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.