Sinful Chocolate Fudge Brownies

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The marriage of butter to chocolate is sure to produce something that can only be described as – decadent. Throw in some sugar, splash it with some vanilla and what do you get, if not sinful gooeyness.

I tell you, if you whip up batch of these on a clammy or wintry afternoon, they will bring you all the warmth that you need.

Yes, I am talking about the sinfully good Chocolate Fudge Brownies.

Now, I have always maintained that Brownie making is an art. The wattage of your oven, the heat and even the kind of oven you are using; all play a part in how to brownies turn out.  Another thing on which perfect brownies depend is the tin used. I absolutely insist that you use a brownie tray for baking. The results are much better. If you do not have a brownie tray then follow the suggestions in the recipe to ensure that you get optimum results.

Whatever, you do decide to use, DO MAKE these.  Psst! – your family, especially your kids will thank you.

 

 INGREDIENTS

 (This recipe serves 12 people with medium sized pieces)

• ¾ cup all purpose flour (maida)
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 200 gm of semi sweet chocolate, divided into 2 equal portions
• 12 tbsp or approx 1 cup of unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 2 ½  tsp vanilla essence
• 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar (approx 250 gm)
• 1 tsp salt (if you use salted butter then omit this step)

Note – all ingredients must be at room temperature. If you use semi sweet chocolate chips then you will need approx 250 gm of sugar in the recipe (1 ¼ cup). But, if the chocolate that you use is sweeter then reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. The recipe calls for 2 large sized eggs but that does not mean that you can substitute 2 large eggs with 3 small eggs. That’s an absolute NO!

The butter in the recipe may appear excessive but we do need that much. Remember, these are brownies and not cake. They are meant to be dense, flat and gooey.

Suggestions – My recipe is a basic recipe for making Brownies. To spice things up you can add ¼ tsp of red chilli powder to the brownie batter or you can toast some almonds/walnuts and add those (about 2 tbsp of any). To toast the nuts preheat oven to 180 deg C and then bake the nuts on a baking tray for about 8 minutes. Cool and then roughly chop them up.

METHOD

1. Preheat your oven to 180 Deg C.
2. Line your Brownie baking tray with parchment/baking paper. For this recipe you will need a square tray which is 8 x 8 inches.
3. As a first step, chop the chocolate into 1 cm big chunks.  Divide it into two parts. Reserve one part for incorporating into the batter.
4. 
5. The other half of the chopped chocolate should be melted in the microwave. To do this properly, put the chocolate chunks in a microwave safe dish and zap it at full power at 15 second intervals.
6. At the end of the first 15 seconds, take it out and mix the chunks. They will not have lost their shape and will be hard. That’s all right. Keep repeating the steps a few times as it will take the chocolate about 2-3 minutes to melt. Once done, give it a good mix and keep in a cool place to dry. This liquid chocolate needs to be added to the batter which will have eggs so it needs to be brought to a cooler temperature, else the eggs will cook. We really don’t want that, do we? I have been guilty of doing it once and it’s not a pretty sight. I had to chuck out the entire batch and start afresh.
7. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar together till they are fluffy.  I recommend using a hand help electric mixer for this.
8. Add one egg at a time till both are incorporated in the batter. Keep whisking for a further 1-2 minutes.
9. Add the vanilla essence and the melted (cooled) chocolate. Mix well with the mixture. You will observe spirals form in the batter. That’s your batter done.
10. In another mixing bowl sift together the all purpose flour, cocoa powder and salt (if using unsalted butter). Gradually fold this dry mixture into the wet mixture. At this stage I recommend using a mixing ladle and not the electric mixer.  We need to gently fold in the ingredients and not whisk them.
11. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chunks. If you are using as nuts then fold them in too at this stage.
12. 
13. That’s your batter done.
14. Pour the batter into the tray lined with parchment and smooth it over.
15. Bake at 180 deg C.
16. I use a microwave oven so it took me 1 hour 15 minutes till the brownies were baked. Note – I do not like molten centers. However, if you would prefer your brownies to have molten centers then bake them till the thin crust develops on top and the sides of the batter are set in the tin. The center will be cracked on top but gooey in the middle. You can insert a toothpick and check. That’s the time till which you need to bake them for molten brownies (approx 1 hour in a microwave oven). In a regular oven the time taken could be as less as 45 minutes so do keep a check on the brownies around the ½ hour mark.
17. Post baking let them stand in the oven for about 2 minutes.
18. 
19. Then lift the tray out and lift the parchment paper out on to a flat platform.
20. Let the brownies cool before you cut them into squares.
21.  
22. That’s it. Enjoy these delicious treats with a topping of vanilla ice cream.

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