Brownie

It happened during my first study abroad trip.  Passing by a bakery, I saw alluring sprinkles of powdered sugar atop brown squares, stacked neatly on the other side of the window pane.  Having been away for a while, I was very excited to get a taste of home, but my excitement was only quickly replaced by disappointment when I realized that it was really a square of cake rather than of brownie.  Disappointment was, however, soon overcome by this odd realization that getting a brownie right was not straightforward as boiling water.  Because at home, even a boxed brownie mix would come out tasting like brownie.

All things considered, the brownie is more American than apple pie.  Brownie has been described as a cookie with less flour.  Its invention is largely attributed to Fannie Merritt Farmer, who wrote the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book.  Its 1906 revision’s chocolate brownie recipe was very close to her 1896 chocolate cookie recipe with a greatly reduced amount of flour.  Brownie’s texture varies between cake-like and fudge-like.  Though I think that when folks describe a fudge-like brownie, they are more often describing a chocolate ganache, which is soft toward melting.  Fudge, another American invention, is soft and firm.  When a cake is described as fudge-like, it goes toward the brownie.  Because cake is typically soft and crumbly, a fudge-like cake is more dense in texture.  When a brownie is described as fudge-like, it goes toward the fudge, which is firmer still.

Remarkably, the recipe for brownie has not changed much over the years.  It depends upon the preference for brownie’s flavor and texture that ingredients may differ.  Because cocoa butter is firmer than dairy butter, unsweetened or semisweet chocolate chips make a firmer textured, fudge-like brownie.  Alternatively, employing a higher ratio of flour or cocoa powder, without cocoa butter, makes for a cakey brownie.  Similar to fudge, a fudge-like brownie has a molasse-like taste.  Thus employing brown sugar instead of white sugar gives brownie a fudge-like taste.

Melt the butter and the chopped chocolate together using the double boiler method.  Alternatively, combine and heat for 10 minutes @ 280F, then gently stir with a flexible spatula until all is smoothly blended.

Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl until pale and frothy, then whisk in the sugar, instant espresso powder, vanilla, salt, and finally the chocolate-butter mixture. Sift in the flour and fold it into the batter with a flexible spatula until just combined.  Pour the batter into a lined 8-inch square baking pan.  25 min @ 350F.  Make 16 brownies.