The Petit Four

There needs to be an amendment on the “There’s nothing as American as apple pie” statement. It’s just not true. The English gave us our version of apple pie.  The Dutch make a mean apple pie too. And those francophones have their tarte tatin.

Instead, I propose it should be “There’s nothing as American as chocolate chip cookies and brownies.”

Nobody makes a tray of chocolate chip cookies or a pan of brownies like an American. In Brussels’  grocery stores, they have a brownie mix in a box. The cover is vaguely 1970s in a horrifying outdated sort of way, which makes me wonder if it has been sitting on the shelf since 1973. The picture of the brownie itself is also pretty scary. It resembles a square form of… number two, to put it politely.

So this weekend, after my students started to get twitchy and unfocused as they’ve begun to go through their Mexican food withdrawal and started to bemoan the lack of brownies in their life, I found several bars of chocolate in my grocery basket and a task to bake.

Brownies, like chocolate chip cookies, have a mythical beginning. Nobody really knows who invented them or what the real Creation Story is behind the brownie. Some say it was created in the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago at the Palmer Hotel.  The ladies who luncheon needed a chocolate cake dessert but also needed it so they could eat with their fingers while viewing the expositions. Some say Fannie Farmer created it for her cookbook. And my personal favorite - a certain Mrs. Brown forgot to add baking soda to her chocolate cake destined for a bake sale. Not having enough time to make another cake, she cooled her flat chocolate cake, cut it in squares and took it to her church bake sale. And brownies were born. (Interestingly, here is a website that compares the evolution of the brownie recipe.)

Brownies can come in many forms – swirled with caramel, dotted with macademia nuts, topped with ice cream, fudgy, chewy, cakey. There are whole cookbooks devoted just to brownies and a person would be very hard pressed to find a brownie version they didn’t like.

I decided to try out these “Adult” brownies banging around the Serious Eats message boards. And hello! Fudgey brownies are really, really delicious. The heady combination of intense chocolate flavor and coffee is decadent enough to make you want a cigarette afterward. Thank god my students are getting all of these – they lead to bad decisions. And me being about 50 pounds heavier.

Some tips for baking brownies –

In general, if you want your brownies (or cookies!) chewier, try reducing the amount of flour by a ¼ cup or add 3 tablespoons of corn syrup. But since the latter is a little nasty and not as good for you, try reducing the flour first.

If you want a light, slightly crackly crust on your brownies and one that isn’t tough, ditch your mixer and beat by hand.

Metal pans bake things quicker than glass. In general, recipes give you a wide range of “done” times because it depends on what type of pan you are using. Metal conducts heat a lot quicker than glass, so your goods will be done much quicker. Also, to be on the safe side, you should start checking for doneness (metal or glass) every five minutes after 20 minutes.

It helps to mix your sugar and vanilla together first before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.  This ensures an even distribution of the vanilla and gives your baked goods a smoother, subtler taste throughout.

Butter-Brick Brownies with Coffee and Salt
Adapted slightly from Tam Ngo

2 tablespoons (1 1/2 stick or 6 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
8 ounces milk chocolate (41% cocoa), coarsely chopped
8 ounces dark chocolate (64% cocoa), coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (you can go for 1/2 cup here if you want. I did just a 1/4 cup though and they were fudgey fudgey fudgey. Mmmm.)
1 teaspoon fleur de sel or sea salt
1 tablespoon dark coffee grounds, like mocha or dessert coffee

Preheat over to 325F.  Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper so that there is enough overhang to work as handles.

Create a double boiler on very low heat by placing a large metal over a pot of simmering water, place the chocolate and cubed butter. Stir occasionally until melted. Remove from heat and stir until smooth.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine sugar and vanilla.  After the chocolate mixture has cooled to touch, pour the chocolate into the vanilla-sugar.  Next, beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour, salt, and coffee and mix vigorously by hand for 5 minutes.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and tap the pan on a counter top to even out the batter. Bake for 22 minutes, take out the pan, and tap the pan on the counter twice to further even out and condense the batter. Rotate and reinsert the pan to bake for another 22 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out moist but free of uncooked batter. You made need to adjust baking time and bake longer. The less flour you use, the more time it takes to bake.

Remove the pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Remove the brownies from the pan using the parchment handles and place the brownies on the rack. Cool completely before cutting.

Tam Ngo based these off of brownies at Andronico’s in Berkely, California, which are famous for the brick-like texture.  Tam emphasizes that to make the brownies more brick-like, you need to let the brownies condense and collapse onto itself.  The way to do this is to let the brownies “stale” for a little bit.  I let them stale for about a day and a half and they worked beautifully.  Brick-ish and easy to handle.  The brownies might also seem a bit oily as they come out of the oven.  As they cool, the brownies will reabsorb the oil and work to make the brownies more condensed and fudgey.

Sometimes I have this weird ability to make myself insanely busy. Or overcomplicating things. And I don’t always match said weird talent with a companion talent like say, being able to balance everything.

So when I feel like I’m trying to dodge an impending ball of work (think opening scene of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark), nothing clears my head and calms me down quite like baking. The methodical sifting, stirring, pouring, folding massages out the lines of frustration etched onto my day. No matter how many times I mess up a verb conjugation or my tired brain says “garbaaage” instead of détritus, I can’t really mess up baking if I just follow the directions.  What matters is that I bake chocolate chip cookies while listening to This American Life.

The chocolate chip cookie has a certain allure to it. It’s a basic combination of flour, butter, sugar and chocolate, but it somehow has managed to create this certain je ne sais quoi that gets people up in arms about the perfect cookie. Some people, like the New York Times, think they have the Chocolate Chip Cookie’s “come hither” taste down to a science, claiming that it is the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. Others have certain rules and procedures they follow when making the “perfect” cookie. But I say to hell with it. Part of the reason why the Chocolate Chip Cookie is great, why it has that certain je ne sais quoi quality, is because it’s true essence lies in its simplicity. You, a bowl, and a wooden spoon. A powerful combination that can result in something that will make most men weak in the knees. If you try and deconstruct the cookie you’re missing the point. So, I won’t claim this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe, I’ll just say that it’s just damn good and the act of making it is therapeutic perfection.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Dorie Greenpan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment or spray with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk flour, salt, and baking soda together.

In a large bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 1 minute until smooth (you can use a wooden spoon if you want.)  Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes until well blended.  Beat in the vanilla.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg is added to fully incorporate into the batter.  Reduce mixer speed to low to avoid spraying, and slowing add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is fully incorporated.

With a wooden spoon, mix in chocolate and nuts if you are using them.

Dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between spoonfuls.

Place the cookies in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. At the midway point during baking, rotate the baking sheet.  The cookies will be done when they are brown around the edges and golden in the center.  Pull the baking sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 5 minutes before transferring to cool on racks.

Sometimes you have to take one for the team. Sometimes, taking one for the team means doing math. Lots of calculated leaps and jumps. Lots of converting and realizing that it’s really pointless to not function on the metric system sort of math.

So it was my birthday. And on birthdays, you make cakes. And even though I’m here, in one of the culinary capitals of the world and there are hundreds upon hundreds of sensory overloadingly delicious tartes, gateaus and pastries that await me, I wanted to make my own birthday cake. To connect with the kitchen again (albeit a very college boy one – my mixing bowl was a stock pot with a missing handle) and also because my birthday was on a Sunday and nothing – including the patisseries – is open on Sunday.

But it was ok. I purchased Nigella Lawson’s Feast as a birthday present for myself and already picked a cake to tackle. But there were a couple of obstacles to overcome.

1. I purchased a cookbook written by a Brit and purchased in Europe. I’m American. I think in cups and ounces. Not grams or milliliters.
2. My aforementioned kitchen. I’m in temporary housing (read: an open student apartment, one that is usually reserved for boys.) and while the kitchen is functioning, it’s not really designed for students who really like to cook. So my supplies are limited as they aren’t here or broken.
3. My neighborhood grocery store supplies dozens of different types of sugar (albeit, all of the non-confectionary kind) but absolutely no flour. I was on a hunt.

The challenge was on. It was Emily v. Honey Chocolate Cake in Europe. Or really, Emily v. mathematical conversions. Or, Science Math Cake.

The result? Well. Here are my notes from converting the recipe into categorical measurements that made sense to me (I am now a staunch supporter of a Metric Revolution in the States).  This page was consulted more than the cookbook itself.

It didn’t actually turn into the disaster that I was expecting it to become. The cake that came out of the oven is a dense, slightly gooey affair. If chocolate cake and baklava had a baby, I imagine this is what it would be. It’s not a subtle cake. The chocolate and honey are very present (surprise, right?), and as a bold, dark cake, it pairs really well with coffee. You don’t need a lot of it, which is nice. I can freeze and have birthday cake for the whole summer!

_

And I really like the frosting. It’s more like a chocolate glaze than your traditional birthday frosting and since it’s consistency comes from the honey, you want to wait about an hour after you top the cake before serving so it can harden a bit. I’ve been having all sorts of visions and ideas about other baked goods that would benefit from donning this glaze. And there are a lot. It’s an exciting new discovery.

Honey Chocolate Cake from Nigella Lawson

I was going to post two versions of the recipe.  One in metric and typed verbatim from the book.  The second was going to be my calculated version.  But I looked at the math calculations and realized I didn’t actually mark what was what, so I would have to do it all over again.  And you know?  It’s still within 48 hours of my birthday so I’m pulling the “It’s my birthday, I can do what I want” excuse to just…not do it.  At least for now because I would be really interested to see if the cake comes out wildly different.

Nigella’s Version:

For the cake:
100g dark chocolate
275g light muscovado sugar (think brown sugar on steroids.  I just used the darkest brown sugar I could find)
225g soft butter (at room temp)
125ml runny honey
2 eggs
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda (or bicarbonate of soda if you’re British.  Curiously, baking soda isn’t sold in grocery stores here, but in pharmacies.)
1 tablespoon cocoa
250ml boiling water

For the sticky honey glaze:
60 ml water
125 ml runny honey
175g dark chocolate
75g icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180C and butter and line a 23cm springform pan.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a boiling pot of water. Set aside to cool off just a bit.Beat sugar and butter until creamy, and then add honey.  Add one of the eggs, mixing it in with one tablespoon of flour, and then the other egg with an additional tablespoon of flour.  Fold in the melted chocolate along with the remaining flour and baking soda.  Add the cocoa (sieve it if it’s clumpy) and finally the boiling water.  Mix well so it becomes a smooth batter and pour into tin.  Cook for up to an hour and a half, though check the cake after 45 minutes.  If it still needs baking, check every 15 minutes by sticking a toothpick or fork in.

Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a rack.

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze.  Bring the water and honey to a boil in a small saucepan.  Once it reaches boiling, remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate.  Once it’s melted, whisk in the confectioners sugar until smooth.  Pour the icing over the cold honey chocolate cake and smooth down the sides.

Wait at least an hour for the glaze to harden or you are going to have a dark, sticky, gooey mess on you. And the table. and the counter.  And maybe even your walls.  Don’t stay I didn’t warn you.

Chicago is a confused city right now.  Some days it snows.  Some days there are monsoons.  Some days the sky is so blue, the sun so brilliant that shadows sharply etch their shape onto the sidewalk.

Fortunately, yesterday was a day that Chicago weather and I were friends.  It was hard not to feel the itching call of warm weather as I walked home, scheming of future croquet parties and grilling escapades.  It finally felt like the city was shucking off the winter shackles and ready to leap into spring.  I couldn’t be happier. That is, until Renee called.

“Want to come over to bake and drink beers?”

Oh my, it’s a good feeling when friends speak your language.

After taking care of a nasty flat tire on my sister’s car, I found myself in her beautiful and oh-so-very-navy blue dining room ready to get down to business.  Billie Holiday was playing, there was a cold bottle of Steam Anchor Porter in my hand and chocolate was melting in the makeshift double-boiler we created.  People, these things are the makings of a perfect night.  All you need to make it better is a handful of Chocolate Espresso cookies.

These cookies will win hearts and minds.  You could subdue the nastiest of people, prevent unrest, and end wars with these cookies.  People will be powerless in the face of the fudgy, chocolatey insides and the hint of coffee.   Give me your weak, your tired.  I will give them cookies.

Chocolate Espresso cookies from Gourmet

Reading through the reviews of this recipe I knew it was going to be a winner when somebody gave it a bad review because they “felt they were too much like brownies.”  Trust me, this is no problem.  This is a delicious happenstance.

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons finely ground dark-roast coffee beans
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F and grease 2 baking sheets.

In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, melt unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup chocolate chips, and butter, stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat.

In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar, and ground coffee on high speed until very thick and pale.  The mixture will form a ribbon when beaters are lifted.  Beat in melted chocolate mixture.

Mix in flour, baking powder and salt until fully incorporated.  Stir in the remaining chocolate chips and walnuts if you’re using them.

Refrigerate batter for about an hour.  This will firm it up and make it easier to scoop up batter.  After chilled, you can drop batter by tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets.  Or you can hand roll the batter into little balls and place onto baking sheets.  Place in oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.  The cookies will be puffed and cracked on top.  Cool cookies on baking sheet for a minute or two before transferring to racks to cool completely.

I would suggest underbaking the cookies just a little bit to make them extra soft and chewy inside.

Yield: Enough to turn an entire office into putty in your hands.

There are things you just need sometimes.  Like showers and hugs.  And dinner parties.  I firmly believe that one cannot have too many dinner parties in their lifetime.  I also believe that your dinner party quota should grow exponentially when other things in your life are driving you crazy, such as a large fundraising event that you are entirely in charge of.  In fact, it should be a requirement to have several dinner parties when you’re in the middle of aforementioned project.  Consider it a form of training, a workshop if you will, to prep you for the night of the event.

And I have been doing a horrible job at filling my quota.  Something needed to be rectified.  So I made the necessary phone calls and found myself walking up to Christine and Ryan’s apartment on Saturday with a Mon Gateau au Chocalat in one  hand, cream ready to be whipped and devoured in the other.  On the other side of the door was the most decadent spread of cheese, crackers, and steak that I’ve encountered in a long time.  And impending food comas for all to be had.

By the time we had polished off the bottle of Molly Dooker cabernet and made the smallest of dints on our steaks, we were on the verge of admitting defeat and succumbing to our growing food babies.  But we couldn’t stop. There was cake to be had.  So, to fend off the impending and dangerously close food coma, the boys went off to play Boston and Rush on Rock Band while I got down to work.

Pulling the bowl and whisk our of the refrigerator, now chilled, I whipped up a batch of homemade whipped cream, sweetened with just a sprinkling of mint chocolate hot cocoa mix.

I dished out the thick, fudge-like chocolate cake with a dollop of whipped cream to everyone.  I foolishly began to ask how it tasted, only to be admonished by Ryan as he closed his eyes and experienced the first bite.  “This cake is gonna-make-me-prone-to-obesity good,” he said a few moments later.

And well, a girl just can’t ask for a better compliment to her cake.  Plus, this recipe only gets better a day later.

Mon Gateau au Chocolat from Bistro Cooking
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
5 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. confectioner’s sugar for decoration (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F and butter a 9 1/2 inch springform pan or deep, nonstick cake pan.

Melt the chocolate, butter, and granulated sugar in a double boiler placed over simmering water.  Melt until the mixture is smooth and everything is thoroughly blended.  Set aside to cool.

Separate the egg yolks and the egg whites into separate bowls.  Whisk the egg whites until they form firm peaks but don’t overbeat.

Whisk the egg yolks and flour into the chocolate mixture.  This will be a lumpy but will begin to look like cake batter.  Then, add one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate batter and mix.  Gently fold in the remaining whites slowly and thoroughly, until no streaks of egg white remain.

Pour the batter into the butter pan and bake until the cake is firm and springy, about 35 - 45 minutes.  Cool for several hours before trying to remove the cake from the pan.  The cake is rich and delicious enough that you don’t need frosting, but you can dust it with confectioners’ sugar for aesthetic reasons.  I recommend eating it with just a touch of homemade whipped cream.