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Lisa Yockelson's Bittersweet Chocolate Brownies
Makes 16 brownies
When a brownie batter supports little chunks of premium bittersweet chocolate, a delectable thing happens–the small chunks of chocolate form pools of goodness throughout, and the sweet resonates with flavor. Even though I can’t, you should try to restrain yourself from cutting the brownies too soon.
Bittersweet brownie batter
INGREDIENTS |
MEASUREMENTS |
|---|---|
volume |
|
bleached all purpose flour |
1 cup |
| bleached cake flour | 1/3 cup |
| unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder | 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon |
salt |
1/8 teaspoon |
baking powder |
1/4 teaspoon |
bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small chunks |
3 ounces |
unsalted butter, melted and cooled to tepid |
1/2 pound (16 tablespoons or 2 sticks) |
unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid |
5 ounces |
| bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid | 3 ounces |
| large eggs | 5 |
| superfine sugar | 2 cups |
| vanilla extract | 2 teaspoons |
| Confectioners’ sugar, for sifting on top of the baked brownies (optional) |
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Film the inside of a 9 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Mix the batter
Sift the all-purpose flour, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper. In a small bowl, toss the chocolate chunks with 1 teaspoon of the sifted mixture.
In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk the melted butter, melted unsweetened chocolate, and melted bittersweet chocolate until smooth. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until blended, about 15 seconds. Add the sugar and whisk until combined, 30 to 45 seconds. Blend in the vanilla extract and melted butter-chocolate mixture. Sift the flour mixture over and stir to form a batter, mixing thoroughly until the particles of flour are absorbed, using a whisk or flat wooden paddle. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Bake, cool, and cut the brownies Bake the brownies in the preheated oven for 30 to 33 minutes, or until gently set. Let the brownies stand in the pan on a cooling rack for 3 hours. With a small sharp knife, cut the sweet into four quarters, then cut each quarter into 4 squares. Remove the brownies from the baking pan, using a small offset metal spatula. Store in an airtight tin.
Sift confectioners’ sugar on top of the brownies just before serving, if you wish.
Bake-and-serve within 3 days.
Study The chopped bittersweet chocolate forms creamy pools of flavor in the baked brownies. The following bittersweet chocolates are worth noting for using in the recipe (both for the chunks and melted chocolate):
Valrhona Extra Amer Bittersweet 61% cacao;
Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71% cacao;
Valrhona Le Noir Gastronomie 61% cacao;
Valrhona Caraïbe Dark Chocolate 66% cocoa;
Valrhona Le Noir Gastronomie Chocolat Noir Bittersweet Chocolate 61% cocoa;
Valrhona Grand Cru Noir Manjari Gastronomie Chocolat Noir Dark Chocolate 64% cocoa;
Valrhona Equatoriale Chocolat de Couverture Noir Dark Bittersweet Couverture 55% cacao;
Michel Cluizel Chocolat Amer Dark Chocolate 60% cacao;
Michel Cluizel Ilha Toma 65% cocoa;
Lindt Chocolate Créé à Berne Swiss Bittersweet Chocolate;
or, Lindt Excellence Swiss Bittersweet Chocolate.
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Comments
Here's another suggestion for less-crispy edges -- use a light-colored metal pan. Darker metal or non-stick pans, or glass pans, both tend to promote more browning at the edges.
Reply to this Posted by: Barbara A. | May 3, 2008 4:54 PM #
Three cheers for crispy edges on brownies!!!
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | May 2, 2008 7:28 PM #
Obviously, if I had a really large class I could not bake breakfast for everyone, but this was managable. Thanks for the info, Rozanne, on that "edge" pan. One time I made brownies using the "sling" method to remove them easier from the pan. My husband was disappointed because the edges weren't as crusty, so I never used it again! Isn't it great how all of our tastes differ!
Beth
Reply to this Posted by: Beth | May 2, 2008 1:10 PM #
Beth, that is really thoughtful and sweet of you. I wish I had a teacher like you. Teachers like you are so rare these days. Check out this link
http://bakersedge.com/
Loida, have you tried Rose's brownie recipe from her Christmas Cookie book? The edges are not so "crispy". They are almost as soft as the centre.
Reply to this Posted by: Rozanne | May 2, 2008 12:02 PM #
In my family, we really go for the crunchy bits on the outside (both with chocolate and butterscotch brownies). I don't know if the same goes for cousin Louise's family (Louise, I don't know if you're "listening", but in general we tend to like the crunchy stuff in all kinds of dishes, wouldn't you agree?). What's great about brownies is that we get to have the crunchy and the soft.
I should be grading but needed a break. I've been thinking of you all because I baked 3 different breads for my 8:00 a.m. exam this morning in case the students didn't have time to eat breakfast. I made rose's cinnamon swirl for the first times (without raisins, really yummy); challah (I needed to make one anyway for today); and a whole wheat banana nut bread from the King Arthur whole grain baking book.
Beth
Reply to this Posted by: Beth | May 2, 2008 11:00 AM #
Loida,
In general, bleached flour is better for cakes and unbleached is better for bread. If you check the package, it is almost always labeled one or the other. I believe Pillsbury is bleached, but they may also produce an unbleached bread four, so you have to check. Bleaching changes the structure of the particles so they combine in a different way with other ingredients in a recipe. There is a thorough discussion of this in the Cake Bible.
As for the sides of the brownies, you could try cake strips, moistened strips that are wrapped around the sides of a pan to ensure more even baking. Or, perhaps a lower oven temp/longer baking time, but this is riskier because they won't bake properly if the oven isn't hot enough. Lastly, just trimming the sides is simple enough!
Hope that's helpful- Good luck!
Julie
Reply to this Posted by: Julie | May 2, 2008 6:32 AM #
Dear Rose,
I just want to seek your advice. Many times when i bake brownies the sides would really end up hard while the inner porton is soft. how am I going to prevent it?
by the way what do you mean by bleached all purpose flour? what is the difference with other all purpose flour like the Piullbury that im using most of the time?
i would really appreciate your ideas!
yhank you!
Loida
Reply to this Posted by: Loida | May 1, 2008 11:31 PM #
angela--i was in taormina during the volcano! we were on the last plane out and in a way i wish we hadn't made the plane so we could have been there longer and see the dramatic explosions though it would have been very scarey!
re the applesauce cake--can you believe i've never tasted one let alone made one! a whole category to explore.
the only thing i can tell you for now is that my stepson makes applesauce pancakes every sunday which are absolutely delicious and i can really see the difference when he uses apple sauce canned by his mother-in-law versus store bought.
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | August 30, 2006 11:26 AM #
Dear Rose...
I don't have the time to bake too often, but when I do, it's ALWAYS from The Cake Bible. I also swear by your Christmas Cookie book.
Here's my question: for years, I've carried the memory of an applesauce spice loaf that I used to have when I was a little girl. I don't remember nuts or raisins in it, but I remember it was dense and MOIST. The texture was similar to a very fudgy brownie but, of course, there was no chocolate in it. I've tried adapting several different recipes to achieve this but with not much success. Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you so much!
Reply to this Posted by: Angela Taormina | August 30, 2006 10:08 AM #
thanks ann. trust worthy definitely a worthy goal!
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | July 21, 2006 12:43 PM #
Dear Rose,
Your cake bible which I've used for years have since changed and enlightened my outlook on cakes. I really appreaciate your detailed explanations. Since then, I have not trusted any other recipe...
Reply to this Posted by: ann | July 21, 2006 10:40 AM #
nancy, after having spent this entire sunday posting to blog, and finally going to sleep, your kind comment is truely appreciated and a great way to end the day.
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | November 20, 2005 9:52 PM #
Thank you for your generosity. I admire your expertise and really appreciate that you are so willing to share it with others.
Reply to this Posted by: nancy | November 20, 2005 9:46 PM #
kelcey: i agree that a printer friendly version would be most desirable and have asked my blog master to do this. he said it will be done in a few days!
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | November 20, 2005 5:30 PM #
Please include in your wonderful recipes a "printer friendly" edit so that all the words on your recipes come throught. Otherwise, I have to go back to the original page on the computer and fill in the missing numbers and words.
Thanks
Reply to this Posted by: Kelcey R. Klass | November 17, 2005 11:02 AM #