Best Brownie I ever ate...

I can't take credit for this recipe at all, but will gladly share it. It showed up in this months Bon Appetite magazine in an article all about cocoa and cocoa recipes. This brownie is unusual in that it uses cocoa powder and browned butter. A little bit of work extra in making, but well worth the effort. Link HERE.

My only caution is to make sure you use a good heavy pan to brown the butter as too thin a pan you run the risk of scorching the butter before it is beautifully browned.

The recipe calls for a "natural unsweetened cocoa" but doesn't make a specific brand request. I used a dark chocolate cocoa from Surfas' Culinary District weg site. The brand I used is their "Black Onyx" cocoa which is an extra rich cocoa which I use in all recipes calling for "cocoa powder". The link to buy it yourself is HERE.

Molten Fudgy Coffee Brownies

From the side of a coffee can great ideas come forth.  This browney recipe got its inspiration from the side of the coffee can for some French Roast under the Pavillions house label.  Silly them, all I need is proportions and am good to go.

I used a really good coffee extract from Surfas, rather than deal with using real coffee grounds in the batter as their recipe called for.  Also rather than using some "unsweetened" generic chocolate I used 70% chocolate Guanaja feves from Valrhona.  Again its all in the name of flavor.  Even the vanilla extract is pure bourbon extract not that coal tar based artificial flavor crap.  Good stuff gets one great results.  

A little experimentation and I got a Brownie that has a soft set fudge center when warm that is awesome next to some ice cream.  Trust me on this, with the gooey fudgey center you won't need a hot fudge for the ice cream.

Molten Fudgey Coffee Brownie

• 1/2 c boiling water
  
• 1 t coffee extract
  
• 4 1/2 oz guanaja 70% chocolate
  
• 3/4 c unsalted butter (room temp)
  
• 1/4 t salt
  
• 3 eggs
  
• 1 t vanilla
  
• 1 c all purpose flour
  
• 1 c chopped nuts - optional
  

Line 8" square baking pan with foil.  Heat oven to 300F.

Put chocolate and butter in microwave safe bowl.  Add coffee extract, salt and boiling water.   All to sit a minute or two and stir until smooth and everything is melted.   Microwave 30 seconds at a time to melt it all if needed.  Allow to cool while beating eggs.

Put eggs and sugar in mixing bowl and beat until ribbons form (about 5 minutes) with the paddle attachment.  Beat in vanilla.  Add  1/3 flour and 1/3 chocolate mixture, beat well.  Alternate the remaining additions ending with chocolate.  Fold in optional nuts if you are using.

Pour into prepared pan.  Bake 55-60 minutes until tester comes out wet but not runny.  Cool in the pan 30-45 minutes.  When ready to serve lift the brownie out by grabbing the edges of the foil.  Serve warm and gooey with ice cream on the side.

Make sure your pan is well lined as this is an extremely runny batter.  It also is heavy enough if you don't use a sturdy pan you will have bendy problems.  I used a pyrex pan as the carry over heat will keep the brownie a bit warmer longer than a metal pan.