Monday, June 02, 2008

TWD: French Chocolate Brownies.

Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook chose the recipe this week.  They are French Chocolate Brownies.  Apparently, this started out as a cake recipe that didn't quite work.  Dorie calls for rum soaked and flambeed raisins.  The comments were fast and furious on the board.  It seems to be a love 'em or hate 'em situation with the fruit.  I gave them a try this past weekend.

Now, truth be told, I'm not the biggest fan of baking brownies.  I like them just as much as the next guy.  But if I'm baking, it's not something I usually make.  There are just too many other dessert recipes that I love.  In fact, brownies are the one food item for which I will actually use a mix.  I doctor up the Ghirardelli mix, and it's quite tasty.  

Having said that, I was all for a recipe for which I had all the ingredients.  I had some dried fruit left over from the granola bars the other day, so I decided to use that.  It's a mix of cherries, raisins, blueberries, and cranberries.  It was my first try at flambeing something.  It was fun!  Dork that I am, I actually turned out the light to see the flame better.  Dork.  The brownies came together easily.  I had read about people having lots of trouble with the top crust, but mine came out just fine.  I kind of liked the addition of the fruit.  The touch of cinnamon added an extra flavor note without being too overpowering.  The brownies were moist without being too fudgy.  The top was nice and shiny.


I enjoyed them.  The kids and the husband liked them as well.  I'm not sure I'm rushing out to make them again soon, but I'm glad to have tried them.

Up next week:  La Palette's Strawberry Tart chosen by Marie of A Year in Oak Cottage.  We're all pretty excited about this one.  Fresh strawberries are a favorite around here.

20 comments:

April said...

The brownies look great!

Carrie said...

YOur not a dork, I wish I had turned out the lights! Flameing is Fun! Don'tcha think?

Anonymous said...

The combo of dried fruits must've been nice! More interesting than just raisins, I would imagine.

Anonymous said...

If you're a dork then so am I. And I bet there's a few more of us out there too. Turning out the lights to see the flames was really the way to go...did you draw your blinds too?

The Kitchen Vixen said...

your top is crack free! hmph. mine were ridiculously cracked. I'm jealous;)

marae said...

wow yours look actually like BROWNIES...!! instead of the crackly paper top thing...i love them. i bet the dried mix of fruit was amazing.

Melissa said...

Yea! Somebody's actually look like brownies...as opposed to my crackly top!

Christine said...

Your brownies look great! I can't wait for next week strawberries are a huge hit in my house too!

Anonymous said...

It's nice to see that other people prefer boxed brownie mixes too! I usually can't even tell the difference.

Your brownies look beautiful and it's good to hear that your family enjoyed them.

Anonymous said...

Funny, my favorite "family recipe" comes in a box with a "G" on it, too. ;)

Susie Homemaker said...

isn't the blogging world full of dorks? don't we all take pictures of our food and really enjoy THAT part? so, we are all dorks. but oh. how. fun.
keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Hello from Ioway, my friend. Just catching up and admiring the pictures - you are a computer genius!! Also, the fudge sauce you sent home with us is gone and the natives are getting restless without it. Can we come back for a visit soon?

Many x's & o's

BethRR

CB said...

Granola mix! How fun! Brownies look delish. Great job!
Clara @ I♥food4thought

Mari said...

Love all the extra mixed fruit!

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

Your non-crackly top is great - how'd you do that?
Shari@Whisk: a food blog

Jacque said...

I envy your flame, lol. The tops look really nice!

Allison said...

I'm with you in the "if I'm going to bake, there are better things to bake than brownies camp." Of course, I really enjoyed this recipe, too. And your granola idea definitely sparked my interest. I'm thinking of adapting and making some granola brownies in the future--not just the fruit, but the oats and all. Might be interesting...

Garrett said...

Ha, I might have to try that next time - turning out the lights to see the flame better. It sort of ruins the cool blue flame when you have other lights on.

CRS said...

LOL at you calling yourself a dork. I'm intrigued by the combination of fruits you used--sounds interesting!!

Anonymous said...

Your brownies look really wonderful.

I laughed about turning off the light to see the flame...I wish I had thought of that!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and assisting with the knitting problem. Much appreciated!

I can't wait to see what you do with the strawberry tart!