Brownies (yet again)

I often consider brownies the lowest common denominator of American desserts. There's no challenge, no joy of victory (and also rarely the agony of defeat).

But they have a lot going for them. Brownies are simple enough for a child to make, require no advance preparation (softening butter, letting dough rise, etc.), need only the most basic of tools (heat source, bowl, pan and spoon), and use ingredients available at the corner bodega.

They are perfect in any season -- summer for picnics, winter for an after school or lunch box snack. And they are also very quick to make and are sturdy travelers. So quick, in fact, that I began a batch just hours before a flight, intending to take them as a gift for my mother who loves all things chocolate.

Plus, who doesn't love a good brownie! I have literally dozens of vintage brownie recipes (like this one, probably from the 1950s), so it has been a longtime favorite in the American kitchen. This one is quite good, not the knock-yer-socks off brownie, but simple, direct, flavorful and rather addicting.

Get started by creating a double boiler -- just a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Place the butter and chocolate in the bowl and heat until they melt.

While that mixture is cooling, beat the eggs and sugar well, then add the chocolate and vanilla.

Sprinkle on the flour and baking powder and mix to combine. Add the nuts.

Pour the batter into a greased (or parchment lined) 8 x 8 inch pan.  You can also line the pan with foil -- lining makes it easy to lift the brownies in a single cake from the pan. I also sprinkled some sea salt on the top before baking. I'd recommend this -- salt really enhances the flavor.

Slice and enjoy!

Production notes: I halved this recipe, and have written out the instructions below.

Brownies

Preheat oven to 375F
2 eggs
1.5 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3/4 c. + 2 tbs. sugar
4 tbs. butter
6 tbs. flour
1/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
Sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Place chocolate and butter in a bowl, and place the bowl atop a saucepan with a couple of inches of water in it. Heat mixture until it is melted. Remove from heat.
In a bowl, beat eggs, add sugar in thirds, beating well after each addition.
Add cooled chocolate and butter.
Add vanilla.
Add sifted flour and baking soda and stir combined.  Add nuts.
Pour into greased 8 x 8 cake pan. Sprinkle some sea salt on the top if using.
Bake about 15 minutes.

Brownies (for Valentine's Day and Every Day)

Is it too early for Valentine's Day baking? I think not, considering that many retail establishments display Christmas decorations right after Labor Day (or so it seems).

Brownies are one of the easiest baked goods to prepare, and are one of the most beloved for good reason. Simple, delicious, and chocolate -- what's not to love? There are probably millions of recipes for brownies, and this c. 1950s vintage recipe is pretty darn good. Using a cookie cutter, I made them February 14th-appropriate by stamping out heart shapes.

Start by chopping some unsweetened chocolate. Because chocolate is the star in these bar cookies, it's worth investing in a premium brand. I used Scharffen Berger, which has a very fruity taste, but there are many other excellent brands out there, like Valrhona and Callebaut.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, then mix up the rest of the batter.

This recipe creates a very stiff batter. Be sure to grease the pan, or line it with parchment paper.

Use a spatula to smooth it to the edges of the pan.

Because there is no salt in the recipe, I decided to sprinkle the batter with sea salt before baking.

Cut into squares or whatever shape your heart desires.

A light dusting of confectioner's sugar makes for a nicer presentation.

The negative space created by the cut-outs are a special treat for the baker.

Production notes: I followed this exactly, but wrote out the recipe below for ease of preparation. I also sprinkled sea salt over the batter before baking. These brownies are not overly chocolate-y, which is typical of mid-20th century recipes. I used one 9 x 12 inch pan. If you plan on cutting out shapes, you might leave out the nuts (I didn't) and consider investing in a very high quality cookie cutter. I swear by those made of copper; they are strong, have a good cutting edge and retain their shape.

 

Brownies

Preheat oven to 350 F
Grease a 9 x 12 inch pan (or line with parchment paper)

3 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla
1 c. chopped walnuts

In a double boiler (or a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water), melt the butter and chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly.
Beat three eggs.
Add sugar gradually.
Add the flour and baking powder (which you've mixed together)
Add the vanilla.
Stir in nuts.
Place batter in pan and smooth until it reaches the edges.
Optional: Sprinkle some sea salt on top.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes.
Let cool slightly and cut into squares. Or hearts.

Barney's Brownies

 

Say you have a house full of dinner guests and just as the main course is finished you realize, yikes, you forgot dessert.  If that ever happens to you, as it did to me last week, fear not.  Just excuse yourself for a moment and whip up these fabulous brownies.  

This recipe is from the kitchen of Dottie Barney, who may be the daughter of Dot (see Graham Cracker Cookies); both recipe cards were found in the collection of Olive Facey.* What's so unusual about these brownies is that they are delicious despite the fact that they contain no butter!

I made these last week, following our family holiday latke-eating Christmas tree-trimming party, the perfect celebration for our Jewish-Italian clan.  I was so focused on frying latkes, that I did not sufficiently focus on dessert.  But I literally put Barney's Brownies together in just a few minutes (hence, no time for production photos).  And it took just a few minutes for them to be consumed.  

The DD and her boyfriend Josh licking the bowl.

The finished cake.

The DD and DS, with their significant others, enjoying the brownies, despite the fact they had consumed about 50 latkes each. And rumor has it that Josh at seven brownies. (Oh, to be young again!)

Line the pan with parchment or foil so you can lift the finished product whole from the pan.  This makes cutting and serving them a snap.

What remained was modern (brownie) art.

I used cocoa powder instead of the chocolate, as I was rushing and didn't want to wait even a few minutes for the chocolate to melt.  I also did not use nuts (the DS hates them), and mixed the chocolate chips into the batter at the end.  I also used 1/2 tbls. of instant coffee granules (the Italian expresso kind) and added about a tsp. of vanilla, as I couldn't really read that ingredient amount well.

*This bit of family friend archeology is from Olive's son Stephen.  Dottie lives in Marblehead, Mass., near where Olive did.

Brownies (Best Recipe)

A new study from the University of Cambridge touting the health benefits of chocolate sent me right to the kitchen last night to whip up a batch of brownies from a recipe in Olive's collection.  The recipe, attributed to one Babe Gregware, is labeled (Best Recipe), so I just had to try it, health benefits or not.

The verdict?  Excellent, very chocolate-y brownies.  DH called them "old-fashioned," quickly adding "not in a bad way."   They are not exceedingly sweet and have a lovely, fudge-like texture that hold together much better than more modern versions.   The recipe didn't specify what size pan, so I used a 9 x 12 one, thinking that because of the four eggs, they would rise.  But they didn't, yielding a thin brownie.  I do think this recipe would work well in an 8 or 9-inch square pan if you want a heftier brownie.

Whenever chocolate is the star of a recipe, as it is in brownies,  I suggest using a high quality product (like Scharfenberger or Valrhona) as opposed to Baker's.  The result is well worth it and, after all, it's for your good health, so splurge a little.

Triangle Fire, Bundt Kuchen and Brownies with Coffee Frosting

Today is the centennial of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, the worst industrial accident in New York City's history; 146 very young women and men lost their lives when flames engulfed their workspace.  (Read more about it in Richard Chesnoff's excellent article in the Huffington Post.)

Hundreds of events to commemorate the tragedy were scheduled throughout the country and my place of employ, Henry Street Settlement, hosted a tea and reception last Sunday to honor the victims and to celebrate the progressive reforms (worker's rights, workplace safety, and more) that emerged from the fire's ashes.

The Triangle Tea and Reception featured talks by historian Joyce Mendelsohn and Vivian Sorenson, granddaughter of a Triangle employee; Liz Magnes on the piano, playing period music; and (since I was involved) a spread of refreshments all typical of 1911 and curated by historic gastronomist Sarah Lohman.

In 1911, Henry Street was18 years old, and the very population (southern and eastern European immigrants) that perished in the fire were the agency's first clients. We wanted to honor that history, in part, by recreating some of what existed in 1911, including serving the type of food eaten in the Settlement's dining rooms and in the tenement apartments of the new immigrants.

We served two savory dishes, deviled eggs and cheese & anchovy sandwiches, and two desserts, bundt kuchen and brownies with coffee frosting.  All were made from recipes in the c. 1915 edition of the Settlement Cook Book, originally published by a settlement house in Milwaukee in 1901.

The bundt kuchen, flavored with lemon and nutmeg, was delicious and typical of the time -- short on sugar and butter, and raised with yeast.

The yeast mixture, ready to add to the batter.

The batter barely fills the pan when it's first put in.

After an hour or more of rising, it's ready to bake.

The cut cake, beautifully plated by Sarah Lohman.

The "brownies" are really tiny cupcakes, meant to be baked in the gem pans popular at the turn of the 20th century, but I found mini-muffin pans worked just fine.  Again, typical of the era, they used (compared to today) a very small amount of chocolate and were not overly sweet.  The coffee frosting took them to a new level.

Because I made so many, I found it much more efficient to use a pasty bag to pipe the batter into the pans.  They baked in about 9 or 10 minutes.

Guests enjoy the spread in Henry Street's historic dining room.  

BUNDT KUCHEN 

1 cake of yeast (1/2 oz)

1 cup lukewarm milk

1 cup flour

Set the yeast with a cup of the flour and the milk and let rise in warm place. Then proceed with the following:

1/2 cup butter

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

Zest of a lemon

Grated nutmeg

Beat the butter to a cream, add the sugar, eggs one at a time, rind of a lemon, a little grated nutmeg. Now add the yeast and the remaining flour; a little more if desired. Have pan well greased. Place dough in pan let rise very light and bake 45 to 60 minutes in a moderately hot oven.

BROWNIES

1 cup brown sugar

1 square melted chocolate

½ cup butter

½ cup sour milk

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon soda

Mix flour and soda. Cream butter and sugar; add egg, chocolate and the milk alternately with the flour mixture. Grease small timbale moulds; place one teaspoon full of the mixture in each and bake in a moderate oven 10 to 15 minutes. Makes 60 little cakes. Frost with Coffee Filling.

COFFEE FROSTING

2 cups powdered sugar

4 tablespoons strong black coffee

4 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons cocoa,

1 teaspoon vanilla.

Cream butter and sugar together, add the coffee and vanilla, and lastly the cocoa.