Brownies....supernatural brownies

There is something about brownies that draws people to them. Very few can seem to resist a brownie. I, for one, am drawn like a magnet if I catch a even the slightest whiff of freshly baked brownies!

As kids, whenever my mother would make brownies (or for that matter, any cake), my sister and I would fight like cats. Over what, you might want to know.

No, it wasn't over who would cut the brownie.
No, it wasn't over who would get to arrange the walnuts on top of tha batter.
No, it wasn't over who'd have the last piece of the brownie.

It was over who would lick clean the mixing bowl after the batter had been poured into the pan!

Somewhere down the line, we learned to take turns and then over time we lost our fetish to lick the mixing bowl and focussed just on what was being baked in the oven.

But sis, I swear, this time when I made them brownies, had you been in the kitchen with me, I would have fought with you all over again and NO, I wouldn't have shared the mixing bowl with you. Afterall, these are supernatural brownies!

Calling a brownie "supernatural" - now that is some claim!

Zillions of recipes abound for making brownies, some use chocolate, yet others use cocoa powder. Some make fudgy brownies, others, cakey. Sometimes, there are chocolate chips in it, sometimes nuts. And, almost everyone who bakes will have "the best" brownie recipe!

But very frankly, when I first came across a recipe that called itself supernatural brownies, I wasn't too impressed. There is way too much sugar, I thought.

But then when I came across this recipe on Dee's blog, I knew it was spot on! Boy, did I rush into the kitchen to make them, with just a few itsy bitsy changes to her recipe.

Ingredients:

125 gms unsalted butter, softened
125 gms bittersweet chocolate (I used Varlhona)
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp coffee emulco
1/2 cup flour , sieved once
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, very lightly toasted
few whole walnuts, optional, for topping


Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg C.

Melt the chocolate and the butter. I use neither the microwave or the double boiler method. This has always worked for me - melt butter and toss the chocolate into the melted butter. The heat from the butter will melt the chocolate.

Set it aside and let cool.

Whisk the eggs , followed by both the sugars, salt and the essence, for about 3 mins. Add the melted chocolate and then, fold in the flour until just combined. Toss the walnuts in the reserved flour and stir into the batter.

Pour the batter into an 8"pan (buttered and lined with parchment paper), arrange the whole walnuts on top and bake for about 35-40 mins (do take note of how amazingly good your house smells whilst the brownie is getting baked) or until the top appears cracked and shiny (if you do a toothpick test, you will find it comes out a little sticky, which is ok) . The brownie will continue to cook as it cools.

RESIST the temptation to devour your brownie immediately....if you can't wait a day, atleast wait a few hours....no, can't wait that long? Well, then atleast wait till the brownie cools!