AT LAST….my love has come along

The night I looked at you
I found a dream that I could speak to…
I found a thrill to rest my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known…
And here we are in heaven
For you are mine
At last

—
friends, this is a momentous occasion: the brownie hunt is over, thanks to katharine hepburn and her brownie recipe. i have fond memories of slightly-undercooked brownies, allowed to chill in the fridge before being consumed in a state of cold, slightly chewy fudginess. i certainly used to sneak more than my fair share…

in general, if it’s homemade, it’s better than the mix version. however, i held out in the case of brownies for years, as homemade brownie after homemade brownie didn’t meet my standards: too cakey, too dry, not chocolatey enough… unfortunately, this belief was proved wrong when i tried two brownie mixes last fall, in a bid to revisit the glory days of cold, fudgy brownies. all of a sudden, i really could taste all of the chemicals and preservatives that go into these mixes, and they lacked both richness and depth of flavor. to add insult on top of injury, i failed to be attentive enough to the brownies and allowed them to overbake, bringing their texture closer to foam blocks than fudgy heaven.

since then, i’ve made brownies only once – thekitchn’s one-bowl mascarpone brownies (incidentally, really you should never use more than one bowl when making brownies). they were adequately fudgy, but a touch too…well, they felt a little thick on the tongue, rather than settling into a buttery, chocolatey layer in your month. and this is where a homemade brownie, with an adequate recipe, will finally help you out – the butter allows a good brownie to nearly melt in your mouth. i have adapted katharine hepburn’s original recipe slightly – i cut the sugar, used half cocoa and half flour, and doubled the recipe, based on user comments of the original brownies being too thin, too sweet, etc.

one of the dangers of homemade brownies is that you can cut into them too early, before they set. one must not give in to temptation, however; homemade brownies are invariably better when you allow them to cool. i did abide by this brownie maxim tonight, and was duly rewarded tenfold. these brownies are super-chocolatey because of the use of unsweetened chocolate, and the sugar required to balance that chocolate creates that delectable crunchy top on the brownies. the key, though, is that the body of the brownies remains wonderfully fudgy, with only the faintest hint of flour to help the brownies hold their shape. best to cut them into small squares in order to prevent yourself from eating the whole pan yourself.

homemade brownies
(adapted from katharine hepburn’s brownies)

1c (2 sticks) butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, broken or chopped into smallish pieces
1 3/4c sugar
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4c flour
1/4c good quality cocoa (valrhona is good, hershey’s not so much)

1. grease a 9″ square pan (i used a 9″ square pyrex) with butter. line with a wide strip of parchment paper, extending past the edge of the pan, to make it easier to take the brownies out, and butter the paper. preheat oven to 325F.

2. melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom. stir together with a rubber spatula as they melt.

2. whisk in the sugar until well incorporated. make sure the mixture isn’t too hot (it can be hotter than lukewarm, but not too much more than that) and whisk in the eggs one at a time. whisk in the vanilla and salt.

3. stir in the flour with the spatula. sift the cocoa into the batter and stir that in as well. your batter should be thick, and slightly glossy.

4. pour into the prepared pan. bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top looks crusty and the batter doesn’t jiggle when you shake the pan slightly. a toothpick inserted into the batter will come out with rather wet crumbs adhering to it, but it is indeed done. let cool for 1-2 hours, then slice – these will be easiest to slice if you refrigerate them overnight, then cut them the next day, but i understand if you need to satisfy a craving. cut these into small squares (1.25″-1.5″) because they are quite rich.

[makes about 25 small brownies]