Tribute-to-Katherine-Hepburn Brownies Recipe

I am going to pretend I am posting a step by step brownie recipe as my first recipe this year not because I am out of anything else to post, but because its auspicious to start with sweet stuff. You play along, ok?

I am going to be honest with you and admit these brownies are not going to cooperate if you have weight loss resolutions. What they will do is transport you to chocolate heaven and back with each bite, this I promise.

Here's a sneak preview of the final product.

Now, let's get started with 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. I use Cadbury's which I brought from India. I am weird that way. I take back Hershey's for my relatives and bring back Cadbury's cocoa powder.

I can't find the picture of the butter I took so imagine 1/2 cup butter here. At room temperature please.

Now, to get what you see below, bring a pan of water to boil, place another heat proof bowl in it and add the butter. When it melts, add the cocoa powder and 1 tsp instant coffee powder. Don't worry, your brownies won't taste like coffee, its just to enhance the chocolate flavour.

Set aside to cool.

This recipe is very chocolate-y and uses very little flour. All we need is 1/4 cup all purpose flour or maida. Yep, that's it.

Add 1/2 tsp salt to this and mix well in a bowl. You can add a pinch of powdered cinnamon to this if you wish (I didn't).

Once the chocolate-butter mixture has slightly cooled, add 2 eggs, mixing well for a minute after each addition.

Now its time for the sugah. Throw in one cup after you are done with the eggs but please don't be like me - use white sugar. Add add 1 tsp vanilla extract to this.

Mix mix mix until well incorporated. Be gentle, don't over do it.

Now add the flour and fold in until just blended.

Now come the good stuff (not that anything we added so far is not good, but still).

We need 1/2 cup (4oz) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces and 1/2 cup walnuts. I am not a huge fan of walnuts so I added lesser than what the recipe calls for. You can add up to 1 cup.

Add these to the batter and fold in.

There we go, that's our super chocolate-heavy batter. Lick a little. Go ahead.

Pour in a buttered, floured brownie tray (or any tray you have).

Use the spatula to just level the top of the batter before you stick it in the oven.

Bake in a preheated 325F/approx 160C oven for 30-35 mins.

Cut into squares before serving. I think my walnut pieces were too big so I didn't get perfect squares but I couldn't care less. If was dense and yummy. If you have a nicer oven, you will get a crust like you see in professional brownies. My oven doesn't do that, unfortunately, but it was still awesome.

The recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours, all in one place.

Tribute-To-Katherine-Hepburn Brownies

What I Used:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons finely ground instant coffee

2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup broken or chopped walnuts or pecans

4 ounces / 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

How I Made It:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and grease with butter. Add some flour, tap on all sides and tap out the excess.

3. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, if you’re using it, and salt together.

4. Put the butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and place the pan over low heat. When the butter starts to melt, sift the cocoa over it and add the instant coffee. Continue to cook, stirring, until the butter is melted and the cocoa and coffee are blended into it. Remove from the heat and cool for about 3 minutes.

5. Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, beat the eggs into the saucepan one at a time. Next, stir in the sugar and vanilla (don’t beat anything too vigorously — you don’t want to add air to the batter), followed by the dry ingredients, nuts and chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.

6. Bake for 30 minutes, at which point the brownies will still be gooey but the top will have a dry papery crust. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the brownies cool for at least 30 minutes. (You can wait longer, if you’d like.) Turn the brownies out onto a rack, peel away the paper and invert onto a cutting board. Cool completely before cutting into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side.

Enjoy and here's wishing you all a wonderful 2010, again.

This recipe goes to Mahimaa's Cakes and Cookies Roundup.