Chocolate Brownies

Sinfully delicious and REALLY simple to make. There are many different types of brownies though.. This type is kinda gooey and abit chewy. I don't really like the cakey-kind of brownies. Its just. Not brownies. Its more of a chocolate cake. :) This is the kind of brownie you'd want to bake.

Ingredients:

75g chocolate (try getting imported dark chocolate buttons)

110g butter
2 eggs
200g sugar

1/2 tsp salt (if you're using unsalted butter)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

75g strong/hard flour (high gluten flour)

50g walnuts

1/4 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 165 degrees celcius

2. Sift flour and baking powder and set aside.

Bowl A:

-Melt chocolate and butter over Bain Marie and allow to cool
Bowl B:

-Whisk eggs, sugar and salt until well mixed but DO NOT FOAM

-Stir in vanilla
3. Take mixture from Bowl B and slowly blend into Bowl A. Whisking continuously.
4. Pour the flour+baking soda into the new mixture and fold.
5. Fold in walnuts
6. Cut out an aluminium foil to cover the top of the baking tin. Cover the tin then place into the oven
7. Bake at 165 degrees celcius for 1 hour

Explanation:

• Bain Marie is also known as a water bath. It is used heat materials gently and gradually to fixed temperatures, or to keep materials warm over a period of time. In this case, chocolate will burn if heated with direct heat/contact. Therefore, using a bain marie, you can melt the chocolate without having to burn it. Just fill a saucepan with some water and bring it to a boil then lower it down to simmer. Then place a bowl filled with the chocolate and butter on top of it. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the surface of the water. And Ta-Daa! You've made yourself your own Bain Marie.
  


• Folding means to combine a light mixture in this case the flour with a much heavier mixture in this case the chocolate+egg mixture. In a large bowl, place the lighter mixture on top of the heavier one. Starting at the back of the bowl, using the edge of a rubber spatula, cut down through the middle of both mixtures, across the bottom of the bowl and up the near side. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat. This process gently combines the two mixtures. Why fold? Because you do not want to overmix the batter and cause it to become hard.



• By placing an aluminium foil on top of the baking tin, what you're actually doing is removing the crust on top of the brownie. By the way, be cautious when opening the aluminium foil after you're done baking the brownies. The steam that comes out of it is HOT!