Recipe French Chocolate Brownies

FRENCH CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.
• Whisk together the flour and salt.
• Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them-it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.
• Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated-you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds-the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula. (This batter was almost like a mousse when it was done being mixed, and very light in color)
• Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.
• (These brownies ended up with a thin crispy layer on top and rose significantly during baking and then subsequently caved in after cooling slightly!)
• Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.
• Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside-good go-alongs are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!
• Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

FRENCH CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Place a rack just below center of oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Line an 8-inch-square pan with foil and brush with melted butter.
• In a bowl, whisk flour and salt together. In top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt remaining butter and chocolate together. Stir often and remove from heat when a few lumps remain. Stir until smooth.
• In a mixer, beat eggs and sugar together until thick and pale yellow. Add chocolate mixture and vanilla and mix at low speed until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix 30 seconds, then finish mixing by hand, adding nuts if using. Pour into prepared pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, until top is dry. Let cool in pan, then lift out and cut into bars or wrap in foil.

GOURMET FRENCH BROWNIES

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine Frangelica and 2 tablespoons sugar. Bring to a boil, then simmer until liquid is reduce to about 3 tablespoons of syrup, about 10 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Butter and sugar the paper. Separate 9 of the eggs, putting the whites in a mixers bowl and 7 yolks into a medium bowl. (Use remaining yolks for another use.) Add the 2 remaining whole eggs and ¼ a cup of powdered sugar to yolks, whisk until blended.
• In the microwave, or in a double boiler, melt chocolate. Put the melted chocolate in a mixing bowl and stir in butter until smooth. Whisk in the egg yolk mixture then stir in cinnamon.
• Add remaining powdered sugar to egg white and beat with a mixer until it forms stiff peaks. Fold about 1 cup of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture until blended. Add chocolate mixture to the egg white in bowl and fold in until smooth. Fold in reserved Frangelica syrup, vanilla and half the walnuts.
• Pour into prepared baking pan, and use a spatula to spread evenly to the sides of the pan. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts, and fleur de sel evenly over the top. Place in the heated oven. When top is puffed up, about 20-25 minutes, insert knife into the center and see if it comes out clean, if it does then remove from oven. While brownies are still hot, use a paring knife to trim the sides, which may have puffed up over the rim of the baking pan. Place a baking sheet lined with parchment paper on top of the brownies, then invert. Remove top pan and sheet of parchment paper. Let brownies rest at room temperature for 8 hours. Cut into 12 rectangles and enjoy!

COCOA BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.
• In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.
• Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.

FRENCH SILK BROWNIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
• Make brownie batter as directed on box. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Spread in pan. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• In large bowl, beat Filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl frequently. Spread evenly over brownies. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until set.
• When ready to serve, cut brownies into 6 rows by 4 rows. In chilled medium bowl, beat 1 cup whipping cream with electric mixer on medium-high speed until slightly thickened. Reduce speed; beat in 3 tablespoons powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Increase speed; beat mixture until stiff peaks form.
• Spoon whipped cream into decorating bag fitted with 1/2-inch star piping tip. In center of each brownie, apply steady pressure to bag while squeezing, and pipe in tight circle to make rosette flower about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Stop squeezing, and quickly lift bag off. Garnish rosettes with chocolate chips. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

CHOCOLATE CRUNCH BROWNIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture until blended., Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 24-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool in pan on a wire rack. Spread marshmallow creme over cooled brownies., In a small saucepan, melt peanut butter and chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from the heat; stir in cereal. Spread over top. Refrigerate until set. Cut into bars.

FRENCH CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Place a rack just below center of oven and preheat to 300 degrees.
• Line an 8-inch-square pan with foil and brush with melted butter.
• In a bowl, whisk flour and salt together.
• In top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt remaining butter and chocolate together. Stir often and remove from heat when a few lumps remain. Stir until smooth.
• In a mixer, beat eggs and sugar together until thick and pale yellow. Add chocolate mixture and vanilla and mix at low speed until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix 30 seconds, then finish mixing by hand, adding nuts if using.
• Pour into prepared pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, until top is dry.
• Let cool in pan, then lift out and cut into bars or wrap in foil.

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 11x7 inch baking pan.
• In a medium bowl, beat sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa; stir into the sugar mixture. Blend in the peanut butter. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges of brownies start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool before cutting into bars and serving.

BEST EVER CHOCOLATE BROWNIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Cut 185g unsalted butter into small cubes and tip into a medium bowl. Break 185g dark chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl.
• Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them.
• Remove the bowl from the pan. Alternatively, cover the bowl loosely with cling film and put in the microwave for 2 minutes on High. Leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.
• While you wait for the chocolate to cool, position a shelf in the middle of your oven and turn the oven on to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking parchment to line the base. Tip 85g plain flour and 40g cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl. Tap and shake the sieve so they run through together and you get rid of any lumps.
• Chop 50g white chocolate and 50g milk chocolate into chunks on a board.
• Break 3 large eggs into a large bowl and tip in 275g golden caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar. They will look thick and creamy, like a milk shake. This can take 3-8 minutes, depending on how powerful your mixer is. You'll know it's ready when the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume. Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters and wiggle them from side to side. If the mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you're there.
• Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take it underneath and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the middle. Continue going under and over in a figure of eight, moving the bowl round after each folding so you can get at it from all sides, until the two mixtures are one and the colour is a mottled dark brown. The idea is to marry them without knocking out the air, so be as gentle and slow as you like.
• Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly.
• Gently fold in this powder using the same figure of eight action as before. The mixture will look dry and dusty at first, and a bit unpromising, but if you keep going very gently and patiently, it will end up looking gungy and fudgy. Stop just before you feel you should, as you don't want to overdo this mixing.
• Finally, stir in the white and milk chocolate chunks until they're dotted throughout.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it.
• Put in the oven and set your timer for 25 mins. When the buzzer goes, open the oven, pull the shelf out a bit and gently shake the tin. If the brownie wobbles in the middle, it's not quite done, so slide it back in and bake for another 5 minutes until the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven.
• Leave the whole thing in the tin until completely cold, then, if you're using the brownie tin, lift up the protruding rim slightly and slide the uncut brownie out on its base. If you're using a normal tin, lift out the brownie with the foil. Cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into four squares and finally into triangles.
• They'll keep in an airtight container for a good two weeks and in the freezer for up to a month.