Brownies, Brownies, Brownies

Come join me on Facebook  Competition day today, scroll down for you chance to win 'Cookie Swap'!!

It's official, I never want to eat a brownie again!! Well, at least for a month or two... phew, all this brownie taste testing was tough, but someone's gotta do it. 

Brownies are so subjective aren't they? Fudgy, cakey, with nuts or with out. Are you a purist or perhaps you prefer to add choc chunks, caramel swirls or fresh raspberries. Then there is the edges, do you always go for the gooey centre bit or do you like the sugar crisp edges? And yes, some of you will even prefer your brownies frosted.

Lets have a look a few different brownies... all recipes were baked on two separate occasions, all brownies improved after resting/refrigeration period... in other words "yummier the next day". 

'Robert's Absolute Best Brownies' is from David Lebovitz's excellent 'Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes', I baked it once with nuts as per the recipe and once with chocolate on top for my hubby. This was my favourite brownie, albeit I think more of a chocolate slice than what I'd consider a true brownie. A little piece with coffee was "just right". 

Then on to Australian style brownies where we go tend to forgo the sugary crust for soft brown sugar finish. Ideal if you need a flat top to decorate your brownie. Pop over to Donna Hay's official site for her brownie recipe or try Gary Mehigan's Triple Chocolate Brownies from Australian MasterChef ...

Gary Mehigan’s Triple Chocolate Brownies

MasterChef magazine March, 2011

Ingredients

150g (5.29 oz)  unsalted butter, chopped
150g (5.29 oz) dark chocolate, finely chopped

plus an extra 150g (5.29 oz) dark chocolate, cut into chunks

100g (3.5 oz) milk chocolate, cut into chunks

100g (3.5 oz) white chocolate cut into chunks 

4 eggs, room temperature

330g (11.64 oz) brown sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla essence (extract)

150g (1 cup) self raising flour (self rising)

Method

Preheat oven to 180C (350F).

Grease and line a 20cm x 30cm (approx 8 x 12 inches) slice pan.

Place butter, finely chopped dark chocolate and tablespoons of water in a small pan.

Stir over low heat for 3 minutes or until melted, then transfer to a bowl.

Whisk in eggs, sugar and vanilla. Sift in flour, then fold in the remaining chocolate.

Spoon batter into pan and then bake for 35 minutes, or until firm around the edges but soft in the centre.

Cool for 10 minutes, then refrigerate for 2 hours or until chilled.

With brownies being quintessentially American, then that would make peanut butter and jam (jelly) triply so, or so I thought but not all family members agreed.

'Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy melt in your mouth cookies' isn't just a fabulous book title, it's written by a fabulous cook 'Alice Medrich' author of 'Pure Dessert' and the gorgeous 'Chocolat: extraordinary chocolate desserts' amongst others. 

I've made several of the brownies from this book, all good... the cocoa brownies I baked to the recipe the first time and the second time I decided to swirl through some peanut butter and raspberry jam.

My husband Mark loved these!! My step son Daniel thought "they were just wrong" and picked away the peanut and jam to eat the fudgy chocolate brownie. Can't please them all ;)

 the unassuming brownie voted "best" by my husband and step son

Almost didn't buy 'Cookie Swap', Amazon kept putting it in my recommendations where I'd glance at it and think "don't like the cover", "don't have cookie swaps in Australia". Then it triggered (in my brain that is) where I knew the name 'Lauren Chattman' from, she is the co-author of 'Dessert University' one of my favourite dessert books by Roland Mesnier former White House pastry chef. So I popped it in the cart and I'm glad I did, because from page 55 of this book comes a brownie recipe that they both my husband and step son voted "best" brownie. We have made the 'Incredibly Fudgy Brownies' numerous times, so has my best friends daughter Emma, we all love it.

Would you like to win a copy of 'Cookie Swap'? I have three copies up for grabs...

For you chance to win just leave a comment here on the blog or on facebook:

25 words or less "Your favourite brownie and why?" or perhaps a killer brownie recipe I should try? Competition drawn Monday 14th November.

If you missed the 'Fat Witch Brownies' book review it's here 

or Choc Orange Brownie Cupcake

Happy Baking :)