French Brownies

Just as I finished working off the calories from ‘tasting’ all those Sticky Pecan Buns from last week’s Tuesdays with Dorie, it was time make this week’s selection.

Di of Di’s Kitchen chose French Brownies from Dorothy Greenspan’s cookbook: “Baking from my home to yours”. Chocolate with a hint of cinnamon – YAY!!

I left out the rum soaked raisins as my family does not like raisins in anything especially in chocolate. I see it as a blessing in disguise – I didn’t have to flambé anything thus reducing the risk of causing some sort of damage to my kitchen.

The recipe was quite straightforward and easy to follow. I did not have an 8 inch square pan and after my Madeleine pan purchase, I thought it would be best just to use my 7 inch square Pyrex pan. In about 50 minutes the brownies were ready to take out of the oven with numerous cracks on the surface. I immediately went to get my camera to take photos when I noticed that the batteries had died and of course, like pens and pencils, there were no batteries to be found anywhere in the house.

Well, in the meantime the girls came home from school, the hubby came back from work, the hubby’s band came over after supper for a practice and the brownies were long gone before I had a chance to take any kind of photos. I did manage to have a tiny bite and and although the brownies were delicious, I thought they were a bit dry. So, much to the delight of my family, I made the brownies again the next day just to take photos. This time the camera was equipped with new batteries. For the second time around, I used 80% cocoa chocolate instead of the bittersweet chocolate and I baked them for 45 minutes.

Once baked, the top was not as cracked as the first time.

I waited until the brownies had cooled down before removing the brownies from the pan and cutting them into squares. I really liked the intense taste of the 80% cocoa with just a hint of cinnamon.

Once the photos were taken, the brownies disappeared just as quickly (with large glasses of milk) as the first time I made them. I already had a request to make them again for the next band night.

Thanks Di for having chosen this decadent indulgence. The TWD Bakers are sharing their French Brownies at the Tuesdays with Dorie Blogroll.


French Chocolate Brownies
– makes 16 brownies -Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours.

• 
  Ingredients

  1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden
• 1 1/2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar

Getting ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you’re using it.

Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It’s important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you’ve got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it’s better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.

Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you’ll have a thick, creamy batter.

Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won’t be completely incorporated and that’s fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.

Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.

Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.

Serving:
The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they’re even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-alongs are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!

Storing:
Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.