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

nigella easy to follow? hmm, read this:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/12/neat212.xml

Nirmala said...

Chocolatey goodness is just oozing out of these brownies. Yummy.

culinaryprincess said...

aunty viv-WOW!Thanx aunty for the good article.I never took notice of the language used by Nigella.Yes, i must have to admit a small down fall is the way she writes, which is very 'chatty' can be quite difficult to follow at times when u're actually making a dish and in a hurry from her book.U need to read the whole page before understanding what to do.

But i have to say her recipes always turn out rich and good :)

Well, its well known that men always like keeping things simple and women are known to be complex creatures ;)

daphne said...

i make similar brownies and those were always a hit! Hope your test went well and that u will hv a break soon. =)

culinaryprincess said...

nirmala- It was very rich and you can't eat more than 2 slices at ago :)

Big Boys Oven said...

your brownie looks so gorgeous and so inviting!!! looks like I can have one but not....lol

culinaryprincess said...

Daphne- Thanx!My test went quite well.It wasn't a very big test though. The sad news for me is that we won't be having any breaks till the end of the year after our final exam :(

Big boys oven- Aww..you're in the wrong continent!

Dharm said...

Princess, I make a pretty mean batch of brownies myself. An old, old recipe that I have modified and claimed as my own. No chocolate used but lots of cocoa, choc chips and walnuts. Will let you know if/when I post the recipe on my blog! Glad your exam went well!

Sophie said...

yUM! i just made some "brownie bread" yesterday :)...as for the applesauce, I buy it at the store. I use all natural, unsweetened (I use musselman's applesauce). I try to cook healthy, but I discovered if you use the same amount of apple sauce to replace the full amount of butter, the cookies come out way too fluffy...so it's best, when making 2 dozen cookies, to use the magic number: 2! 2 TBSP butter, and 2 TBSP applesauce and/or milk...milk gives them more of a crunch. I have so much more to learn in the baking department, though :)! (I have to cook somewhat low-fat ever since I had my gallbladder removed a few months ago.) Thanks for stopping by, good luck in medical school!

Kelly said...

Question do you use unsweeten or sweeten chocolate?