If someone held a gun to my head, I could conceivably give up chocolate. But chocolate brownies? That gun would have to be pressed very hard against my skull. And even then, as a last meal what a taste to carry into the afterworld! There is nothing in terms of gastronomic hedonism (with apologies to Steven Poole) that quite matches these lush little chunks. To me they are the essence of chocolatey lusciousness. A crisp crunchy top gives way with the slightest pressure of the teeth to a glorious melting ambrosia of rich deep velvety sweetness. It might be something about the tensile delight of crunch and gooeyness together or the richness or maybe just the sheer badness of defying every rule of healthy eating, but I can’t resist them.
It’s generally acknowledged (at least by Wikipedia) that the United States gave birth to the brownie in the late 19th century. That’s about the only fact on which there is agreement. Theories abound (none of them verifiable) as to who invented them, named them and published the very first recipe. Two main contenders for the role of inventor stand out. Firstly Bertha Palmer (of Palmer House fame). Bertha was a wealthy Chicagoan who came up with the idea of introducing a novel confection suitable for ladies visiting the World’s Fair Columbia Exposition in 1893. Legend has it that, at her request, the pastry chef concocted “a dense, fudgy chocolate bar, covered in walnuts and a sweet apricot glaze”. Apricot glaze would have been gilding the lily, in my opinion and surely it’s Madame Palmer’s pastry chef who should be designated the innovator as he did the grunt work. Nevertheless, apparently the “first” brownies were met with acclaim and became very popular. In contradiction to the Bertha proposition is the attribution to Fannie Farmer whose recipe in the 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book was called Brownies but bore little resemblance to the brownies we know and love today.
While perfectly delicious, judging from the picture, they didn’t include chocolate, were flavoured with molasses and resembled butterscotch.
As with many aspects of culinary history, a thicket of myths and rumours has sprung up around the question of origin, many of which suggest culinary blunders were inadvertently responsible for the brownie. The Chocolate University (yes there is such an institution) suggests several scenarios – a chef added melted chocolate to biscuits, a cook ran out of flour, or a housewife (in Bangor, Maine) forgot to add baking powder to her chocolate cake, giving rise to the variety known as “Bangor Brownies“. According to the Chocolate University, it was the Sears Roebuck Catalogue of 1897 which published the first officially designated “brownies” recipe, but this was also a bastardised version as it contained no chocolate.
So, rather like the convoluted process of attribution of an Old Master’s work (but without the monetary weight), provenance, corroboration of historical period, analysis of ingredients and detailed examination of the cook’s technique all remain to be authenticated.
Leaving history aside, there is as much if not more dissension about what constitutes the “perfect brownie”. Schools of thought are many but in the main split into two main camps – the “fudgies” and the “cakies”, inner texture being the distinguishing criterion. In other words, do you like them gooey in the middle or cushiony. A greater proportion of commentators, both expert and otherwise, fall into the fudgy camp, perhaps because the end result more closely resembles candy than cake.
Someone who’s an expert at brownie making is Thomas Joseph, a 2017 James Beard Award winner, host of the web series “Kitchen Conundrums with Thomas Joseph” and Culinary Director for the renowned Martha Stewart. He takes a close look at brownies in this Kitchen Conundrums episode titled “The Science Behind the Perfect Brownie”.
To adapt the basic brownie recipe to suit your tastes, he gives the following advice:
- For a fudgy brownie add more chocolate, more butter and less flour
- For a chewy brownie use brown sugar
- Baking time varies from 30 minutes for cakey brownies to 35-40 minutes for fudgy ones.
- For a more crackly surface, beat the batter longer after adding the eggs.
Other baking pundits add the following:
- Choose only the best quality chocolate and cocoa powder
- Beat the sugar and eggs well
- Sift the dry ingredients
- Don’t overbake or underbake
(The latter instruction sounds logical but don’t be fooled. Things like room temperature, oven type and function and carelessness of the cook can all conspire to confound the operation, resulting in, at either end of the spectrum, chocolate mousse or incinerated remains.
Another of Thomas Joseph’s little secrets is to use a knife with a thin, sharp blade when cutting the cooked brownies, insert it into hot water before making the first cut, then rinse in the hot water again between cuts, producing magazine worthy sharply delineated cubes.
Variations on the basic recipe are many. You can include for example peanut butter, nuts (macadamias are very good), chocolate chips, mint, coffee, berries, caramel, and the list goes on. Personally, I would steer clear of apricot glaze
Another interesting fact about brownies is their legendary link to Alice B. Toklas, a woman I know a lot about, having tried to write a novel about her. In her book “The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book“ published in 1954, a blending of her own recipes and those of friends, she included a recipe for Hashish Fudge, a wild brownie variation containing cannabis which provoked some uproar. She claimed innocence, stating the recipe was given to her by Bryon Gysin and she was unaware of just how the innocuous looking little balls achieved their paradisiacal effect on the consumer. Below is an amusing video showing how they can be whipped up easily “on a rainy day” in which Alice’s characteristic nicotine raddled voice features. I haven’t tried them. If I had it may have helped the novel writing exercise.
All of the above probably means little if what you’re looking for is a fool-proof recipe for the “perfect” brownie. This article may be your answer. Ambitiously called “How to Make the Best Brownies of Your Life” the article reinforces the tips outlined above, so there’s agreement it seems on those. The authors also recommend something best described as the “whack method”, to encourage a nicely cracked surface (or craquelure in painting terms).
Whether or not this recipe results in the culinary triumph promised, it’s a less risky alternative to Alice Toklas’s recipe and one I plan to try next time the brownies urge hits me, which having salivated for several days over the photos in this post, promises to be soon.
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