so guess what. i went on a junk boat trip with my youth group and now im like, 5-6 shades darker than i was before o_o luckily, im peeling as well, so i should end up about 2-3 shades darker than before..? (i don't even know anymore. i've pretty much forgotten what shade i was before i got tan. whoops.)
well anyway, i've been on summer break for my third week now, and i've been crazy busy with my SAT prep course.... goodness.
the exciting news is, i've enrolled in a Wilton certified cake decorating course! it starts next monday night and i am superdupercrazyinsane excited for it. OH GLORIOUS PIPING BAG TECHNIQUES!
at any rate, im here to talk about food and not how busy or tan i am, so here you go: crazy fudgy brownies!
these were made from request when my cousin came over for dinner, since we had made brownies last time she came over to bake. i don't make tray bakes very often, since i usually focus on stuff like cupcakes, souffles; essentially things that need a little more aesthetic attention. (i'm not saying brownies are ugly. im just saying that they don't really require decorating. their deliciousness is enough to make you want to gobble them up.)
i love my brownies dense and fudgy; cake-y brownies don't really do it for me. i'd rather have chocolate cake. thanks.
so anyway, i got my recipe from sally's baking addiction, one of my many favorite food blogs. her stuff is amazing and you should really check it out, especially if you have a crazy sweet tooth. it's sure to satisfy any sweet craving of yours!
when making or picking brownie recipes, keep in mind that different ingredients produce different textures. first thing to do when you set out to find a recipe for you is to make up your mind as to whether you like your brownies cake-y or fudgy. then, you look in your recipe's ingredient list- melted chocolate produces fudgy, dense brownies, and cocoa powder makes cakey ones. the amount of flour is important as well- you want your brownies to rise a bit, so you can't neglect them, but you can choose the amount you put it. the more flour there is, the more it will rise, and the more cakey it will be. many recipes that call for melted chocolate involved cocoa powder as well, but that only serves to make it more chocolate-y. brown sugar is a good ingredient to have in fudgy brownies, as the taste and texture of brown sugar, when baked, is different to that of granulated white sugar. brown sugar has a softer, warmer (does that even make sense?) feeling to it, whereas granlated white sugar is purely there to sweeten things up (it also makes things a little lighter). the more chocolate chips you put in your batter, the fudgier it will be when baked as well. you can also thrown in some mini marshmallows and coarsely chopped nuts if you want to make a "rocky road" brownie. (just some suggestions. kitchen sink brownies are great too. just remember to chop up your additions before throwing them in, and make sure your additions don't overwhelm your batter in proportion.)
pay attention to the chocolate you put in your brownies; ALWAYS use baking chocolate, and for brownies, use semi-sweetened dark chocolate- it makes a world of difference. if you use fully sweetened or milk chocolate, the sweetness will overwhelm your brownies before you even add sugar, and your batter needs sugar to rise. also make sure you use baking chocolate; don't you DARE you regular chocolate, as the ingredients are slightly different and your texture could turn disastrous. same goes for chocolate chips; use baking chocolate for fudginess! (unless you want crunch and color; then it's fine to throw in m&m's).
also, on the topic of chocolate, if you don't have a microwave (like me) then you should place your coarsely chopped chocolate into a small container and place that container in a larger one filled halfway with boiling hot water. stir occasionally, and don't you DARE let the chocolate touch water, or vise versa. the texture of your chocolate will turn grainy and gross with even one DROP of water in it. don't do it. i've tried it.
so without further ado (or lessons in the technical things you need to pay attention to to ensure fudgy/cakey brownies), you may start drooling over my bad photography :P
well anyway, i've been on summer break for my third week now, and i've been crazy busy with my SAT prep course.... goodness.
the exciting news is, i've enrolled in a Wilton certified cake decorating course! it starts next monday night and i am superdupercrazyinsane excited for it. OH GLORIOUS PIPING BAG TECHNIQUES!
at any rate, im here to talk about food and not how busy or tan i am, so here you go: crazy fudgy brownies!
these were made from request when my cousin came over for dinner, since we had made brownies last time she came over to bake. i don't make tray bakes very often, since i usually focus on stuff like cupcakes, souffles; essentially things that need a little more aesthetic attention. (i'm not saying brownies are ugly. im just saying that they don't really require decorating. their deliciousness is enough to make you want to gobble them up.)
i love my brownies dense and fudgy; cake-y brownies don't really do it for me. i'd rather have chocolate cake. thanks.
so anyway, i got my recipe from sally's baking addiction, one of my many favorite food blogs. her stuff is amazing and you should really check it out, especially if you have a crazy sweet tooth. it's sure to satisfy any sweet craving of yours!
when making or picking brownie recipes, keep in mind that different ingredients produce different textures. first thing to do when you set out to find a recipe for you is to make up your mind as to whether you like your brownies cake-y or fudgy. then, you look in your recipe's ingredient list- melted chocolate produces fudgy, dense brownies, and cocoa powder makes cakey ones. the amount of flour is important as well- you want your brownies to rise a bit, so you can't neglect them, but you can choose the amount you put it. the more flour there is, the more it will rise, and the more cakey it will be. many recipes that call for melted chocolate involved cocoa powder as well, but that only serves to make it more chocolate-y. brown sugar is a good ingredient to have in fudgy brownies, as the taste and texture of brown sugar, when baked, is different to that of granulated white sugar. brown sugar has a softer, warmer (does that even make sense?) feeling to it, whereas granlated white sugar is purely there to sweeten things up (it also makes things a little lighter). the more chocolate chips you put in your batter, the fudgier it will be when baked as well. you can also thrown in some mini marshmallows and coarsely chopped nuts if you want to make a "rocky road" brownie. (just some suggestions. kitchen sink brownies are great too. just remember to chop up your additions before throwing them in, and make sure your additions don't overwhelm your batter in proportion.)
pay attention to the chocolate you put in your brownies; ALWAYS use baking chocolate, and for brownies, use semi-sweetened dark chocolate- it makes a world of difference. if you use fully sweetened or milk chocolate, the sweetness will overwhelm your brownies before you even add sugar, and your batter needs sugar to rise. also make sure you use baking chocolate; don't you DARE you regular chocolate, as the ingredients are slightly different and your texture could turn disastrous. same goes for chocolate chips; use baking chocolate for fudginess! (unless you want crunch and color; then it's fine to throw in m&m's).
also, on the topic of chocolate, if you don't have a microwave (like me) then you should place your coarsely chopped chocolate into a small container and place that container in a larger one filled halfway with boiling hot water. stir occasionally, and don't you DARE let the chocolate touch water, or vise versa. the texture of your chocolate will turn grainy and gross with even one DROP of water in it. don't do it. i've tried it.
so without further ado (or lessons in the technical things you need to pay attention to to ensure fudgy/cakey brownies), you may start drooling over my bad photography :P
i threw about 100g of coarsely chopped white chocolate into the batter because i like my chocolate. just cuz. chocolate. i don't think i need to explain anymore.
recipe after the jump :)
recipe after the jump :)
Ingredients115g unsalted butter 228g coarsely chopped semi-sweet dark baking chocolate 125g granulated sugar 50g soft, light brown sugar 3 large eggs 1tsp vanilla extract 80g all purpose flour 2tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4tsp salt 250g semi-sweet chocolate chips 100g coarsely chopped white baking chocolate, or white chocolate chips | Ready to bake?
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Original recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. Click here to check it out.
HAHA. we don't have picnics in hong kong. so just... share them. or serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. or just.. eat it all yourself. they're that good.