The Perfect Brownies for a Lovely Sunday Evening

Perfect Chocolate Brownies

Hii..
Can you believe it I am actually blogging after a gap of a year..My goodness really its been toooooo long..Well what kept me busy..Apart from work and the usual things, planning an amazing trip to Europe last year was one of the High Points of the previous year..It was a gorgeous vacation to Norway, Denmark, Belgium and our family favorite Switzerland. Europe has always been my love..Why ..There is something so different about it..From Old Cities and Architecture to some beautiful landscapes, it has it all. And ofcourse the Food, always makes me smile.
Since I am a foodie I have to just have to mention about this Papiroen Street Food Market in Copenhagen..Its something I have never experienced before..Its a huge area next to a canal with hundreds of people gorging on some amazing food from all over the world (there must be around 200 food stalls)..It is a mind blowing experience and if your are a foodie and happen to visit Copenhagen then this place is NOT to be missed!!!

Now coming back to the Brownies..Initially I wasn't a huge fan of brownies..the primary reason being I mostly found them too dry and also I am not fond of walnuts. Then one fine day 'Theobroma' happened and I found the perfect brownies that I always wanted, they were gooey and moist with a crust, simply perfect.
Since then I had this great urge to try baking a brownie myself. And so I jumped to my favorite website 'Joy of Baking' and grabbed the easiest Brownie recipe available. And Boy o Boy it turned out so so good. Gooey, Moist with a thin crust..a 10/10.. It is an extremely simple recipe with nothing much to do. We don't even need an electric/hand mixer. A simple whisk will do the job.
Note: I have not added any walnuts but you are most welcome to do so


PLAIN CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Makes: 16 pieces of 2X2 inches brownies

Ingredients

Ingredients

150 grams semisweet chocolate chopped

1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons (15 grams) cocoa powder

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter (or spray with a nonstick cooking spray) an 8 inch (20 cm) square pan, and line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper.

Preparing the Baking pan

2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a large stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water.

Melting the Chocolate and Butter

3. Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder and sugar.

Adding the Sugar and Cocoa Powder

4. Next, whisk in the vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Finally, stir in the flour and salt

Mixing the Eggs and Flour

6. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a little batter and a few moist clumps clinging to it. Do not over bake.

Pre-Baking and Post-Baking

7. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Cut into square pieces. Remove the pieces individually from the Pan. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

The Perfect Brownies

Thanks for Reading!!!

There is always time for a slice of Chocolate Cake

Rich Chocolate Cake covered with Chocolate Ganache

Hiii..
Writing again after a Two Month long hiatus..A lot of interesting things happened in these two months.. The highlight ofcourse being a fantastic trip to Ladakh (India) with my family...What Do I say about Ladakh..Its really difficult to put in words what I felt there..The snow peaked mountains, the grasslands, the people, the rivers, everything was breathtaking!! Such places always remind me of the beauty of nature and how extraordinary our planet is!

The Beautiful Ladakh

But a nice vacation always means coming back to a lot of pending work..And that is what happened when I got back..
Well now that things are kind of back to normal, my hunger pangs tend to set in and what better way to satisfy our tummies than Baking a Rich Dense Chocolate cake covered with mouth-watering Chocolate Ganache.(Who doesn't love a Chocolate Cake anyway)
Most of us have this habit of walking towards the fridge every hour and opening it thinking something new would have suddenly appeared into the refrigerator out of nowhere. Well I am no different, if not every hour but I do this atleast 10 times a day and sometimes it is indeed helpful.

Ingredients

Last evening I noticed some left over Unsalted Butter. What now, well I ll do what I love the most and that is 'BAKE'. I weighed the butter and it was about 90gms so I had to find a recipe which would fit this. After browsing through a few recipes I found one which would be just ideal for this much butter and that is a Quick Rich Chocolate Cake and well why not cover it up with some Ganache. I followed the Chocolate Cake recipe from 'Joy of Baking' and Taaadaaa the Cake was ready in a jiffy. The only precondition was the Cake covered with Ganache needed a few hours to Set properly so I had to resist myself for the night. But Yes the first thing I had in the morning was a slice of Cake.

Note: This is an extremely simple recipe without any requirement for a stand/hand mixer. This is a dense cake adding to the richness of chocolate

Mixing the Dry Ingredients

RICH CHOCOLATE CAKE COVERED WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Makes: An Eight Inch Cake

Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed), sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (75 grams) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup (240 ml) warm water

1 tablespoon lemon juice (or vinegar)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting:
6 ounces (170 grams) semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy cream (35% butterfat)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature

Preparing the Cake Pan for the final Cake Mix

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.
2. In an bowl stir together (with a whisk) the flour, sugar, sifted cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add the melted butter, water, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. With a fork/whisk, mix all the ingredients together until well blended.
4. Prepare the cake pan by greasing it with butter and then flouring it. }
5. Pour the cake mixture into the pan.
6. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

The Freshly Baked Cake

FROSTING with GANACHE :
8. Place the chopped chocolate, cream, and butter in a heatproof bowl.
9. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and melt until smooth.
10. Remove from heat and let stand at room temperature until it is of pouring consistency.
11. Place the wire rack (with the cake) on a plate covered with wax paper. Then pour the frosting over the cooled cake so that the extra ganache drips down.
12. Keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours or preferably overnight

Preparing the Ganache

Pouring the Ganache

Important Points:
1. Before pouring the ganache make sure the cake has cooled down (you can also chill it in the fridge)
2. When you prepare the ganache initially it will be thin, as you keep it to cool down it will thicken, but take care that the ganache shoould not be extra thick and should remain in its pouring consistency
3. The extra ganache can be used to make chocolate truffles (though we just gobbled it up before that hehe)

Thanks for reading..Keep Calm and Eat some Chocolate Cake!!

Chocolate Cake Fan Forever