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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Three Cheers to Friendship and Rich Chocolatey Gooey Fudgy Brownies


The air was filled with love just the day before. So, what was the special ocassion? It was Valentine's Day! For me, it was more of a frienship day. Afterall, friendship is the love between friends who share weal and woe. For the past 26 years, I am glad that my path crossed with individuals who started out as strangers in my life but ended up as my treasured friends. Thank you all for the invaluable friendship, my dear friends.

My friends have always been supportive all of me, especially so when they know how devoted I am to baking. To reward some of them, I decided to bake some brownies for last evening's dinner. Chocolate treats are ever so classic when it comes to sharing them with your loved ones and youcan almost never go wrong with them.


These rich chocolate treats from Linda Collister worked wonders when I first made them. Naturally, they became the choice of treat to give away to my friends for Valentine's Day. Biting into a piece of these brownies, one will realise that it is pure chocolate bliss. They are rich, chocolatey, moist and gooey-fudgy. When eaten at room temperature, they are soft and gooey but with some chilling, they turn firm and fudgy. I would say that they are totally perfect eaten on their own or accompanied with a dollop of ice-cream.

 


I figure I might be baking more of these brownies to pass to other friends and possibly for a gathering over the weekends. Happy belated Valentine's Day and three cheers to all the frienship out there!

Rich Chocolate Brownies ( recipe adapted from Brownies by Linda Collister)
Serving size: about 20 squares
Taste and Texture: Rich chocolatey, soft, moist and gooey-fudgy.
Equipment and Materials:
1) 8 x 8 square tin
2) Flour sieve
3) Weighing scale
4) Measuring bowls
5) Measuring spoon set
6) Wire whisk
7) Baking/Parchment paper
8) Standing/handheld mixer
9) Wire rack
10) spatula / wooden spoon

Ingredients:
185g dark chocolate (55%-60%), melted and cooled
110g unsalted butter, softened
220g brown sugar
1/2-1 tsp vanilla (I forgot to add, but it still taste good)
200g whole eggs, lightly beaten
75g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
 
Making the brownie:
Preheat Oven - Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
 
Combine flour and cocoa - In a large mixing bowl, sift both plain flour and cocoa powder. Whisk well to distribute evenly.
 
Cream butter - Cream butter and sugar on medium speed for about 3-5 minutes. As there is a larger proportion of sugar to butter, the mixture will not end up being fluffy. Cream the butter until the volume increases noticeably.
 
Adding eggs to creamed butter - Slowly add in eggs by the tablespoon to the creamed butter, beating the mixture well before incorporating the next tablespoon.
 
Incorporating melted chocolate - Beat in melted chocolate and mix well. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often to ensure even mixing.
 
Adding dry ingredients - Stir in the dry ingredients with a spatula or wooden spoon to get a smooth batter.
 
Baking the brownies - Pour batter into a lined 8 x 8 inch square tin and level the surface. Bake for 23 -30 minutes at 180 degrees C. The top should be crusty and dull. When lightly pressed on the surface, the underneath feels semi-firm. Cool baked brownie in tin for 45mins before removing to cool on wire rack. Serve chilled or at room temperature as desired.
 
Notes:
1) Chill to get a firm brownie or eat at room temperature if a soft brownie is desired.
2) Add 80g of chopped walnuts or pecans if desired.
3) This recipe yields fudgy gooey brownies easily due to the low proportion of flour used as compared to the large proportion of chocolate. Most other brownies need to be slightly underbaked to obtain a fudgy texture.
4) Start checking the firmness of the brownie at 20 minutes or when the brownie surface starts to become dull.
 

27 comments:

  1. just by being able to taste these brownies alone, your friends are really lucky to have you! hahahah they look so sinfully rich and chocolatey. My kind of brownies. :)

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  2. oh my this looks seriously gooey and fudgy!! i would love to have a slice of this!!

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  3. I can never say no to gooey chocolaty brownie! You made me want to rush into the kitchen to make some right now, lol! Ou are absolutely right, friendship is as much a joy to life! So yes, happy belated Valentine's day to you too!

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  4. happy belated valentine's day (:
    OMG! it look sooo sinful with choc! but i wouldnt mind the sin ;D you're tempting me to bake it! it look so moist, fudgy, chocolaty and yummy!! your friends are so fortunate to have you (: (:

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  5. I love brownie and I must try this recipe for sure. Thanks for sharing :)

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  6. These have the most perfect thin crust! Save a slice for me please :)

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  7. Hope there still some left for me. Haha

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  8. Very luscious looking brownies! So, a prerequisite is to be your friend. Hmmm ... Wondering if I'll ever get a slice in the future ... =P

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  9. Looks really good, reserve one for me please :)

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  10. It looks just like the way you described them, moist and yummy. I'll have to try this out one day. Thanks for sharing the helpful notes.

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  11. This looks very tempting! Definitely going to bookmark this!

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  12. Wow.. looks very chocolately fudgely indeed ! Being your friends are sooo fortunate !

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  13. These brownies looks perfect an moist. They must be mouth watering delicious!

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  14. hey Jean,

    yup these are indeed sinfully chocolatey. I will make some for you when there's a chance =]

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    Hey Jess,

    thanks! you will get to taste them on sat =]

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    Hey Bee Bee,

    happy V day to you too! if you are yearning for a rich treat, wait no further! indeed having friends is a joy to life, same goes for knowing you ladies out there =]

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    Hey Jasmin,

    Happy belated V day! I will most likely make these for sat. See if like them =]

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    Hey Ann,

    Do give the recipe a try and see if you like it. I will definitely make this over and over again.

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  15. Hey Eelin,

    the crust is indeed very thin. Almost non-noticeable when eaten. Ermm they're all gone and I haven't help myself much, haha

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    Hey Edith,

    dun worry, I will be making them for coming sat =]

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    Hey peilin

    Yup indeed thats the prerequisite. Unless I bake for charity then it is a totally different cause. Well I have lots of things I wanna pass you for our next meet up, haha. I'm sure there's always the chance.

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    Hey Doris,

    as much as I would love to, its all gone....

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    Hey Cathy,

    Thanks a lot! you will get to taste them on sat =]

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  16. Hi Esther,

    Do let me know how yours turn out when you make them. Hope the notes can be of help =]

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    Hey Esther,

    thanks for the kind words. hope you like the brownies =]

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    Hi chunky cooky,

    thanks! Its nothing really.. I'm sure we all bake good stuff for our loved ones =]

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    Hi quay po,

    thanks for the kind words

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  17. valentine's day is a day to celebrate friendship for me too :) my group of close friends have been celebrating it every year for about 8 years now, and we hope to celebrate it for many more years to come :)

    btw, the brownie looks really delicious - i'll be bookmarking it when i've a craving for brownies! does it keep well in the fridge?

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  18. Hi Janine,

    thats really nice! I do look forward to celebrating V day with my close frens.

    thanks! My bakes usually don't keep very long since I'm quite a glutton myself. You may try chilling the brownies for up to a week in an airtight container or freeze it if u want to keep it longer. If keep unchilled, try not to keep it longer than 3 days.

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  19. Mmm, those brownies look like they'd satisfy even the most hardiest chocoholic. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog called Sweets for a Saturday and I'd like to invite you to stop by and link your brownies up. http:/sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweets-for-saturday-5.html

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  20. Hi ZY,

    I love this brownie! Rich and fudgy! Haha... I'm glad that I grabbed quite a few pieces home last Sat! Your cream cheese cupcake was pretty good too, light & fluffy!

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  21. These look sinfully delicious. I heard you making some more, dont forget my share, please.

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  22. Hi ZY, nothing beats a chocolatey fudgy brownie and this definitely falls into the category. Looks yummy ... psst pass some over ok!

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  23. Hey Wendy,

    Thanks alot! the brownies were firmer and less fudgier than what I would have liked. I am glad you liked it.

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    hey chris,

    thanks. I will make some for you the next time =]

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    hey Jo,

    ya i love my brownies to be fudgy. sadly, the brownies (same recipe as this) I made for the meetup were slightly less fudgy than what I would like them to be.

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  24. can I know what is Cool baked in tin?
    keep in oven with no temperature? Thanks!

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  25. can I know what is Cool baked ?

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  26. can I know what is Cool baked

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