Tuesday, August 25, 2009

On- The- Fence Brownies

On-The-Fence Brownies
 
Welcome!! I'm so glad I have some time today to do a post. I always feel weird when I miss a few days!! My best friend been in the hospital because she delivered her first baby Sunday night and ended up with a c-section. So I've been at the hospital the last few days keeping company and holding the new baby. She goes home tomorrow and it looks like she wants the company so I'll be spending time there and helping her out! Last week I made a batch of brownies from my KA Cookie Companion cookbook. I needed to make sure the brownies would be able to survive being packed into a box and be shipped off to Iraq where my boyfriend is currently deployed.

You have the cake brownie, then the fudgy brownie. I thought the cake brownie be too light, and the fudge brownie be too melty for the warm climate. I'm still trying to figure out what baked goods would work best in the 130+ degree weather they have in Iraq. Send me an email or comment with suggestions! As I flipped to the next page in my cookbook they had something called On-The-Fence Brownies. It was a combination of cakey and fudgy. I said perfect! I actually prefer this type of brownie and knew there would be left overs! I decided my boyfriend needed brownies because his birthday is coming up! I feel weird not baking a cake or something for him, so I decided to see if the brownies would make it to Iraq. I know he really wants cannolis or a cannoli cake, but that would never survive. This also gave me a chance to try out my new bite-size brownie silicon mold from Wilton. This is my second time experimenting with silicon and what a disaster it is! I'm sorry but I hate silicon. I will try this pan 1 more time. I sprayed the squares, I let them cool, and they still weren't coming out perfectly. I was able to get 4 out of the 24 squares out perfectly. My original plan was to send him 24 bite-size brownies and that back fired. Well at least I had plenty of leftover batter and I had made a brownie circle in an 8 in baking pan, thinking it was for my family and I. Instead the family got the broken brownies and I saved the Big Birthday Brownie for my boyfriend. ;) Isn't that a cute name? I labeled that on his brownie when I was packing it up.

These brownies were awesome. I whisked the butter and sugar till it was well combined, which resulted in the cracked shiny top! My right biceps are bigger then my left biceps with all the whisking I do with my right arm. They had great texture, being chewy and smooth. Being they are a combination of cake and fudge brownies, they had a nice rise like a cakey brownie. For the 24 individual brownies, I filled each square with 2 semi-sweet chocolate chips, so when you'd bite into them you'd have a chocolate surprise. The rest of the chips were sprinkled on top of the Big Birthday Brownie. The chocolate surprise was great when the brownies were warm. This is when I realized they need to cool because I kept breaking the tops off of each brownie. Just gave me an excuse to eat them! I'm going to post the recipe because it is simple and the right brownie for the person who can't decide if they want it cakey or fudgy.  

On-The Fence Brownies (from The King Authur Cookie Companion
Makes two dozen 2 inch brownies  

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups (15 3/4 ounces) sugar
1 1/4 cups (3 3/4 ounces) Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (4 ounces) chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips (optional)
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch-pan. (I used the silicon mold and the remaining fit perfectly into a round 8in pan)
  • In a medium- sized microwave- safe bowl, or in a medium saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. (So I don't know why but I did the double boiler method instead. I misread it and it was too late, but they still turned out fine!) Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it's hot (110 degree F to 120 degree F), but not bubbling; it will become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
  • Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth, then add the flour and nuts and chips, again stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
  • Bake the brownies for 28 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. The brownies should feel set on the edges and in the center. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.
They looked so nice in their molds.
  Here are 3 out of 4 I saved. I ate the fourth one. ;)
  The rise and shiny top.
 
There is a part on the KA cookbook that asks the question, "How can I tell when my brownies are done?" They said it is like a chocolate cake, once you can smell the aroma of the brownies that will permeate the kitchen and detected the brownie is done. As soon as I smelled the brownies in my kitchen, I had my cake tester ready and sure enough at 27 minutes they were done. I think that is a really cool trick and will definitely help when I make brownies for the future. Also here is some of my own advice. Make sure you have ENOUGH cocoa when a recipe calls for it. I knew I was getting low, but I thought I'd have enough. I realized almost 4 ounces of cocoa is needed for these brownies. I ended up with 2 3/4 ounces of cocoa powder. I was freaking out for a second because I already had the butter and sugar marrying each other on the burner. I open my baking cabinet and saw I had the Baker's unsweetened chocolate squares and each one comes out to be an ounce. EUREKA! I added that to the butter and sugar until it was fully melted. I don't know if it completely changed the recipe how it should be originally, but I think everything turned out really well for the final product.

The sides pulled away from each other, the middle was slight fudgy and the brownies had a nice shiny top that rised very nicely. I hope the Big Birthday Brownie makes it safely to my boyfriend. I wish I didn't add the chocolate chips on the top because they are going to be completely melted when he gets it. Who knows how messy that can be. I should of put napkins in his box!! Oh well too late now.

Doesn't that look good?
 
I'm about to make dinner tonight. I found a recipe that supposedly makes moist turkey burgers. The recipe was adapted from the cookbook Cook Yourself Thin and was posted Kate's blog A Dash of Sash. She says they are the best turkey burgers, so I have to try them.

Have a wonderful Tuesday evening,
Fallon

3 comments:

Katrina said...

Oh our brownies woes! ;) And your brownies do look great in that silicone pan. I wonder if part of it is because there is too much batter in each one? (Mine don't rise up that high, but I don't think I fill them with as much.)
Your birthday brownie looks great. I hope the bf gets it in good shape, if only just a little melty--I guess melty is better than hard as a rock. ;) On my post June 3 of this year, you can look it up if you want, I made my son a KILLER ice cream brownie "cake" for his birthday. I say, yes, make a brownie ice cream cake!--just don't use silicone! hehe

Fallon said...

Katrina: I think I did add too much batter to each mold. I didn't know they would rise THAT much. The tops kept breaking as I was trying to push them out. If anything the mold will make some killer chocolate truffles!

At this point I'll take mushy but delicious brownie than a hard as a rock baked good. I feel bad when it doesn't work out for him :(

Brownie ice cream cake sound so tempting, lol. Your cake is really tempting me to make it. It's so easy!

Pam said...

Mmmm. Now I am craving chocolate. They look tasty.