Cakey or Chewy Brownie Recipe

Some say Brownies originated from a cake recipe which baking powder were omitted, resulting in a cake that didn't rise but taste great. Others described it as a cross between cake and cookie, a cake with a crust on top. Brownie fans are divided into 2 groups. One group preferring the cakey type, the other, fudgy or also called chewy types. Using a simple recipe below, and baking them a few times for 3 days, I have discovered how to tweak it to convert into either cakey or chewy brownies.

100 g dark chocolate

125 g butter, softened

2 medium eggs

150 g soft brown sugar

60 g plain flour

1. Preheat oven temperature 165 C. Grease silicon mold with butter or corn oil.

2. Melt chocolate in a bowl (either bain-marie style or in microwave: two 20 seconds burst at high, take out and stir after the first burst). Add in butter and stir until melt.

3. In a separate bowl, lightly stir to mix the eggs and sugar. Do not whisk as whisking will incorporate air into batter and result in brownies full of holes (not compact). Pour in chocolate mixture and stir. Gently fold-in the sifted flour.

4. Pour mixture into molds, half full.

5. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove brownies from mold only when completely cool.*

*Silicon mold can withstand extreme changes in temperature, for example direct from oven to freezer (too cool brownies super fast if you want to bake another batch but have only one mold), and vice versa.

This recipe gives cakey brownies. For chewy ones, reduce the amount of eggs or use smaller sized eggs.

Brownies are not complete without toppings. Toppings can be whipped cream, chopped nuts, powdered sugar, fudge...etc. Feather icing technique is used to decorate the flower shaped brownie below.

The Oldest Trick in the Book - Rum Balls

Popularity of Rum Balls goes back to the 1960s, a favourite festive dessert during holidays or Christmas time. Some says its another version for Bourbon Balls, originated from the Irish. Both rum and bourbon consist of alcohol, as where it derives its name from.

Below is the non-alcoholic version which I call it Chocolate Balls. It is normally done with leftover cakes or cake scraps.

Firstly, melt cocoa powder with hot water until a watery consistency like below. I use good quality cocoa powder like Van Houten.

Pour in cocoa mixture into cake scraps.

Use fingers to press cake to ensure liquid is absorbed therefore making the whole cake mixture as shown below.

Mixture must be sticky so that it could be rolled into a ball and chocolate rice could stick on to it as below. I like to make them bite size where you could pop the whole thing in your mouth.

Place them into pastry cups.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

Silicone evolved from being used as non-stick baking mats to spatulas, whisks, and now to bakeware like muffin pans, moulds and even baking cups like the one I used to try out a new recipe, Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies. Shown above is one of the Wilton brand of silicone bakeware. They are the Mini-Baking Cups, 2 inches in diameter at a cost of RM36.40 for 12 pieces. The good points of using the silicone cups are:

• bendable (especially when it come to cleaning them) and retains it shape well
• hygienic, be sure no crust left stuck at unreachable corners as is usually the cake with traditional pans 
• non-porous, doesn't retain odours and flavours
• non-stick and easy to remove (instructions on tag says to grease and flour)
  
• adds colour to any collection of baking equipments

Below is a recipe for Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies taken from a recipe book entitled Hamlyn Cookery School which has 150 recipes with step-by-step photography from stocks and sauces, to starters, vegetable side dishes, desserts and cakes.  

Ingredients

300 g plain chocolate, chopped

      125 g lightly salted butter

      150 g light muscadavo sugar

  75 g  self-raising flour

   75 g chopped almonds

       4 eggs

     300 g cream cheese

75 g  castor sugar

      1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate with the butter in a medium-sized bowl.

Beat together the muscadavo sugar, flour, chopped almonds and 3 eggs in a mixing bowl to make a paste.

Beat in the melted chocolate mixture.

In a separated bowl, beat the cheese until softened. Beat in the castor sugar, remaining egg and the vanilla extract until smooth. 

Scoop the chocolate mixture into the baking cups, then spoon the cheese mixture on top. Use a spatula to swirl two mixture gently together, lifting some of the chocolate mixture into the cheese topping, until lightly marbled. (Don't overwork the mixture or the flavours will complete merge together.)

Bake in a pre-heated oven, 190 C (375 F) for about 20 minutes or until very softly set in the centre. Remove from cups when cooled.

A word of advice, follow the instructions on the tag to grease the cups before putting in the batter as yours truly here ignored the instructions and had to pry the cake from the cups using spatula.Conclusion, not all silicone bakewares has non-stick properties. 

Froot Loops and Koko Crunch Cupcakes

Want to eat cupcakes but too lazy for frosting? Look at my Kiwi Cupcakes baked with Froot Loops on top and sprinkled with icing sugar. This idea is from Gastronomy Blog where Apple Jacks are used. Don't think there's any Apple Jacks in Malaysia. Also check out The Crepes of Wrath and I found that their Froot Loops has brighter colours. Therefore, the colours turned out better than mine. I also made lemon cupcakes with Koko Crunch sprinkled with icing sugar. 

Kiwi Cupcakes with Froot Loops

Lemon Cupcakes with Koko Crunch

Both of the taste good! Soft on the insides and crunchy on top!

Just Heavenly's Traditional Butter Cake

Owners of Just Heavenly, Nigel Skelchy and Allan Yap were featured in Flavours (a mag covering the Malaysian F & B scene) May-June 2007. A Just Heavenly cake is one of the most sought after for weddings and birthdays. The recipe of their traditional butter cake,being in Nigel's family for generations, was gracious shared. The below is the exact word for word recipe from the magazine. I have attached photos which were taken during my experiment with the recipe.

450 g unsalted butter, slightly softened

450 g caster sugar

12 eggs, separated

60 ml milk (or brandy)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 1/2 tsp salt, sifted with

450 g cake or low protein flour

1/4 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp rose water, optional

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder, optional

Preheat oven to 170 C. grease and line 2 loaf tins or 1 round 23cm tin.

Cream the butter in mixer on medium speed until pale and light.

Set aside 1 tablespoon of sugar and add the rest into the butter. Continue to cream for another 2 minutes.

With a mixer on medium speed, add egg yolks, two at a time, waiting for about 15 seconds between each addition.

Add the milk and vanilla; mix well. Fold in the flour.

Whisk the egg whites until slghtly frothy. Add the lemon juice and slowly drizzle in the sugar that was set aside earlier. Whisk until the mixture forms soft peaks.

Using a spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake in the prepared oven until golden brown and top of cake splits slightly. A cake skewer stuck into the cake at this point should come out with a few crumbs stuck to it.

Place cake tin on a wire rack and cover with a dry tea towel to prevent cake from drying. Allow for 30 minutes before unmolding.

One recipe will provide approximately 60 cupcakes. Just follow the recipe and you will get the exact results, right down to the cracks in the middle. I baked them for 25 minutes. Also kindly ensure egg whites are beaten right before they are folded in. This gives a light airy texture. Have fun!