~ Sinfully Rich Chocolate Brownies ~
Home, inspired, saturated: This sums up my present state on the heels of a 5 day retreat to the Allegheny mountains in West Virginia, where I had the honor and privilege of receiving a scholarship award from Chronicle Books to attend the Professional Food Writers Symposium at the Greenbrier Resort. (More to come on that soon, I promise!) In the meantime, my return home immediately collided with life as I had 24 hours in which to prepare and cater a beach party for 50 wonderful guests, while catching up on family, work and soccer games. As I catch my breath and collect my thoughts, dirty laundry and mail, I turn to the only sensible remedy for restoring any semblance of order and balance: dark Swiss chocolate. You will note that there are 4 brownies on my plate.
Sinfully Rich Chocolate Brownies
Makes 32 dense, fudgy small squares
1 cup unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
12 ounces high-quality dark chocolate (70%), coarsely chopped such as Lindt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan. Line bottom and sides with parchment paper. Butter the paper.
Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler or heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, and vanilla together in a large bowl until the mixture lightens in color. Add chocolate to the eggs and stir to combine well. Add flour to the chocolate batter, stirring with a wooden spoon, until combined.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes, or until the top is set and sides begin to pull away from the pan. Brownies will be fudgy and a wooden pick will not come out clean. Cool completely on rack. Cover and refrigerate overnight. To cut, remove brownies from pan by lifting paper at sides. Cut in small squares. (The brownies will soften at room temperature.) Keep them stored in the refrigerator, and they will last for up to one week – if they last that long.