From my Mobile Phone:
Christmas Time is here and that means that Traveler Nell and I are headed to Traveler Bill’s ancestral home to spend the holiday with my family. Nellie being from Australia, Upstate New York is a slightly easier commute.
The siblings in my family have drawn names for a grab bag for more than 20 years and 2009 was no exception. And while it has recently changed to include our oldest niece and nephew, it is pretty much how it was in the late 80’s. Which means while I don’t go all out for everybody…everybody get something.
In the past that has meant Smart Wool (1997) socks for everyone, a genuine Traveler Bill t-shirt (see image) (2003) or even peanut brittle 2006). This year it will mean brownies.
But not just any brownies. This brownie recipe is my adaptation of The Barefoot Contessa’s Outrageous Brownies which were also an adaptation of the chocolate globs in the Soho Charcuterie Cookbook.
Ingredients
- 1 pound unsalted butter
- 14 ounces plus 10 ounces semisweet chocolate chips – divided
- 8 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 6 jumbo eggs (room temperature)
- 3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup plus ¼ cup all purpose flour – divided
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 ounces peppermint candy canes (about five) broken into pea sized pieces
- 3 cups walnuts chopped
- ¼ cup (4 or so) candy canes ground into a fine powder
- ¼ cup confectioners sugar
Preheat your oven to 350° F. Butter and flour your largest metal baking pans. The original recipe called for a 13 X 18 X 1½ sheet pan. (I used a 13 X 17 X 1 aluminum pan and put the rest into ceramic dish. The brownies in the metat dish came out MUCH better.)
I first mixed the walnuts, the 10 ounces of chips and the pea sized peppermint chips with the ¼ cup all purpose flour, then placed this mix into the refridgerator.
In a large aluminum pan over simmering water melt the butter the 14 ounces of chips and the 8 ounces of bakers chocolate. I did this over too high of heat and had to wait a while for the mix to cool down once melted.
While it is cooling mix with a beater on low setting the eggs, the coffee the vanilla and the sugar. I mixed until the were well combined but not frothy. I added a cup of the warm chocolate mixture to the egg mixture to temper them before combining the eggs into the chocolate again with the mixer.
In another bowl (Nellie was THRILLED with all the dishes involved) I mixed the 1 cup of flour, baking powder and salt; then folded into the chocolate mixture. Once fully mixed and glossy I folded the chilled walnut/chocolate/peppermint mix into the batter and poured into the pand and baking dish.
I ended up baking the dish for 30 minutes and the pan for 45, but start checking at 30minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick into the center of the brownie. When it comes out clean, it is done.
Cool on racks until room temperature then refridgerate overnight in the pans. After I cut the brownies into squares I dusted the top and bottom with a mix of the candy cane powder and confectioners sugar.
The subtle peppermint taste is very pleasant and not the punch in the nose that peppermint extract can be. I brought some into my lawyers office today and everyone who tried them (expecially those who tried them multiple times) found them delicious.
(I will be updating this post with hyperlinks and photos as soon as I can.)