The Happiness Brownie for Chocoholics

I know I just posted a brownie recipe recently, but this is different. It is The Happiness Brownie for Chocoholics and I am a serious Chocoholic. That brownie is the easy everyday version. Not that this one isn't easy...it is, and you need only one saucepan. That alone means a good recipe according to me since I hate washing up! And I don't really need a reason to bake some brownies. They make me feel happy and take away all my worries. And also, they can be whipped up in a matter of  minutes. If it's a quick and easy fix, it's good enough for me.

Wouldn't you feel happy when these are out of the oven? I know I was...

This recipe for brownies is from Stephanie Jowarski's Joy of Baking to which I've made some changes to get a very moist, fudgier and chocolate overdosed brownie. And the addition of sugar covered almonds makes it a wonderful treat, hence the name 'The Happiness Brownie'. Mind you, Stephanie just called them Brownies, I made some small changes to the recipe...added a few things here, mixed in a cupful of love, a tablespoon of joy and some more stuff and there you have it...The Happiness Brownie! (Ha! got you...I got you all thinking I hit my head real hard!).

The Happiness Brownie

So without further ado, here's the recipe for The Happiness Brownie as I call it. And the next time, I am going to use Salted Honey Roasted Almonds and Pretzels too...Ooohhh!!!

The Happiness Brownie

Makes 16 normal sized brownies or 24 smaller brownies

INGREDIENTS

10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated white sugar

3/4 cup (75 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch processed

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup full fat milk

1/2 cup (65 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (60 ml) sour cream (full or reduced fat)

1/2 cup (85 grams) semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (optional) 

1/4 cup Sugar covered Almonds

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottom and sides of an 8 inch (20 cm) square pan with aluminum foil. (The aluminum foil should hang about two inches (5 cm) over the sides of the pan to make it easy to lift the brownies from the pan.)

In a medium saucepan melt the butter (can also melt the butter in the microwave). Remove from heat. Stir (or whisk) in the sugar and cocoa powder. Whisk in the vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, mixing until the sugar is dissolved. ( It will look like there's too much sugar, keep stirring and you will get there). Add the milk and stir well until you have a smooth and glossy batter. (By this stage the sugar will have mostly dissolved).

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold this flour mixture into the batter. Finally, fold in the sour cream and chocolate chips (if using).

Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top, rap the sides of the pan to remove any air bubbles. Scatter the top with the sugar coated almonds (Roll the sugar covered almonds in a little bit of flour so that they don't sink to the bottom of the pan). 

The brownie batter in the pan

Bake for about 28 -30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center has moist crumbs clinging to it.Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool to room temperature. Then, to make the brownies easier to cut, cover and place in the refrigerator for two hours or until firm. When ready to cut the brownies, lift the aluminum foil out of the pan and, with a sharp knife, cut the brownies.

And serve them as they are or with whipped cream and berries or Ice-Cream and Chocolate Sauce with chopped nuts or just eat them however you want to.

* Note: As you all can see, I haven't lined the pan with aluminum foil, for one I didn't have any and secondly it was easier to just grease and dust it with flour. And there was no difference in texture. But DO NOT OVERBAKE THE BROWNIE...believe me you won't be happy and the brownie definitely won't be happy because it'll dry out.

Leftover Brownies can be stored in the refrigerator for 4 days or upto 3 months in the freezer. ( But who's ever heard of 'Leftover Brownies'!).

I like to just zap them in the microwave for 30 secs before I eat 'em...it just feels right!

Well, until next time...Happy Baking!

Happy Birthday Nigella, here's a Chocolate Irish cream cake for you...

Today is Nigella Lawson's Birthday. For those of you who don't know me, I think of Nigella as my Guru. She according to me is the best cook ever and is also one of the reasons why I love baking so much. She makes it all so easy, breezes into her beyond amazing kitchen, fiddles around with all those doodads, throws a few things together and Voila! you have a visual treat right before your eyes, which just makes you wish you could somehow wrangle an invitation to her house for a meal. And she does all this while she looks like a million bucks, for someone who is always around food! If I did that, I'd probably look like a freight train! (Scary image in my head now, definitely need to do some Power Yoga). 

Even if I cannot be a part of her birthday celebrations (for now, I hope I get to meet her someday) I thought she deserves a beautiful cake (which I would eat on her behalf). And well, it's just another excuse to bake a cake. And it couldn't be just anything... it had to bold, brassy and beautiful, in other words something that says Nigella or sort of describes her. I know she likes chocolate (who doesn't?) so I made a chocolate cake with Irish Cream.

Happy Birthday Nigella

I've always wanted to bake a cake using Bailey's. And lazy person that I am, I've always managed to come up with some excuse or the other. Most used was the lack of Bailey's Irish cream whiskey at home. The other day when we were at an aunts place for dinner, I found a bottle of  her Home-made Irish Cream and asked if I could borrow it. The original recipe called for Bailey's and since I didn't have any, I've used the homemade version. I've also added chocolate so the cake has a more intense chocolate flavor. It also made the cake more moist and delicious.

Irish Cream Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
250g plain flour

My very cute measuring cup and spoon set...was a gift from mum

1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
60g cocoa powder

40g Good quality dark chocolate, chopped (or you can use chocolate chips)
300g sugar
250ml strong coffee (any temperature)
210g butter, cubed
375ml Baileys (or other Irish Cream liqueur, homemade works too as long as it's good) ( I used a li'l more approx 400 ml)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 160C, grease and line an 8 x 8 inch tin.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Put the chopped chocolate, cocoa powder, sugar, coffee and butter in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking frequently until the butter and chocolate has melted and the sugar dissolved. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Stir in the Baileys Irish cream into the liquidy chocolate mix.

Add the eggs one by one, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.

I prefer to crack the eggs into a separate bowl and then add into the batter, so you don't get any eggshell pieces by mistake

you should have a smooth glossy batter after mixing in the eggs

Add the flour mix and whisk gently until everything is incorporated into the batter.

be gentle while incorporating the flour mixture

Pour the thin batter into the prepared tin and rap the sides of the tin a few times to remove air bubbles. Smooth the top of the batter using a wet spoon to remove any air bubbles.
Bake for 1 hour, after an hour put foil on top of the cake and continue for another 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out with only a few moist crumbs

Cake in the oven

Let cool completely before dusting with icing sugar if desired. (we finished the cake way too soon, so it's not dusted with icing sugar...and I left the paper doilies I flicked from the Orange County soup bowls in my aunt's bag! I wanted to use it as a template for dusting the icing sugar on the cake for a nice pattern ).

Yum yum yum :)

Note* The batter is very very runny and may look like it will never cook, but don't worry it will. Just make sure not o shake the pan at all when it is in the oven.

Do not over bake the cake as it will dry out.

You can use a vanilla bean instead of the extract, just split the bean and scrape the seeds into the batter.

And lastly, it is very dense, very moist, intensely chocolaty and a very very boozy cake...you might get a li'l tipsy, so just don't feed it to your kids.

Now go bake some and tell me how it was.

Until next time, Happy Baking!

Remembering 2013 with a luscious chocolate pie...:)

Happy New Year to all of you.

So quickly the days go by, and here's another year to look forward to. New resolutions, new hopes and dreams (or in some cases the same old hopes and dreams!), new goals and so on. I feel the last year went by too fast or maybe in my case I just might have missed a few months in 2013! I must have slept through or they just sped by...am not really sure. You can definitely say that by looking at my posts, erratic is the best word I could come up with...

Now 2013 wasn't at all bad, it was in fact a pretty good year for me. I did a lot of baking, even though I might not have posted as much on the blog about it. I'd baked a 4 layered Chocolate Fudge Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting in September for my brother's birthday (Sorry don't have a picture). I made 5 Apple Tarte- Tatin's for a neighbors kitty party. I came up with a new recipe for Sweet n Sour Chicken (which is heavenly by the way) and made Lasagna from scratch (Yes, including the Lasagna sheets). Conducted a baking class too, where I made an AMAZING Chocolate Ganache Tart. Red Velvet Cupcakes which blew everyone's mind. And the one bowl Chocolate cupcakes with buttercrem frosting and silver dragees, which looked as great as it tasted. Oh! did I mention I made Croissants from scratch (tedious but totally worth it) and the Passion fruit Panna cotta fit for Gods.

And the bad stuff, in my baking class, we tried baked doughnuts (I don't know what made me do this, when the yeasty fried ones I've always made worked so well for me...stupid healthy stuff) and one of the girls put in a tablespoon of baking powder instead of a teaspoon, the result...disgustingly acrid tasting doughnuts...blech...yuck ( and a few choice words that I cannot use here!). Another time, my Cinnamon- Sugar Pull apart Bread which worked perfectly every single time and is a family favorite, decided to go Kaput on me...It was a soggy run down mess and just refused to cook, it sort of resembled the boys' dessert from Masterchef Australia's Girls V/s Boys first challenge...Eaton mess I think they decided to call it (It looked like crap by the way...they should've named it Disgusting mess! But I can assure you mine looked way better even though it wasn't cooked in the center).

And just when everything was going great, 2013 dealt me a BIG Bang in my face. I have this very bad habit of  imagining how I'd feel if something were to happen to me, and the worst part is sometimes it comes true (not in a good way). For example, this one time a cousin of mine jammed her finger in the car's door and I always wondered how it'd feel, and a few years later I jammed my finger in the car's door! And I can tell you it definitely wasn't pleasant...you'd think I would've learnt my lesson from that. But no, two other cousins had surgeries and I wondered how it'd feel ( I know...I know...very stupid, considering my track record) and guess what! I had to undergo an emergency appendectomy in bloody December! Oh, the horror...post-op is not a place for someone like me, I annoyed the hell out those nurses asking for water and pillows and whatnot! And the worst part nobody gave me FOOD for 4 days!!! And all this just before an interview I was supposed to attend. Well, this sure taught me to never, ever, ever wonder about such things!

Anyway I decided that to remember all the good, bad and ugly parts of 2013, it warrants a Pie...and not just any pie, it's a slice of chocolaty goodness topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings or in other words a luscious Silky Chocolate Pudding Pie!

Yum...yum...yum

Now, the recipe for the Silky Chocolate pudding, I got from Smitten Kitchen. You can have the pudding as it is, or you can jazz it up a li'l and make a Pie with it. The Chocolate base is my creation...but feel free to experiment and  make your own crust. And I topped it with whipped cream only because I was jobless and I had a pack lying around which I've wanted to try for ages. You can skip this...but why would you, it's whipped cream, it tastes amazing and it's not like it'll kill you right! And down here's how I made this wonderful confection which warms the cockles of your heart :)

Oooooh chocolate...please pretend you didn't see the mess on the whipped cream

Silky Chocolate Pudding Pie Serves 6 to 7

Here's what you'll need:

For the Chocolate Base

1/2 cup - digestive biscuits, crushed coarsely ( I used Vita Marie Gold)

1/2 cup - Bourbon biscuits, crushed

1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

2 tablespoons Drinking chocolate powder (I used Cadbury's)

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons of butter, melted

Directions

Mix all the dry ingredients together and add in the butter and combine. Now press this slightly wet mixture firmly onto the base of your pie dish or if making individual servings, into bowls. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For the Pudding

1/4 cup (30 grams) cornstarch
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups (710 ml) whole milk
6 ounces (170 grams) semi- or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (or 1 cup good chocolate chips)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
Directions
Combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan, Slowly whisk in the milk, in a thin steam at first so that lumps don’t form, then more quickly once the cornstarch mixture is smoothly incorporated. Place over medium-low heat and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom and sides. Use a whisk as necessary should lumps begin to form. After 10 minutes or so (slower over lower heat is better, to give the cornstarch time to cook), before it starts to simmer, the mixture should begin to thicken, enough that it will coat the back of a spoon. Add the chocolate, and continue stirring for another 2 to 4 minutes, until chocolate is fully incorporated and mixture is quite thick. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

If you’re concerned about lumps: Run mixture through a fine-mesh strainer.

Remove the pie base from the refrigerator and pour the pudding mixture in. Cover with plastic wrap on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating, about 2 to 3 hours.

To serve, remove the plastic wrap, top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Eat!

If you are not making pie (your loss), distribute among individual pudding cups or one large serving bowl, and chill until it is cool and set, about 2 to 3 hours. Cover with plastic wrap on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating, to prevent pudding skin from forming.

Until next time, Happy Baking! and have a blessedly wonderful New Year :)

My Fail proof Brownie Recipe

Brownies...just saying the word makes me think of warm, chocolatey and chewy slices of goodness which will instantly put anyone in a good mood. A brownie will make you more friends than anything else. And why not, when it tastes so good! And I am sure that anyone with access to an oven would have baked a brownie at least once in their lives. Brownies can be used for just about anything...for example, You have messed up big time and need to say sorry - bake some awesome brownies, pack it very well and give it to the person...and you will definitely be forgiven. Have some guests coming at the last minute for dinner and you have no dessert, whip up brownies, serve with whipped cream and caramel or chocolate ganache...Voila! you have a 'killer' dessert. Your child has a bake sale at school, make a batch of brownies. So many uses for such a simple thing!

Here's what wikipedia has to say on the subject: "A chocolate brownie is a flat, baked square or bar developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century and popularized in both the U.S. and Canada during the first half of the 20th century. The brownie is a cross between a cake and a cookie in texture.[1] Brownies come in a variety of forms. They are either fudgy or cakey, depending on their density, and they may include nuts, frosting, whipped cream, chocolate chips, or other ingredients."

Now, everyone has their own version of the best brownie recipe. Considering the amount of brownie recipes available on the internet, it's a definite possibility that everyone has at least a few recipes in their kitty. As they are fairly easy to bake and use only a few ingredients, none of which are fancy stuff ( unless you plan on wowing the audience with brownies using Ghirardelli Chocolate or Valrohna or even Hershey's Cocoa for that matter) it's inexpensive too. And moreover most recipes don't call for a stand mixer or even a handheld mixer for that matter (which is definitely a plus point according to me), and use only about two bowls at most which reduces the washing up (this I love, because I hate washing up!). I take laziness up a notch by spreading out some clean papers and sieving the dry ingredients on them ( see, I reduced washing up by using only one bowl).

I definitely have more brownie recipes than most, I have a whole book-full! I have every conceivable kind of brownies - chocolate, triple fudge brownies, s'more brownies, pretzel ganache brownies, blondies and even a lemon and lime brownie (this is my all time fav!)...and many many more! The brownie recipe below is one that I can whip up last minute, as this is a no effort brownie and I mix this using a whisk. And as the title says, it is a fool proof recipe!

My fail Proof Brownie Recipe
Ingredients:
All purpose flour 1 1/3 cup
Granulated sugar 2 cups
Cocoa Powder 3/4 cup (use a very good quality, I use Hintz or Hershey's)
Baking Powder 1 tsp
salt 1/4 tsp
Chopped nuts 1/2 cup
4 large Eggs (lightly beaten)
Vegetable Oil 2/3 cups
Vanilla extract 2 tsps
Milk 2-3 tbsp
Assorted nuts 1 cup ( to scatter on top of the brownie)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 degrees Celsius). Line and grease a 9 X 13 baking dish.
2. Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add the sugar and 1/2 cup of chopped nuts and mix well ( The nuts should be well coated with flour so that they don't sink to the bottom when you bake the brownie).
3. In another bowl, mix together the lightly beaten eggs, the vegetable oil and the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients gradually to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add two tablespoons of milk to the batter and mix until combined. If the batter feels too thick add another tablespoon of milk and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
4. Pour into the prepared baking dish, scatter the assorted nuts on top (if using) and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Cut and serve. Yields 24 pieces.

Until next time,
Happy Baking!