Bittersweet Brownies

Why, hello blog…it’s been awhile.

I’m sorry for the major hiatus these past couple weeks. I’ve been so busy with work and rehearsals and then Matt’s parents were in town and so everything I’ve made has been stuff I’ve made before…as I try not to experiment with new recipes when I’m cooking for house guests, haha.

But today I did some baking, as the remains of the carrot cake, apple pie and peanut butter cookies I made had finally disappeared.

It’s been a bit of a rough weekend, so I wanted something comforting.

Brownies are comforting. So I made some.

I used the recipe from my Pure Dessert cookbook by Alice Medrich. I picked it up on sale from Homesense about a month ago for like, $5 and I have to say…it may have been the best $5 I’ve ever spent. It’s a great book and even though I really try not to buy any more dessert cookbooks, I knew I needed to have this one.

Bittersweet Brownies
(Adapted from Alice Medrich’s recipe for New Bittersweet Brownies)
The secret to these brownies is whipping the eggs with the salt, as it gives them a texture between very moist cake and rich chocolate mousse.

Ingredients:

8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut into several pieces
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions:

Position a rack in the lower third of the over and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom and sides of a square baking pan with foil.

Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set in a wide skillet of almost-simmering water. Stir frequently until the mixture is melted and smooth and quite warm. Remove from the pan and set aside.


In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, salt, vanilla and sugar with a hand-held mixer on high speed until the eggs are thick and light colored, about 2 minutes.

Whisk the warm chocolate into the thick egg mixture. Fold in the flour.


Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool the pan on a rack. When cool, invert the brownies on a rack and peel off the foil.


Turn right side up on a cutting board and cut into sixteen 2-inch squares.