They’re ooey and gooey and delicious.
This brownie recipe is from David Leibovitz’ updated The Great Book of Chocolate cookbook. You can order the book through your local bookstore or on Amazon here.
According to Lebovitz, this recipe originated with The Downtown Bakery and Creamery in Healdsburg, California, under its founding owner Kathleen Stewart.
Ahhh chocolate! Did you know it is a fruit grown mostly in the hot and humid rainforests of Africa, Central and South America? Being a fruit makes it a healthy indulgence. Right? Let’s agree on that.
In his book about chocolate, Lebovitz has an interesting discussion about the provenance of chocolate. He writes:
“Every step–from growing and harvesting, fermenting and drying to blending, roasting and conching–affects the flavor of chocolate. Most beans are processed far from their place of origin. With that in mind, resist the urge to assume that, say, Belgian or French or Swiss chocolates are better than chocolates made elsewhere. While those countries have well-known traditions of producing excellent chocolate, it’s better to look beyond the country of manufacture as a barometer of quality. Much depends on the quality of the beans, how they are treated, and how the chocolate is made, rather than the country where the chocolate-making facility is located.” (Note: Conching, if you are unfamiliar with the term, is the part of the treatment of cocoa beans where the liquified chocolate is kneaded by granite rollers. This refining of the crushed chocolate particles improves the texture of the chocolate and also removes some of the acidity and astringency from the chocolate thus improving its flavor.)
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
Downtown Bakery Brownies
Ingredients
- 8 T. unsalted butter (cubed, room temperature)
- 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
- 1 C. sugar
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 3/4 C. all-purpose flour
- 1/4 t. salt
- 1/2 C. walnuts
- For Ganache Frosting
- 2 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (chopped)
- 1/4 C. heavy cream
Directions
- Step 1 Prepare a square 8 inch metal baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray and lining it with foil (shiny side down). Leave a bit of foil hanging over the sides to act as handles to help you remove the brownies from the pan after baking.
- Step 2 Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Step 3 Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the unsweetened chocolate and stir and melt. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Then, stir in eggs and vanilla.
- Step 4 Combine flour, salt and nuts in a bowl. Stir to combine. Add this to the batter and stir until smooth. Scrape this batter into your prepared pan. Smooth the top.
- Step 5 Bake at 325 degrees F. until the center of the brownie is just set. The center will be a little softer than the edges of the brownie.This will take about 25 minutes.
- Step 6 Remove the pan from the oven and set on a rack to cool. Don’t be alarmed if some of the liqud (the butter) from the mixture is bubbling up over the surface of the brownies. This will be incorporated as the brownie cools. Once the brownie is cool, run the edge of a knife around the edgies to loosen the brownie. Using the foil handles, carefully remove the brownie from the pan and, once removed from the pan, peel off the foil. This is a thin brownie, by the way.
- Step 7 Make the granache. Put the bittersweet or semisweet chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until it simmers. Pour the cream over the chocolate. Let it sit for about 30 seconds. Then, stir until you have a smooth ganache. At the beginning your ganache will be loose. Let it sit (and continue stirring it occasionally) until it firms up to spreading consistency. Spread the ganache over the brownie. Optional: sprinkle chopped, roasted walnuts over the ganache. Slice and serve.
