The Emininently Adaptable Brownie

Joyce White

Here are four of my favorite brownie recipes -- Double Fudge Brownies, Coconut Almond Brownies, Coffee Brownies & CakeBrownies With Fruit Preserves.

There's nothing you can't do with a brownie. It is a veritable chameleon among desserts, perfect to match with any number of flavors. You can dress it up to create a fancy dessert, or pack it plain in a lunch sack or basket for a trip to the beach.

Some brownies are as velvety and moist as fudge candy, while others are full of nuts, lean and chewy. Some partisans prefer cake-like brownies with a fine, soft texture that resembles a Southern-style chocolate layer cake. Years ago, my late sister was a cook at a cafe in Southern Alabama, and the cake brownie was her specialty.

I have fond memories of nibbling the delectable offering on Sunday afternoons, usually laced with peach or plum preserve or orange marmalade, and savored with home churned vanilla ice cream, its perfect companion. Today I love cake brownies stirred with raspberry preserves, a natural match as well.

The chocolate in brownies also pairs well with coffee, mint, liqueurs and dark rum, candied fruit and peel, grated lemon and orange rind, assorted nuts, peanut butter, shredded coconut, cream cheese, marshmallows -- the limit is the baker's imagination. And the batter can be sweetened with sugar, honey, maple syrup, sweetened condensed milk, or a combination of sweeteners.

At the heart of any recipe is the chocolate, and here, again, the baker has a wide array of choices, for brownies can be made with semi-sweet, unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate, as well as with good quality cocoa.

High quality chocolate bars, such as those made by Scharfen Berger, Lindt, La Maison du Chocolat and Ghirardelli, make wonderful raw material for sumptuous brownies. Droste makes a fine Dutch-style cocoa -- meaning that it has been treated with an alkalizing agent to enhance the cocoa's color and flavor. Droste bakes well with recipes using acidic buttermilk.

Ghirardelli's cocoa has a reddish-brown tint and a sharp edge, and is fine for brownies, too. Hershey's cocoa is also a standby in my kitchen; since it is not Dutch style, a half-teaspoon or so of baking soda in the batter always seems to smooth its flavor.

Bakers love to make brownies because they don't require a lot of fuss and bother. You can leave a pan of brownies unadorned straight from the oven, perhaps adding nothing more than a sprinkling of crystallized sugar, such as Sugar in the Raw, while they are still warm. Or, when the brownies have cooled, you can drizzle them with caramel or chocolate sauce, or spread them with a thick chocolate glaze or frosting for a fancier look.

A little-known fact is that brownies benefit from being allowed to sit for a while. I try to let them rest in the pan for a couple hours or even overnight to let the flavor develop. This presents a challenge, however, for once the aroma is in the air, it's hard to protect the treats from waiting hands.

And brownies make wonderful gifts. The best way to deliver them is in person. Simply line a nice box with pretty paper, place in the brownies in a kind of cater-corner way if they are frosted, tie the box with ribbon, and hand over to the lucky recipient.

Coffee Brownies Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Yield: Makes 16 Brownies

Coffee Brownies Recipe Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans, or more if desired

1 or 2 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons instant coffee or espresso powder, such as Medaglia D'Oro

4 tablespoons hot water, or more if needed

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa, preferably Dutch-style

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

Chocolate Glaze (see recipe below)

Coffee Brownies Recipe Directions

For the Coffee Brownies Recipe

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9- by 9-inch square baking or cake pan and dust lightly with flour, shaking out excess flour.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Coarsely chop the walnuts or pecans and toss with 1 or 2 tablespoons flour, dusting off excess. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the instant coffee or espresso powder and water and mix well. Add the butter.

Place the pan over low heat and stir until the butter melts. Add the cocoa and beat the mixture briskly with a whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and cool to lukewarm.

Combine the sugar and eggs in a medium mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer at medium high or creaming speed, beat until light and lemony colored, for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula once or twice.

Add the chocolate-coffee mixture and vanilla extract and beat 30 seconds more.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture and beat the batter briskly for a few seconds. Stir in the nuts and mix thoroughly.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and spread evenly with a spatula. Shake the pan gently to level the batter.

Set the pan on the middle oven shelf and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the brownies are puffy and crusty and a tester inserted in the center comes out moist but clean.

Place pan on a wire rack and let cool completely, at least three hours.

When brownies are cool, run a metal spatula around the edge of the pan and invert the brownie layer onto the wire rack, and then turn upright on the rack. Place a sheet of wax paper on a cutting board and set the brownie layer on the paper, top side up. Spread with Chocolate Glaze and let set until the glaze hardens. Or set in a cool place and allow to remain overnight. Cut into generous 2- by 2-inch squares.

Chocolate Glaze Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Yield: Makes enough for 16 brownies

Chocolate Glaze Recipe Ingredients

3 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons light or dark corn syrup

2 tablespoons coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua or Tia Maria, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze Recipe Directions

For the Chocolate Glaze

Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place the butter in a small saucepan or skillet and melt over low heat. Stir in the chocolate and corn syrup, and heat over low heat just until the chocolate melts, stirring constantly.

Remove from the heat and stir in the liqueur or vanilla extract. Beat briskly until smooth and well combined.

Cake Brownies With Fruit Preserves Recipe

Note: If using raspberry preserves, press through a fine sieve to remove seeds before stirring into batter.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Yield: Makes 16 Brownies

Cake Brownies With Fruit Preserves Recipe Ingredients

1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-style cocoa, such as Droste

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water

8 tablespoons butter (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup raspberry, peach or plum preserves, or orange marmalade

2 large or extra large eggs

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, or to taste

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Optional toppings:

Chocolate glaze (recipe above)

Powdered sugar

Fresh berries

Cake Brownies With Fruit Preserves Recipe Directions

For the Cake Brownies With Fruit Preserves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9- by 9-inch square baking or cake pan and dust lightly with flour, shaking out excess. Set aside.

In a medium-size same saucepan, combine the cocoa, cinnamon and water, and stir to combine well. Cut the butter into little pieces and add to the pan, mixing well. Place the pan on medium heat and heat until the butter is melted and mixture is well combined, stirring briskly. Stir in the preserves or marmalade, and immediately remove the pan remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.

Place the eggs and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Using a handheld mixer on high speed, beat the eggs and sugar for 3 or 4 minutes or until pale yellow, smooth and glossy. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture, and mix well.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and then stir into the chocolate mixture, and beat the batter only until just blended.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Set the pan on the lower oven rack and bake the brownies for 30 to 35 minutes or until a tester comes out moist with crumbs adhering to it. Don't over bake the layer.

Cool the layer in the pan. If desired, spread generously with Chocolate Glaze (recipe above). Cut into generous 2 by 2 inch squares. As an alternative to the glaze, sprinkle with powdered sugar and top each piece with a fresh berry.

Double Fudge Brownies Recipe

My dear friend Rita Ried, who hails from St. Croix, gave me this recipe several years ago. It is dense, fudge-like and delectable. The recipe is adapted from my cookbook, "Brown Sugar: Soul Food Desserts from Family and Friends" (HarperCollins, 2003).

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Yield: Makes 16 Brownies

Double Fudge Brownies Recipe Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, not Dutch-processed

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt, about 1/8 teaspoon

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, or more if desired

1 tablespoon flour

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, at room temperature

Double Fudge Brownies Recipe Directions

For the Double Fudge Brownies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8- by 8-inch square baking or cake pan and dust lightly with flour, shaking out excess.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, and set side.

Toss the nuts with a tablespoon of flour, dusting off excess, and set aside.

Chop the chocolate into 1-inch or smaller pieces. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate and heat, stirring, until the chocolate melts. Remove the pan from the heat right away.

Stir in the sugar and vanilla and mix well. Cool the mixture for about 10 minutes, or until just lukewarm. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Then, using a hand held mixer, beat the mixture until it is smooth and glossy.

Stir in the flour mixture and then the nuts, and mix only until the batter is just blended.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Set the pan on the middle oven rack and bake the brownies for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out moist but clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow the brownies to remain in the pan for an hour or so.

When brownies are thoroughly cooled, use a serrated knife to cut the brownies into 2- by 2-inch square pieces. Run a metal spatula around the edge of the brownies and remove the pieces from the pan.

Coconut Almond Brownies Recipe

My late sister-in-law, Marie, sent me this recipe years ago, saying that the topping turns down-home brownies into a fancy cake. She was right. These are elegant brownies, slightly gooey, but cake-like all the same. Chocolate lovers will lust after these brownies.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Yield: Makes 16 Brownies

Coconut Almond Brownies Recipe Ingredients

Topping:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup slivered almonds, untoasted

1 cup shredded fresh coconut or sweetened flaked coconut

1/4 to 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Brownie layer:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, preferably Dutch-processed

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened (1/2 cup), softened

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Coconut Almond Brownies Recipe Directions

For the Coconut Almond Brownies

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the almonds, coconut, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well and set aside. (If using fresh coconut, you may need the larger amount of sugar.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8- or 9-inch square baking or cake pan and dust lightly with flour, shaking out excess flour. Set aside. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

Combine both sugars and the butter in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer at medium-high or creaming speed, beat until light and fluffy, for 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula once or twice.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat 30 seconds more. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add the flour-cocoa mixture and beat the batter briskly with a wooden spoon for a few seconds.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and spread evenly with a spatula. Shake the pan gently to level the batter. Spoon on the coconut topping and spread evenly with a metal spatula.

Set the pan on the middle oven rack and bake the brownies for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center out moist but almost clean, and the topping is crusted and lightly brown. Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow the brownies to remain in the pan for at least 3 hours or longer, if desired.

When thoroughly cooled, using a serrated knife, cut the brownies in the pan into 2 by 2-inch square pieces. Run a metal spatula around the edge of the brownies and remove the pieces from the pan.

 

 

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Joyce White's 4 Best Brownies Recipes - Awesome Brownie Recipes

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