Dangerous Cocoa Fudge Brownies

    I have never been known for being lady-like or for having anything less than a potty mouth on me. So I shall go ahead and exclaim in the most unladylike manner: "I did it! I f***ing did it!" The 'it' that I am referring to is my quest to make a fudge brownie using only cocoa powder and no actual chocolate. A search on the Internet will show you that most fudge brownie recipes use semisweet/dark chocolate for the texture and flavour.

Made using ingredients you probably already have at home

      This is the first time that I have baked two brownies in one week. Surprisingly I have not received any complaints from my husband, who does not have a very sweet tooth. Having said that, he liked the previous brownies so much that he had 3 pieces in one night. As for this brownie, we had 2 pieces each. He liked those brownies better because he "likes frosting on his brownie". Pfft! What does he know!! Anyway, it should not be any wonder if both of us gain a few kilos in the next month.

     

       I woke up early one morning and was still thinking of finding the perfect recipe for fudgy brownies. I told the husband that I could try a recipe I've just seen but maybe he doesn't want more brownies in the house? No. He said "Go for it!" So I did, and I am glad for it.

      I think that I am entitled to changing the name of this recipe because I made alterations to it. I hardly ever follow recipes to the T. I have chosen to name this 'dangerous' because they really are. These brownies have a shiny, sticky skin and definitely leave no room for arguments about whether it is a cake or a brownie. They are soft, chewy and dense. They are perfect!

      

     The original recipe can be found here. Like I said, I altered the recipe. It was mostly because I had to, not so much that I wanted to make changes to the recipe. I did not have enough butter and cocoa powder at home so I improvised with the margarine I use on my bread. Please use the full quantity of butter of you have it at home. My recipe is as follows:

Dangerous Cocoa Fudge Brownies

makes 12 pieces (or more if you cut them smaller)

140g unsalted butter/margarine 
*(I used 110g butter and 40g Becel Light Margarine)
1 cup plus 1 TBSP caster sugar (approx. 215g)
(add another TBSP if you like sweeter brownies)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (approx. 89g)
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted (66g)

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 8x8inch (or slightly smaller) square baking pan with baking paper or foil, leaving some overhang on the sides.
2. Heat some water in a small pot till simmering. Combine sifted flour and baking powder.
3. Put the butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a heatproof bowl. Put the bowl over the pot of simmering water (bain marie) and stir the contents periodically with a spoon until melted together smoothly. 
4. Take the bowl off the heat and in the espresso powder and vanilla. 
5. Put aside to cool until you can dip your little finger into the mixture for 2 seconds without burning it.

6. Now add one egg into the mixture and stir until well mixed. Repeat with the second egg.
7. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour in 3 batches until your mixture is smooth.
* I refused to whisk or beat the mixture at any point because I wanted as little air in it as possible.
8. Pour the mixture evenly into the baking pan and put into preheated oven.
9. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with a little batter clinging to it. This took 20 minutes for me. 
10. Leave to cool in the pan for 15 minutes then lift the brownie out by the overhang and put in the fridge to chill. When cold, cut into pieces.

You don't want the edges to be hard or burnt so watch the oven carefully. The brownie should look shiny and not be wobbly when you shake the pan.

Voila!

Cocoa Brownies

      These were supposed to be fudgy. However they didn't turn out as fudgy as I would like so they don't satisfy my requirements to be called a fudge brownie. They are decent brownies, though, and are great if you like a dense but cake-like brownie.

Dense but not fudge-like. Still good though.

        The reason that I chose to try this recipe instead of any other was because this recipe uses only cocoa powder and was called 'the perfect fudge brownie'. My usual brownie recipe uses semisweet chocolate and is close to being fudge-like so I was intrigued that using only cocoa powder could result in a fudge-like brownie as pictured in the website I got the recipe from. Here is the picture as shown on the website:

Very different from my results huh?

      I cannot understand how I got such drastically different results from the author of the recipe. I followed the recipe, only omitting the nuts, and altered some things in the frosting. Like I said, the brownies were decent and after getting some feedback from the people who tasted the brownies (who said it was a little too sweet), here is an altered recipe

Cocoa 'fudge' Brownies

makes 12 servings

1/2 cup butter/margarine (115g)
1 cup sugar (225g)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs (large)
1/2 cup plain flour (63g)
1/3 cup + 1 TBSP cocoa powder (approx. 48g)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Frosting
makes enough to cover the brownie

100g confectioner's sugar (0.8 cup)

2 TBSP cocoa powder

30g butter/margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBSP milk

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Grease and line a 8x8inch baking pan.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder together in a bowl
3. In a separate bowl, stir softened butter and sugar together with a spoon for about one minute.
3. Add the vanilla essence and beat. 
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition
5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 3 batches. Fold in and stir well after each addition.
*Don't whisk the batter because you don't want to incorporate air into it.
7. Pour batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes, until the edges just begin to pull away from the pan.
This is important because you don't want to overbake the brownies.
8. Take the pan out of the oven and leave to cool. Don't remove the brownie from the pan yet!
While the brownie is cooling, prepare the frosting.

Frosting:
 1. Sift the confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder together in a bowl
2. Melt the butter in a separate bowl and mix the vanilla essence into it.
3. Slowly whisk in the cocoa/sugar mixture into the butter. I say 'slowly' because confectioner's sugar tends to fly everywhere if you are not careful!
4. You want to get a spreadable consistency that is a bit thicker than chocolate syrup.
5. If the mixture is a little too thick, add milk by half-tablespoons and whisk till you get the right consistency.

Your brownie should be part-cooled by now so it should be firm enough to handle. Carefully remove the brownie from the baking pan and onto a plate. Spread the frosting onto the brownie and put the plate in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

I know that it sucks to have to wait 3 hours. But it is worth waiting to have the brownies cold, after the flavours have had time to blend together.

PERSONAL NOTE: Try adding some instant coffee powder (dissolved in a small amount of hot milk) or mint essence to the frosting for a different flavour!

In search of the perfect fudge brownies

      I remember seeing a few Mrs Fields stalls in Orchard Road in Singapore when I was in my mid-teens. By the time I turned 20, there weren't any of those stalls left. That was such a shame because I have awesome memories of buying 'brownie nibbles' from Mrs Fields, which were an assortment of small squares of brownies. I would always choose the chocolate chip and the macadamia varieties. They were perfect- dense beyond belief, fudge-like with a crackly top and just amazing. More than 5 years on, I miss these brownies so much that I am looking for a recipe that best replicates them.

Look at that dense, fudgy texture!

      I searched under different search-terms: dense brownie, fudge brownie, ultimate brownie.....

There were many recipes. So I tried one today in the hopes that I would get something like this:

Photo credit to Lisaiscooking.blogspot.nl

      But that was not to be. What I got was a dense but cake-like brownie. Nevertheless, it's a decent recipe so look for it in the next post.

Dark Orange DBB

Dark orange DBB? "What on Earth is that?!" I can hear you asking. It's a shortened name for a very sinful, delicious, scrummy, rich brownie. DBB stands for: death by brownie....

You know you want it...

It's a chocolate brownie flavored with orange rind. When I first made it, I swore I would never share the recipe. But here I am...sharing it....

The recipe is easy. Just add the ingredients gradually while beating, pour into a pan and bake.

Dark Orange DBB

makes 8 to 10 servings

220g butter/margarine

175g caster sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp grated orange rind

50g cocoa powder (unsweetened)

175g self-raising flour

Icing

55g dark chocolate

30g butter margarine

¼ cup confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar)

½ tsp grated orange rind

orange juice, as needed

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Grease and line a 9-inch round cake pan.

2.    Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (a few minutes)

3.    Add eggs into butter-sugar mixture, one at a time, while beating

4.    Slowly add the cocoa powder (it can get all over your face!) and beat to combine. Add orange rind.

5.    Add flour until well-mixed

6.    Pour batter evenly into cake pan and bake 45-60 minutes, until a knife inserted in the centre comes out almost clean.

7.    Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling

*Because this recipe calls for quite a bit of continuous beating of the batter, you might be happier to use an electric mixer. I hardly use mine because I’d rather beat the mixture by hand than wash up all the parts of the electric mixer!

To make the icing:

1.    Melt the chocolate and margarine together in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water

2.    Add the orange rind then the confectioner’s sugar and stir

3.    The icing should be of a spreadable consistency, but not runny.

4.    Add enough orange juice to get it to the suitable consistency. If it is too runny, add more confectioner's sugar

5.    Spread on the cooled brownie and refrigerate. The icing will harden upon refrigeration.