Brownie points
- February 10, 2009 7:48 AM |
- By Elizabeth Bridge
By Elizabeth Bridge, CBC Digital Archives writer
When it comes to brownie preferences, passions may not become as stirred as they do in the great butter tart debate. But adherents have their differences. Cakey or chewy or fudgy? Nuts or not? Walnuts or pecans? As with many sweet treats, these preferences are often imprinted in childhood and rarely swayed – for me, brownies must be fudgy and nutless. (My mother, who favours nuts, pleases everyone by placing nuts on half of the bottom of the pan and then pouring in the brownie batter before baking.)
I reconsidered my position recently when, mindful of a bag of hazelnuts languishing in my freezer, I spied a recipe for deluxe brownies in the February 2009 Chatelaine. The labour required to prep the hazelnuts alone (toasting, cooling time, vigorous rubbing in a tea towel to remove the skins, chopping) was probably double that involved with my usual brownie recipe.
Thick, chewy, chocolatey brownies with a distinct hazelnut crunch. (photo by Elizabeth Bridge)
But the results were worth it: thick, chewy, chocolatey brownies with a distinct hazelnut crunch. Because I like my chocolate treats a little less sweet, I swapped out two of the six semi-sweet chocolate squares for unsweetened. And I probably could have stood to remove the pan from the oven five minutes earlier to preserve that glossy brownie top.
Chatelaine's website has the recipe, as well as a short step-by-step video that shows how to make the brownies. (Except the video shows almonds, not hazelnuts!) The video is useful for novice bakers, because the layout in the print edition is hard to follow, the instructions jumping all over the place and recipe variations almost hiding on the next page. Still, it's a good recipe, and if you have the patience to prepare the hazelnuts (or a bagful of almonds), this one's a winner when you're looking to bake something a little special for Valentine's Day.
What qualities must a brownie have to measure up for you? And what would you have done with a spare cup of hazelnuts?
About the Authors
- Elizabeth Bridge is a producer with CBC's Digital Archives project. She got her start in the kitchen baking brownies and making fudge but is still trying to get pastry right.
- Andrea Chiu
is an associate producer at CBC Radio Digital. Though she loves to eat, cook and discuss food,
don't ask her to bake. It never turns out well. She tweets as @TOfoodie on Twitter and organizes food and wine events in Toronto called FoodieMeet.
- Amber Hildebrandt
works for CBCNews.ca in Toronto. Growing up on a farm in Manitoba, she acquired an insatiable appetite, but it was during a stint in Japan that she developed her discerning tastebuds and foodie ways.
- Tara Kimura
is a multimedia producer for CBCNews.ca.
- Andree Lau
is a CBC web reporter in Calgary. Her journalism career includes seven years as a CBC-TV reporter. Her own blog called "are you gonna eat that?" chronicles her eating adventures (including sampling snake and camel hoof tendon).
- Jessica Wong
is a CBCNews.ca writer who loves to eat and cook, as well as discuss, read and watch programming about food, sometimes all at once.
- Kevin Yarr
, CBCNews.ca's writer in Prince Edward Island, wrote about food and beer for national and regional magazines before joining the CBC. He acquired a desire for new tastes on his first trip to Europe, and an appreciation of eating locally and in season when he finally settled down on P.E.I.
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Comments (5)
Chewy and nutless with no frosting, please! I like all kinds of chewy candies and would gladly take a Swedish Berry over a Gobstopper. Those little two-bite brownies in the paper bag make my eyes roll back in my head.
With that said, I would like to try this brownie recipe based on the review... but I will be leaving out the nuts!
You can save yourself a lot of work by blanching the hazelnuts in a strong solution of baking soda; then the skins rinse right off. Do this before you roast them; then the roasting will dry them out and restore the crispness.
It does not seem to affect the flavour at all and it's a huge help. I got this procedure from Rose Levy Beranbaum's book "The Cake Bible".
My preferences for Brownies are no nuts, chewy to the point of sticky. Full of choc chips, or white choc chips. Often served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If homemade whipped cream and some sort of fruit fall into the dish, so much the better.
Yumm on the west coast.
Laura -- thanks for the tip!
I wish I could make brownies but, alas, I fail miserably in the cake baking class.
But I do love the chewy, fudgy, brownies. Nuts are fine but not necessary. No frosting -- it's like you are hiding some horrible flaw. And I adore the corner piece. MMM! Chewy chocolate goodness.
Now I need to give brownies another try.