10 Aug 2011

Brownies from the Baked boys


‘Forging new frontiers in baking since 2005,’ says their website. And, oh yes, they are. Forging new frontiers I mean. If these brownies are anything to go by it. These are decadent prizewinning brownies by the Baked boys – Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, who opened shop in NYC and are the authors of the amazing book, Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.

These brownies are a slice of heaven. I don’t remember the number of requests I have had for them since I made them for the first time a few months ago. Ask Oprah. They are her favourite. Give the dry, cakey or super gooey brownies with icing a miss and try these. Trust me, they are the ultimate.


I made only half the recipe and am already regretting it. I usually make small changes in recipes while baking but this time I followed the recipe to a T. (I added a bit of salt even though I was already using salted butter). Instead of granulated sugar as the recipe suggests, I ground it so that it becomes easier to combine and dissolve in the chocolate – butter mixture.

Top them with walnuts, chocolate chips and eat them with ice cream. Or not. They are addictive even by themselves.  
 Supremely Decadent Chocolatey Fudgy Brownies

Makes 24 bars

1-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons dark cocoa powder
11 ounces quality dark chocolate (60-72%), chopped coarsely
8 ounces butter (2 sticks), cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper or simply butter it.
2. Whisk together the flour, the salt, and cocoa powder. (if you are using salted butter, use only a tiny pinch of salt).
3. Place the chocolate, the butter, and the instant espresso powder in a bowl and double boil it. Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water of the double boiler and add both sugars. Whisk the sugars until completely combined and remove the bowl from the pan. Mixture should be room temperature.
4. Add three eggs to the chocolate/butter mixture and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until just combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not over beat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.
5. Sprinkle the flour/cocoa/salt mix over the chocolate. Using a spatula fold the dry into the wet until there is just a trace amount of the flour/cocoa mix visible. Again, do not overbeat.
6. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake the brownies for 30 minutes (rotate the pan half-way through baking) and check to make sure the brownies are completely done by sticking a toothpick into the center of the pan. The brownies are done when the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
7. Cool the brownies completely before cutting and serving.





9 comments:

  1. rads! m gonna try this....so questions! can we use instant coffee instead of espresso? also, m gonna double boil it with the vessels i have coz i dont have a double boiler! should be ok na!

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  2. yes to both your questions!! you can even melt the chocolate (after chopping)and butter together in the microwave for 40 - 50 secs on high power mode. just make sure the chocolate is at room temp first. let me know how it went!

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  3. :) it was kina disastrous! but adventurous...coz i dint grind the sugar...used granulated sugar which refused to bind itself with the choc and butter! it became all coagulated! then, i just mixed everything in the mixie! and now its in the oven! lets see if it turns out good:p...will try it again if not!

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  4. adventure indeed! grind the sugar properly next time. it will make your task so much easier.

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  5. it turned out yummy but xtrememly gooey:p..but will try it again with ground sugar! will let you know then!:)

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  6. prerna, maybe just try half the recipe next time. sometimes with brownies, if the pan size is not the same as the one mentioned in the recipe, it affects the baking and the brownie may turn out to be extremely dry or very gooey. i.e. if you are using a much smaller pan, brownies will be gooey. a larger one will yield dry brownies.

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  7. Radhika! I made them today! Well they turned out fine in taste..i think..
    Texture wise they were bit more cake-ish than brownie-ish. They were crusty from the top but inside was pretty soft like a cake. Is it supposed to be that way?
    I wont say they were dry, but they weren't gooey either.
    I made half the recipe cos it seemed too much. Besides i had a smaller baking tray.
    I noticed one strange thing about your recipe - it dint have baking powder/soda unlike other brownie recipes.
    The taste was pretty good though :)

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  8. ohh awesome! ya they are much crisper on top than a cake and soft inside - which is how a brownie should be! i think you got it right not dry and not gooey either! i would suggest that when you make half the recipe next time, use 3 eggs instead of 2 1/2. it works better for me that way :-).

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