Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Killer Brownies - Thanks Bravetart

I have mentioned Stella Parks before. She has an amazing cookbook entitled "Bravetart"where she meticulously describes how to cook amazing desserts. I have made several batches - with some slight variations - of her brownies.  The link to the original is underlined.

Since then I have tweaked a couple of things - I almost can't cook without our "secret ingredient" aka vodka infused with hot peppers. So of course some of that went into the mixture. Because the recipes are so precise, I was worried about the liquid balance. But no need to worry.

The most recent batch was a command performance from Madame. She wanted to reward her amazing students for all of their hard work. We also took a batch to the dentist - perhaps for the dental team to drum up business? And finally I took some into work for an early meeting. Bottom line, all recipients gobbled them up.

Anyhow, to the business end of this recipe.

Ingredients

12 oz unsalted  butter
6 oz chopped 72% Cacao chocolate (I used Guittard)
16 oz granulated sugar
2 1/2 oz light brown sugar
1 1/2 t kosher salt
6 large eggs (cold)
2T Cayenne flavored vodka 
1 1/2 t Espresso powder
4 1/2 oz AP Flour
4 oz Dutch Process Cocoa Powder (I used Hershey's on this occasion, but do make sure it is the Dutch Process kind)

Method

Line an 8x13 aluminum pan with foil, leaving a sling over the long sides. Grease the aluminum foil  using either butter or spray.
Turn the oven on to 350F with a shelf in the middle.
Brown the butter in a stainless saucier. This should be done over low heat. As the butter melts, it will foam and sizzle for a bit. Once the foaming subsides, the butter will start to brown very quickly. Don't take your eyes off it! Once the butter has browned, remove the pan from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until melted and incorporated.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugars, salt eggs, "secret ingredient" and whisk on medium-high speed until thick and fluffy. This will take a while. Usually about 8-10 minutes.
While this is whisking, sift the flour/cocoa powder together in a separate bowl. 
Once the egg/sugar mixture is fluffy, pour in the browned butter/chocolate mixture and mix on low. When the butter is all incorporated, add the flour/cocoa mixture and mix roughly with the whisk.
When mixed, remove the bowl, mix with a spatula ensuring that any flour is pulled up from the bottom into the mixture
When the batter is fully mixed, pour into the prepared pan, put into the oven and bake for around 30 minutes - checking from 25 minutes on. The internal temperature should be at least 205.
Once cooked, remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool on the counter/wire rack before turning the brownies out. 
Trim to square off the corners of the cake. 
Using a sharp knife cut into 1 1/2" squares. I dip the knife in hot water between each cut to make the process go more smoothly.

3 comments:

Chris Lope said...

That seems like a very Central American flavor profile with the chocolate, coffee, and pepper. How noticeable is the heat from the cayenne?

Do you want any of the Bon Appetit videos on Youtube? I'm hooked on them, but the main reason I mention it is that there's a two-part episode of It's Alive with Brad where he goes to a cacao farm to harvest and ferment the beans and then part two is at the Guittard factory where they process the beans into their chocolates.

Chris Lope said...

Fat fingered that comment--should be do you WATCH any blah...
I also meant to ask, do you think just using dried cayenne would be as effective?

Chris Bird said...

Chris, I guess that powdered cayenne would work too. Combine with the cocoa powder/flour.

The heat was not terribly noticeable. Just a bit of tingle. The way I wanted it. The espresso powder isn't terribly noticeable either, although I agree it does bring a central American flavor. The killer ingredient here was the browned butter. Add a whole new dimension - compared with melted butter.

No I hadn't seen that set of youtube videos. Time to hunt them down.

Thanks for the observations