A Simple Brownie Recipe (2 Variations)

This one goes out to Charu and Swati. 


Here is how I make brownies:


Variation 01 - Brownies with Cocoa Powder 


1 Cup - Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 Cup - Flour
100gm - Butter (I use this measure since I can just run out and get a slab from the nearest shop :) )
1 - Egg (2 if you want moister brownies)

1/2 Cup - Brown Sugar (You can use plain sugar, but I find it a tad bit too sweet)

1.5 tsp - Baking powder

A pinch of salt (Don't add if you are using Amul butter. It is already very salty)
A pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg powder mix (I don't like the artificial smelling vanilla essence that I get here)


I take the butter (I like Mother Dairy butter since it is not as salty as Amul), and microwave it  in my Borosil dish till it melts. I then add in in the cocoa powder and incorporate the cocoa with the butter. 
(I have tried a variation a very long time back that worked very well... I added a little cocoa butter to the mix and it makes the chocolate much smoother)


By this time the mixture is not so warm so I crack the eggs into the mixture and use a whisk to get everything together.
I mix the baking powder and the flour together and then add that into the mixture. 


By now I have a greased tray lined and ready I pour the mix in and dunk it into a preheated oven after sprinkling some walnuts on top.


I still have not started using the thermometers, but I realized that the trick here is not to have the oven on full blast and to get the brownies out while a skewer insert still does not come out clean

Variation 02 - Brownies with Compound Chocolate  

1 'slab' - (Varies between 100-200gm. More is good :)) - Compound Chocolate. I prefer Selbourne Extra Dark (Still quite sweet at some 30% cocoa :()

1/2 Cup - Flour

3/4 slab of a 100 gm butter pack

2 - Eggs

1/2 Cup - Brown Sugar (You can use plain sugar, but I find it a tad bit too sweet)

1.5 tsp - Baking powder

A pinch of salt (Don't add if you are using Amul butter. It is already very salty)

A pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg powder mix (I don't like the artificial smelling vanilla essence that I get here)

The chocolate and butter is melted in the microwave and then the eggs and flour are added in turn.


Then it is popped into the oven and baked till it of the consistency required.


If you like some interesting banter and want to ogle at some nice photos, here is a nice site that has a recipe for brownies... http://goo.gl/ic0tC

Mango Chocolate Oatmeal Chewy Drop Cookies (No added sugar or fat)

I have been trying out these 'fruit-infused' cookie things for a while. I am usually not very happy with the cookies that are dished out by the standard coffee shops (stale, dry, overpoweringly sugary), or even Subway outlets (limp after being baked a while back and with a greasy aftertaste...).


With the mangoes fast disappearing at the end of the season, I just wanted to bake something with the fruit. And not the standard muck that they give at every confectionery (orange in colour, tasteless, and usually called Alphonso when it is not...).


So I started by trying out a cookie sans all these irritating things. Which did turn out better that I really expected ... But the Sugar, Egg, and Flour-less Cookies were another trip altogether...


 Anyways.... Now that the ranting bit is done....


Guru dropped in for the second last time before he goes away for good to Singapore. So I thought that this was a good time to bake something for him and Shubha.
  
By the time all 'imagin-ing-about-the-food' had stopped swirling in my brain, time had flown and Guru was calling me, irritatedly, asking me when I would land up at his place. <rolling eyes>...


I did not want the standard compound chocolate in the cookies, so I got our some chocolate that some cocoa mass and cocoa butter instead of the hydrogenated fat. I also got out some orange peel.

This had to be done rapidly so I got out some Chitalebandhu Aamras (mango pulp) and squelched out a couple of bowls of the pulp.

Next a couple of cups of oat meal got dumped into my trusty old mixing bowl. (I made a mental note to ask someone to get me some nice steel bowls when they fly in :) )

The chocolate slab got chop-chopped ...

Then the walnut bits also joined the rest in the mixture...

Now, it was time to chop the candied orange peel....

I added a nub of ginger to add a delightful little zing in the cookie just when you were not expecting it... to offset the sweetish richness of the chocolate...

I chopped the ginger in to little bits...

... and then all of this went straight into the bowl.  

I added a teaspoon of baking powder (but you can really bake these cookies without it...)

After a good stir, I added a cup of आटा/ataa (aka whole wheat flour) to add some more 'body' to the cookies...

Once the flour was incorporated into the mixture I poured in the mango pulp. This was meant to have a three fold effect--bind the mixture, add some sweetness and to add that little interesting flavour when you bite into the cookie...

After a good mix....

... I rolled out some baking parchment onto the racks and dropped lumps of the mixture.

Tada! All ready to bake in my preheated oven while I cleaned things up and got ready to get out of the house with the cookies...

And this if how the cookies looked straight out of the oven... Notice how the chocolate looks all gooey... The trick with chocolate (as opposed to compound chocolate) is that the chocolate stays gooey-ish even after the cookie is cooled since the chocolate is not actually tempered. Next I shall try making a nice batch of giant muffins with chocolate sunk into the centre. Should be interesting :)

 

Chocolate Cakey Brownie Cupcakes

The Mumbai rains have started the steady staccato beats across the senses. Guru and Subha just had a son and the weekend expected that I go an meet the trio. 

I was contemplating what to make and take along when Harini chattered over the phone demanding a birthday cake. This combination sparked the idea of either a cheese cake of some sort of a brownie. The latter was a known devil, so after procrastinating the weekend away I decided that a twist to a know devil would do that trick. 

I pulled out a the bake stuff and took a cup of atta (whole wheat), half a teaspoon of baking powder, and less than a cup of sugar. I also got a couple of sachets of instant coffee to substitute the standard spices.

I cracked three 50gm eggs and ...

...dunked the sugar...

...and the coffee into the mixing bowl...

I washed and got the silicone muffins moulds washed and ready before starting work.

I took about 180gm of butter and 160gm of dark compound chocolate out. (Don't worry about the arbit grammage I just made sure I got almost equal quantities of everything and then weighed them to reassure myself that "all is well" :) )

While the oven pre-heated, I whisked the eggs and the sugar...

... and the butter and chocolate melted in the microwave...

... I stirred the chocolate mix to get rid of any lumps and added it to the eggs and sugar...

... and mixed it in with the atta...

Then I quickly poured the heavenly mix into the moulds and in they went into the oven.

I pulled them out when all of them were a little plump (turning them around once) and soon had Harini calling me to hurry up and get to the car...

Chocolate Ganache...

Now that I'd a crack at the basic foam cake, I wanted to try out some frosting to make it nice and happy...
All I needed was some chocolate (I took 250gm left over Morde) and some of the thick cream (300gm) to get the goo going ..

So I went out and hunted out Punjab and Sind Dairy (a little Tweeting and some help from Titin did the trick :) ). They sell some amazing, heavy cream.
While the chocolate went for some chop chop...

The cream went into the saucepan for a quick low flame boil...

Just when the cream threatened to boil over, I cut the heat and sloshed in the chocolate shards.

It took a fair bit of stirring as the cream started melting the chocolate...

And voila! The rich (very tempting) pool of chocolate was glinting at me.

I took a cocoa foam cake that I'd baked an hour ahead and sliced it into two. 

I then poured and spread some of the ganache. I did this in stages of pouring and spreading since if I just poured, the ganache (still very warm and liquid) would just soak in...

...and sprinkled some walnut bits to make things interesting

The top slice quickly went on and then it was time to pour (the now solidifying) ganache on top of the cake...

A little tap here and there got the bubbles out as much as possible.

I slapped on some halved almonds to add some visual appeal and also create a 'boundary' for the slices to be cut.

And I was done... 
The entire cake now went into the fridge for an hour for the chocolate to cool and get all gooey. 

Nutella and Walnut filling...

This is a quick filling that I put in when I do not have much time to something more involving.

I take a cake (here this was a cocoa-based foam cake) and slice it into two halves.

Next I crack open a jar of Nutella. 

Tip: Buy from Crawford Market if you are anywhere near Mumbai. 30% or more cheaper than what you'd get from a super market. Alternatively, you can also hazelnut chocolate paste from places like Arife LeMoulde. (I still like Nutella :D )

But I digress...

I slather Nutella generously on inner surface of the bottom slice...

And then sprinkle some crushed walnut bits to make things interesting in terms of texture.

I also flip over the top slice and put on some more Nutella...

Then I slap the two slices together and I have my cake ready to eat...