Monday, June 2, 2008

TWD french chocolate brownies...




Mmmmmmmm! These babies really are a beautiful thing. Surprisingly gooey & fudgy in the middle, despite the crisp layer on the top. Again...mmmmmm! The only changes I made to the original recipe was trading the rum soaked raisins for chopped pecans, and I used semi sweet chocolate instead of bittersweet. Have I mentioned...mmmmm yummy?!?!?

Thanks Di for the fabulous selection!!



- makes 16 brownies


-Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours

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.

32 comments:

noskos said...

Nice looking brownies!!!

Di said...

I bet pecans were great in these. My brownies cracked on top too, though not as dramatically as yours.

Sarah said...

they look great! I would have subbed the raisins with something else as well.

Prudy said...

Beautiful pictures. I love how you photographed all of your ingredients before baking.

Carrie said...

very pretty!

Bumblebutton said...

I love how shiny your crackled top is! Nice job!

BAKE-EN said...

Great post. I loved these brownies!

Linda said...

Really liked the look of your cracked top...Yum!!!

Marie Rayner said...

Your brownies look delicious Annemarie! I love the crackled top and ghiradelli chocolate! Wonderful job!

LyB said...

Can't ever go wrong with brownies! Yours look delicious!

Mary Ann said...

Those do look scrumptious and I love your substitutions- funny thing, I know someone who knows you. I saw them mention your blog on their blog and I just thought to myself, what a small world. :)

Anne said...

I did chopped nuts too and thought they were tasty. I love your pics. Great job AnneMarie!

ostwestwind said...

Your brownies looks just great.

Ulrike from Küchenlatein

The Kitchen Vixen said...

They look wonderful. Your crack is so much neater than mine was. I'm jealous;)

diane said...

Ok, that is so not fair...I want one!

Jayne said...

Yum - pecans! Good idea! And beautiful pictures!

Melissa said...

I've decided that the cracked top give them character!

Heather B said...

Your brownies look delicious! Great job!

Christine said...

I love the cracks! Great job on the brownies pecans sound yummy

eatme_delicious said...

Yum I just want to dig into your brownies! Love that big crack in the middle! I would want to pick away at the crackly pieces.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm, pecans. Good choice!

PheMom said...

Very nice! Great job!

Annie Miller said...

You're killing my diet here. Those look very tempting!

Mary Ann said...

Lissel Dalton is in my ward and when I was checking her blog the other day she had one of your pics and recipes on there. I thought it was so funny, even though I don't really know you, but I know we have common interests. Interesting?!

Mary Ann said...

No problem- her blog is http://dalton-family.com/ I hope it works, if not, she is linked up on my family blog.

Cecilia said...

Boy, that is a large crack on the top! The brownies are looking good!

CB said...

ooohh I bet the pecans were so yummy with this brownie! Great job!
Clara @ I♥food4thought

Mari said...

Yeah to pecans in brownies!

Anonymous said...

They are marvelous!!!!!!! Thanks!

Susie Homemaker said...

So glad I dropped by your blog - great job! (I shouldn't come back though - there are too many great looking desserts here!) :) Looking forward to see your post next week!

Jaime said...

they look great! seems you and i both got very similar results w/our crust!

Lynne Daley said...

Looks yummy!