Week 2: Brownies (for Josh)

Continuing with my goal of one new thing each week, I reached out to my friends and family to get recommendations as to what I should make. I promised to share whatever I made with whomever suggested it.

I'm excited to start making some of the recipes, especially since some of them will require some digging. Anyone know what a lemon-chip cookie is? Lemon with chocolate chips? Lemon with white chocolate chips? Is there something out there called a lemon chip? We will soon find out. 

I got into the kitchen today to start making these brownies and I instantly remembered why I love to bake so much. I was melting chocolate chips over a double boiler and these bits of chocolate and some butter (of course) were turning into this beautiful, smooth chocolatey liquid. Then it all came together into a bowl of brownie batter that made me a little nervous. It didn't look like enough for a 9x13 pan. What if it didn't rise? Are brownies supposed to rise? They didn't...

Then the ganache. I'm not sure I can really call it a ganache, but I'm going to anyway because I like the way it sounds. Ganache. Sounds like heaven. What can be better then mixing butter and sugar and chocolate? Not much. But that is what I did. Again, all these ingredients come together into this beautiful, rich liquid that I just want to spoon into my mouth. Once it was on the brownies, I licked the spoon and immediately put the pot in the sink. Otherwise it was going to be licked clean.

Another reason that I love baking so much...the exact measures. Especially with this recipe, each ingredient had the regular measure (1 cup, etc) and the weight measure. It made me happy. I got to pull out the kitchen scale and measure out everything. Did you know that 200 grams of sugar isn't quite 1 cup? I didn't either! If you don't have a kitchen scale, go get one. My grandma likes to use hers to weigh eggs. My mom likes to use it to separate meat after buying it in bulk. So many uses. With baking you have to be exact. Adding too much of something can throw the entire thing off. Your cake won't rise or your bread will be dense. Baking has all of these elements that can be controlled. That is probably why I did so much baking while I was in school. When my thesis was spiraling out of control, I could still mix things together and get a batch of chocolate chip cookies. My roommates really benefited from my stress baking last year. Now, I can bake for the sheer joy of it. 

Andes Mint Brownies with Mint Chocolate Icing (Ganache)

from zoomyummy.com

1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (25 grams) cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick (110 grams) butter

8 oz (240 grams) bitter-sweet or semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup (200 grams) sugar

3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9x13 pan and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Chop the chocolate roughly or use chocolate chips. Place the chocolate and the butter into a heatproof blow and set it over a pot of simmering water. The bottom of the bowl shouldn't be touching the water since what we want to do here is just gently melt these two ingredients.

Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, for about 3 minutes. Then remove the bowl from the pot. Add sugar and mix to combine. Then add the eggs and, again, mix to combine. Finally, add the flour mixture and mix until just moistened (do not overmix.)

Pour the batter into the pan. Smooth out the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the batter/brownies comes out clean. 

Cool for at  least 30 minutes before putting on the ganache.

Ganache/icing recipe is the same as the ice cream cake that I made in August, here.