Brownies in winter

 

Hello, everyone!  What a cold week we have had in Kansas City.  It is the perfect weather for warm brownies today and tomorrow and the day after and ..... 

I am always interested in tweaking brownie recipes because it seems to me that brownies, much more than cookie and cakes, can be radically different from just the tiniest tweaks.  And so I like to experiment with tiny adjustments sometimes just to see what happens.  Over time I've developed strong opinions about recipes and techniques for making brownies.

For example, I never use brownie recipes that ask for chocolate but no cocoa powder.  For me, cocoa powder is an essential part of every brownie.  A brownie made with both cocoa powder and chopped/ground chocolate has a nicer level of sweetness for me, and I also like the texture much more.  If I want to use a specific brownie recipe that doesn't call for cocoa powder, I will always add some anyway, usually (but not always) reducing the flour weight by the same amount as the added cocoa powder.  Not a lot is needed.  Even a small amount does wonders.  And of course the type of cocoa powder is very important.  Quality is paramount.

I often like to use a combination of chocolates, balancing the chocolate flavor by combining chocolate with different percentages of cacao when I make just about anything that has chocolate, and this is especially true when I make brownies.

Even technique is important.  For instance, one recipe I know and use (although I've modified it a bit for my own use), instructs the baker to rapidly and vigorously mix the brownie batter until it starts to pull away from the edge of the saucepan and achieves a certain texture and viscosity.  If you make this batch twice, once by mixing that way and once not, you can definitely tell a difference.  It is proof that technique does matter when making many things in the kitchen.

Eggs should be room temperature before being added and mixed into the batter, and they should be mixed thoroughly or you could have strands of egg whites that don't completely combine.

Some brownies are best when baked in a foil-lined pan.  Some not.  For some I use different types of molds.  Some need to be completely cooled before removing them from the pan and cutting.  For some brownies, it's good to freeze them after baking so that you can get clean cuts for a nice appearance.

Those are a few of the things that I think about when it comes to making brownies.  Of course, the most important thing is to think about great they will taste

Well, this weekend I'm going to be making probably two or three different types.  It's going to be a nice chocolatey weekend.  I better pick up some extra milk today.  

Have a great weekend, everyone!