La vie est belle

It is Friday and I am at home. So what do I do? Bake! What do I bake? Cocoa-c0vered c0coa brownie!! I chose a cocoa recipe because I didn’t have any baking chocolate at home.

[Edit: The brownie squares didn't look so much like these the following day as the coated cocoa powder was absorbed. The taste however, seemed to be getting better!]

I was short of butter. The original calls for 141g unsalted butter but  I only had about 100g left. So I used what I had plus 41g of unsweetened applesauce.

Black is beauty! I got about 22 of these babies.

The brownie turned out pretty nice. They are moist, dense and not very oily. Oh and not overly sweet too — I used slightly less that what the recipe calls for.

I wanted something more … bitter! So I dipped each brownie square into cocoa powder for that bittersweet taste!

This one was for my sister.

I spent my afternoon at her place talking to her while playing with the little niece. This is Claire after taking a nice bath.

Recipe for the Bittersweet cocoa brownie follows … Have a nice evening!!

***

In case you are wondering,  each square (if you get 25 squares from this recipe) is worth 90 kcals, 4.1g of fats, 10g of sugars and 1.4g of protein (if using butter and applesauce and without any nuts). I seriously don’t usually do these calculations, but you know I have about 16 of these babies in my kitchen! So it’s good to know!!

Bittersweet cocoa brownie (Original recipe from Smittenkitchen)

Ingredients: (makes 16 large or 25 small square brownies)

• 10 tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks or 141 g)  – I didn’t have enough butter but I had applesauce. So I used whatever butter that I had — 100g — and for the remainder I used 41g applesauce.
• 1 1/4 cups sugar (9 7/8 ounces, 280 grams)  – I used slightly less than that)
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (2 7/8 ounces, 82 grams)  — I used only 3/4 cup because I didn’t see the ‘plus 2 tbsp’!! haa. On top of the 3/4 cup and 2 tbsp, you will need extra for the coating.
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, cold
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (66 grams, 2 3/8 ounces)
• 2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional) – I didn’t use any nuts

Method

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.
2. Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.
3. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.
4. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 25 to 30 minute.
5. Let cool completely on a rack.
6. Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.
7. Dip each square into cocoa powder.

Tags: baking, brownies, chocolate, claire, Food

This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 9:38 pm and is filed under Food, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.