Intensely fudgy chocolate brownies with sea salt

Rich, decadent, and fudgy with a shiny, crackly top…this recipe combines a few techniques to deliver the best homemade brownies you can make with a few simple ingredients!

I think brownies are the most popular baked dessert item deserving of Hall of Fame status in food, and there’s good reason for it. Whatever your proportions are, of butter sugar chocolate and flour, the brownie delivers. Brownies differ in texture – cakey (spongy, often topped with a layer of chocolate ganache), chewy (dense and moist), or fudgy (ultramoist, gooey chocolate richness) but they are all delicious.

The texture of the brownies depends on the fat:flour ratio as well as the inclusion of chocolate itself. While cakey brownies have a higher amount of flour, and may use only cocoa powder for a lighter brownie, fudgy brownies need high amounts of fat, chocolate as well as cocoa, and a very small amount of flour. Chewy brownies are somewhere between the two.

I remember the time when sizzling brownie with hot chocolate with ice cream was the standard dessert in most continental-type restaurants (before cheesecake took over), and is still a supremely popular item in most family restaurants, where you can always tell when a hot plate is coming by the vaguely burnt chocolate scent in the air. It’s part of the reason I rarely make brownies – they’re ubiquitous and almost too simple to make. I’ve never measured ingredients while baking brownies. So for me, it’s become a challenge to vary ingredients a little bit each time, to notice the differences and find my family’s preferences. While my personal preference runs to chewy onces with walnuts, M’s Unbridled Delight is unlocked by Fudgy and Crackly Top, and I have to admit, they’re extremely satisfying. I recently baked a Father’s Day Special with my friend on a lazy Saturday and they turned out pretty darn good in all ways: warm from the oven, cooled completely and even 3 days later. So this brownie recipe is one that I’m definitely starring.

All brownies are made from the same few ingredients: butter, oil (optional), sugar (white, brown), eggs, flour, cocoa powder and chocolate (optional). The method is also similar: butter and chocolate are melted first, eggs are whisked in, followed by the dry ingredients.

From the various times I’ve made brownies, here are my lessons:

1. Butter – adds a buttery richness and aroma to the brownie, and helps in making cakey and chewy brownies crumbly. I prefer to use a mix of oil and butter to keep the brownie moist.
2. Oil – very few recipes use oil, but I believe it adds in keeping the brownie soft and moist whether you store it in the fridge or outside.
3. White sugar – essential, beating white sugar with the eggs is what creates a crackly top.
4. Brown sugar – important to add chewiness and richness.
5. Eggs – acts as a binder as well as leavener, giving lift to your brownies. The yolks add to richness, and whites when beat with the sugars helps in creating a light crackly top.
6. Flour – while cakey brownies use up to 1 cup of flour, fudgy ones use only a couple of tablespoons.
7. Cocoa powder – the quality of the cocoa used has the single most impact on the flavour of your chocolate. I prefer to use dark cocoa – the Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa, Hintz or any similar ones. Drinking chocolate or light cocoa brands available in supermarkets in India do not have a strong enough chocolate flavour for a brownie.
8. Chocolate – Melted chocolate bars, compounds or covertures add fudginess to the brownie, and including chunks of chocolate in the batter ensures you have puddles of gooey chocolate. I have used Morde dark chocolate compound here, which is affordable, easily available (in sweet shops, old school bakeries, or online) and bakes well in brownie recipes.
9. Coffee powder – instant or espresso, heated in a small quantity of water (concentrated) so that it blooms. You will not taste the coffee, but it emphasizes the flavour of chocolate.
10. Baking powder or soda – do not use, else the brownie will rise/dome and become cakey. If you beat your eggs and sugar well, it will provide adequate leavening.

RECIPE

Makes: 9 servings
Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
Chocolate, 200g divided (keep 50g aside, chopped into small chunks)
Butter, 40g
Oil, 1/3 cup
White sugar, powdered 2/3 cup
Brown sugar, powdered 1/3 cup
Eggs, 2 medium
Coffee powder, 1 tsp in 1 tbsp hot water
All Purpose Flour or maida, 1/2 cup (60g)
Cocoa powder, 1/4 cup or 2 heaped tbsp (30g)
Salt, 1/2 tsp
Sea salt, to sprinkle on brownie (or 1 pinch regular table salt!)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180°C or 350°F. Grease and line your baking tray with parchment paper or foil.

1. In a large bowl, melt the chocolate and butter either on the stove over a water bath or on a low flame (adding 2 tbsp milk to the pan to make sure the chocolate doesn’t burn), or on the microwave in 15 second intervals.
2. Once completely melted, add the sugars and mix it well.
3. Add the eggs and beat vigorously for 2 minutes (by hand, or 30s by electric mixer) till the mixture becomes fluffy.
4. Add the oil and beat till well incorporated.
5. Add the coffee, salt and mix well.
6. Sift in the cocoa powder to avoid any lumps.
7. Fold in the flour and reserved chocolate chunks, and mix the batter gently, just incorporating all the dry ingredients till no streaks of flour can be seen. Do not keep stirring, else it will cause the brownies to become dense like uncooked dough while baking.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the centre rack in your own, depending on how fudgy you like your brownies. Keep checking from the 22 minute mark every 3 minutes!
9. Sprinkle sea salt on the brownies once they’re out of the oven, for a nice salty contrast to the sweet richness.
   
   Enjoy! These brownies can be kept in the fridge for up to 1 week safely and 3 days outside in an air tight container.