The Perfect Brownie

I decided that my first meaningful post should be my struggle to achieve the perfect, gooey, rich brownie. I had envisioned the task taking weeks, having to make many batches of brownies to try all the variations. It didn't. Type 'Perfect Brownies' into Google and hit 'I'm feeling lucky'. That simple. I did try other recipes, but I can't see any way to improve it.

Here's the recipe:

8 tbsp unsalted butter (1/2 cup 0r 110g)
4 oz (120g) unsweetened chocolate
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F and line and 8-inch square metal baking pan with foil.
Melt the butter and the chocolate together, on top of a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring often until smooth. Stir in sugar, vanilla and salt. Add eggs one at a time, followed by flour. Stir until very smooth, about 1 minute. Add nuts, if using.
Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake at 400F/200C/Gas 5 for 20 minutes.

(http://bakingsheet.blogspot.com/2006/01/cooking-school-perfect-brownies.html)

I tried using a glass dish for baking the brownies, which did not work well at all. The recipe says you should put the brownies in an ice bath right out of the oven, but it's not essential. I just put it on a cooling rack, out of the hot pan, and they were just as moist. When it comes to brownies, my dear friends, moistness is a desideratum.

What about other additions? People put all sorts of nuts, fruits, and spices in their brownies but, being a man of simple tastes, I prefer just to have walnuts, chocolate chunks or, if I'm feeling the need, raspberries. With a fool proof recipe like this, it's easy to just stick whatever you feel like into the mix.

Go ahead folks, get your brownie technique honed before the BBQ season hits! I reckon brownies should be served warm with a scoop of good quality vanilla ice cream. Perfect.

Thanks to Mike for the photography, stay tuned for Al's Psyche Mix, coming soon!

Opening Words

I said I wouldn't, I said I shouldn't, yet here I am blogging again. Not in the photo, but you get the idea.

I guess everyone has an ego to feed, especially these days. It is so easy to feel insignificant in a world of 7,000,000,000 people on a tiny rock orbiting a small star in a galaxy of 200-400 billion stars and blogging, thinking people care what you think/say/do, might help to relieve the feeling of pointlessness that such a train of thought can inspire.

I'm going to pretend this blog has a purpose. It won't be like my last blog, covering every last detail of my day-to-day drag. I plan to only post if I try something new, something new tries me (no innuendo intended, but feel free to giggle), or if I get the particular urge to share a particular experience/rant/thought.

As this blog is not anonymous, I'm unlikely to fill it with embarrassing things so if you've wandered off the beaten path of the internet and hope to find a sexy, outré, deliciously devilish commentary on life and society, keep moving. This is likely to be boring...

Finally - if you see spelling/grammar errors, want to challenge me to something, or just get me to blog on a topic close to your heart, just comment or email me and I'll give it a bash. Saves me pestering the muses.

Please remember all views/opinions expressed in this blog are mine and, as such, should not be taken too seriously despite their unquestionable veridicality.