Brownies -- Bake-Off I

[Desiderio]

Today I finally got myself to bake some brownies for my Birthday

I made some salted caramel cheesecake brownies .I have been obsessed with cheesecake brownies for a while and I am still working on my recipes, I think this one was pretty good ,need a different container though and longer time in the freezer.

Edited April 15, 2007 by Desiderio (log)

[miladyinsanity]

Today I finally got myself to bake some brownies for my Birthday 

I made some salted caramel cheesecake brownies  .I have been obsessed with cheesecake brownies for a while and I am still working on my recipes, I think this one was pretty good ,need a different container though and longer time in the freezer.

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Will you share the recipe? Please? I will offer you my first born child in exchange.

[Desiderio]

I honestly didnt follow a recipe , I kinda still making up batches to find what I like.

Anyway I follow a typical recipe for the cheesckae brownies and in the cheesecake I added some of the salted caramel I still had from last batch of sea salt caramels.

The brownies were, 2 sticks of butter melted with 8 oz of chocolate ,1 cup of baker sugar 1 cup of brown sugar, a squirt of maple syrup, 1/2 cup ( more or less ) of corn syrup 1 cup of flour,vanilla,1/2 tsp of baking powder , 5 to 6 eggs.

The cheesecake batter was, 1 1/2 cream cheese pack ( the 8 oz one ) some salted caramel,1/2 cup if sugar, 3 eggs and I added 1/4 cup of flour to thikend little bit , cause was kinda of a liquid batter .

I dont know hehe its a kinda of an experiment, but they turned up pretty good , like I said refrigerated all night would have been better , so I am going to have a piece now so I can confirm

[JAZ]

I've been using another of the recipes from Fine Cooking -- for Fudgy Brownies -- as my starting point for brownies with a Mexican slant. I add cinnamon and a touch of cayenne, plus a little tequila.

[Lkfarkas]

We make the supernatural brownies at the shop, and oh. my. goodness. are they good! Give them a try!

[yellowmnm81]

I did try the supernatural brownies the other day........ wow!! I don't know if I'm just getting better at gauging when to stop baking brownies, or what.... but these are probably one of the best I have baked. However, it could also be the ingredients I used were quite different than before as well... I used Trader Joe's bittersweet and dark muscovado sugar for the brown. Either way, these brownies came out with a soft texture I have not had in the brownies I've made before, and it was very rich and chocolatey, but the texture helped save them from making you feel sick. I prefer these I think to any of the cocoa powder brownies I've made, which are too dense and sticky in the mouth for my liking. Anyway...delish!

[Desiderio]

I have saved the recipe and I will definetaly try them this week end , I am really really courious to taste them Thank you for the link and feed back

[merstar]

I did try the supernatural brownies the other day........ wow!! I don't know if I'm just getting better at gauging when to stop baking brownies, or what.... but these are probably one of the best I have baked.  However, it could also be the ingredients I used were quite different than before as well... I used Trader Joe's bittersweet and dark muscovado sugar for the brown.  Either way, these brownies came out with a soft texture I have not had in the brownies I've made before, and it was very rich and chocolatey, but the texture helped save them from making you feel sick.  I prefer these I think to any of the cocoa powder brownies I've made, which are too dense and sticky in the mouth for my liking.  Anyway...delish!

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Hello,

Have you tried the Fine Cooking Chewy Brownies? If so, how do these compare in taste and texture?

http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes...y_brownies.aspx

Edited April 20, 2007 by merstar (log)

[CanadianBakin']

Wow Ann - those marbled cream cheese brownies look fantastic. Any chance of sharing the recipe?

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Ann, I would love the recipe as well. I'm sure they taste delicious and they show well.

[sisofdiva2]

Another vote for the Supernatural Brownies. Made them last night for a small party, and they were a hit. Perfect balance between fudge and cake-like. Used Shaffen Berger 63% and substituted light brown sugar for the dark brown. Thank god I stashed some leftovers away early...

[laniloa]

I made the On-the-Fence brownies last week and the Supernatural brownies this week. I brought both into the office. Same number of brownies in each batch. The OTF brownies were gone before lunch but there were still some Supernatural brownies available the next day.

[prasantrin]

Inspired by Desiderio's salted caramel cheesecake brownies, I want to make salted caramel brownies. I've been looking at recipes for caramel brownies and there are two choices--sandwich the caramel between layers of brownie batter, or have the caramel as a top layer. I'll be using homemade caramels (from Kerry's eGCI class), so I'll probably melt down some of the caramels and do the sandwich option.

But now, what do I do with the salt? I'm going to use some very coarse French sea salt I have. I don't usually add it to the caramel, but I sprinkle it on top (actually, I dip individual caramels into a ramekin of salt as I eat them). Should I add more salt to the caramel, or should I sprinkle some on top of the caramel layer before adding the top brownie layer? If I sprinkle the salt on the melted caramel layer, won't it dissolve, especially with the wet brownie layer on top?

Should I just sprinkle the salt on the topmost brownie layer?

[jenc]

salt on top! My opinion. adds a little crunchy texture.

[prasantrin]

salt on top! My opinion. adds a little crunchy texture.

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On top of the topmost brownie layer? Would you sprinkle it before or after baking?

So many questions, so little time! Actually, I have about a week to make these since I still have 10 cinnamon buns left to eat (it's my rule, no baking one thing until the previous thing is finished--plus I ran out of corn syrup for the caramel, and my friend is bringing me some back from the US!).

[jenc]

on top, after baking, after the caramel has cooled. You'll need some kind of coarse salt, or it'll dissolve.

I just finished making the supernatural with salted caramel (on top!). Will upload opinions and photos later, but so far, I like the supernatural. Having guests over tonight and will get their reactions.

My caramel seems too liquidy, so I think I need to use less butter and wait for it to cool a bit more before piping it on. My lines all melded together...

[Tepee]

Made the supernatural brownies yesterday. While it is, as described above....soft texture, rich, chocolatey...mine didn't have any chew in it, which I like in a brownie. Still, it was very good. Ate more than I should. Will try the chewy brownies later.

Icing is caramel and white chocolate. Added a walnut half for those who has to have a nut on their brownies. Didn't have any pecans on hand.

[Desiderio]

Tepee , those looks faboulous and yummy!I definately like the caramel deal in brownies .

Yesterday I made some other brownies ( I have the hardest time to follow a recipe , I dont know why ).I wanted to make a pecan maple coffee cake at firts , from a recipe I found on the cook illustrated magazine, but I wanted to make brownies as well,so I made something between both

Made brownies with a recipe from the supernatural ones, I lower the butter to 1 1/2 sticks, I added 1/2 cup of maple syrup ( yummy I love that stuff!!!! )and about 1 1/2 cups of toasted ground pecans .The brownies were delicious , actually not as dense as the one I usually make, the top slightly crunchy but smooth, the inside light , rich and not heavy or too fudgy, I would say perfect for that kind of brownies,the flavor is very very good with thbose gound pecans in it.The actually remainded me of some brownies a friend of mine made a while bak and when I asked her the recipe , she brought me back a box , they are the triple chocolate Ghirardelli brownies mix .

[Tepee]

Thanks, Vanessa. Mmmm...maple syrup...love it...but it's very expensive here. Is your latest brownie chewy? I'm looking for chewy.

[Desiderio]

I wont say chewy ,has some moist dense in the inside , but not the chewyness of a dense brownie.Got to reserch more for those chewy brownies as well.Actually I should ask a friend of mine his recipe for cheesecake brownies , he makes and they are definatelly chewyyy.

[Tepee]

I wonder if one can make it chewy by working the gluten...ie. when adding the flour, instead of combining just until mixed, to beat it up a bit.

[Desiderio]

I can't make these at the moment, but one of you should try making my Black Pepper Brownies. They are fudgy and have a nice kick to them.

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Ahh Michelle , I alomos miss these

I am making a different brownie every weekend , so next one ,I am going to make these for sure.Thank you for sharing it with us

[Desiderio]

I wonder if one can make it chewy by working the gluten...ie. when adding the flour, instead of combining just until mixed, to beat it up a bit. 

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Have you try the chewy brownies they linked , on this post?I havent try it yet .

[paulraphael]

I wonder if one can make it chewy by working the gluten...ie. when adding the flour, instead of combining just until mixed, to beat it up a bit. 

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I wondered about this with cookies; some more experienced bakers warned me that it wouldn't work so well. that i'd get tough, not chewy. not sure if this would be similar with something as moist as a brownie.

[Desiderio]

Alton Brown "chewy chocolate chip cookies " uses bread flour and melted butter for that pourpose.I have to say they were pretty good and chewy ( I have to add little bit more flour cause the high altitude ).

[yellowmnm81]

I haven't made the Fine Cooking brownies or the On the Fence Brownies...(which I will try next!) but I have made Alton Brown's cocoa brownies and also Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies, which were, as I said, very dense. However, they were still tasty!

Edited April 23, 2007 by yellowmnm81 (log)