Top | Savita Iyer-Ahrestani

Chocolate Brownies

(recipe, Savita Iyer-Ahrestani)

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Introduction

This recipe is adapted from Home Baked Bread and Cakes, by Mary Norwak.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup granulated sugar
2. 6 Tbsp. cocoa powder
3. ¾ cup all-purpose flour sifted with ¾ tsp. baking powder
4. ½ tsp. salt
5. 2 eggs
6. 3 Tbsp. cream
7. ½ cup melted butter or margarine
8. ¾ cup shelled walnuts or raisins (see Note)
9. Icing (optional; see Note)

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch-by-12-inch baking pan.
2. Stir together the sugar, cocoa powder, flour and baking powder, and salt. Beat the eggs and cream and add to the dry mixture together with the melted butter or margarine. Stir in the nuts or raisins.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake the brownies for 30 minutes. Frost while still warm, if you like (see the icing options below). Let cool, then cut into squares to serve.

Note

While the recipe calls for nuts, I like to substitute almond powder (ground almonds). To make the optional icing: The simplest, most homey and comforting icing for these brownies is a bar of good milk chocolate, broken into squares and placed on the brownies as soon as they are out of the oven, then spread out across them. I also like to melt a bar of good-quality dark chocolate (Lindt 70 Percent Cacao is my favorite) with a bit of cream and 2 tablespoons of confectioners' sugar over a low gas flame, then pour this over the brownies and spread it out. It takes the brownies to another level.