Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Bittersweets - The Ultimate Brownie


We all have our favorite brownie. This is mine. It's the ultimate dieter's confection - so rich that it's hard to eat more than one and that one will cure a sweet tooth that's screaming to be feed. The only trick here is in the quality of chocolate you use for baking; get the best you can. This confection is closer to a candy than a cookie and it has a wonderful texture. Don't be surprised if the kids won't eat these - they're not sweet enough for most children and they are awfully rich. Adults will take a bite and start looking for the champagne. A quick word about the icing on the brownies. There's one person in our family of two who loves hazelnut spread - I'm not that person. That other person iced the brownies while I was on the phone. Actually, I must admit they're not half bad this way but it is overkill. These brownies don't need icing.

Bittersweet Brownies

Ingredients:
8 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, broken into pieces
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions:
1) Adjust oven rack to lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil.
2) Melt butter and chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir frequently until smooth, melted and warm. Remove from pan. Set aside.
3) Combine eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla in a medium bowl and beat with a hand-held mixer until thick and lemon colored and the mixture forms a ribbon when it falls back upon itself, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the chocolate. Fold in flour.
4) Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, abot 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Place pan on a cooling rack. Let cool. Invert pan on rack. Carefully remove foil and turn upright again. Cut into sixteen 2-inch pieces. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 16 pieces.

From Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

12 comments :

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

This does look like the ultimate brownie.

Donna-FFW said...

Mary- This looks absolutely wonderful. So very decadent.

Mila said...

The recipe looks so simple!
Thanks for this!

Peter M said...

OK, that's it...I'm going to go raid the dessert hide-out...something to satisfy my sugar and chocolate craving.

Kiezie said...

These look absolutely wonderful! Moist, mouth watering, delicious!!

Lo said...

I have a feeling these are going to be my new favorite brownie. Dark and rich... and fudgey? Bet these would be fabulous with a bit of raspberry coulis.

Julie said...

Sounds decadent...looks amazing. Would definitely get the chocolate fix in!

Anonymous said...

MMM I love brownies and Norah Jones!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

LOL! Can't turn your back for a second.

Those look seriously fudgy!
~ingrid

Mary Bergfeld said...

Lo, Julie, Kelsy and Ingrid thanks for stopping by. I hope you found something of interest here. Come often. We love company.

laurelvb said...

That just shows how sweet natured you are. Had another "person" in my home done that I would have, very politely mind you, scraped off the frosting and mounded it onto the offending, oh I mean "other person's" plate. I mean, why mess with perfection?

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this recipe, Mary! I tried it this weekend and fell in love. See the post here!

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