Tuesday, February 09, 2010

TWD: Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

This week's pick was brownies. A really long name for brownies. I did a whole thing on brownies once where I discussed that I'm a baking snob and I never ever use mixes. Except when it comes to brownies. They are really easy to doctor up and Ghiradelli does a great job. (Because I'm lousy at doing tags, and I don't remember when I wrote it, there's no link)

But hey, I'll make these. I've made other brownies from the book and they've been good. Anyway, so, I read the recipe. And then I re-read it. And then I read it again. It took me about four readings to make sure that I understood it. And I'm sure I read it a few more times when I was in the middle of things. This is a very rich (read-fattening) brownie. And there were a lot of steps. A lot of fussy steps.

I greased the pan (a topic of discussion for some) and baked away. Mine needed an extra few minutes (another topic of discussion) to make sure that the brownies, while gooey, were not liquid in the middle.

In the end, we decided that these were very good brownies. Rich, delicious, fudgy. However, they are not good enough to warrant the effort and dishes. I'll stick to the box. Which for me is saying a lot. Unless you have an easy fabulous recipe for me....

Here's a photo of the cut edge. Very moist. (not great photos to choose from this week. Have I mentioned that I need to work on my photography skills?)

Thanks to Tanya of Chocolatechic for choosing these. I know that she'll have a great photo and story on her blog.

**** Edited to add -- Don't get me wrong, these were excellent brownies. Very chocolatey and moist. Still, I thought they were a lot of effort for, you know, brownies.

12 comments:

Kayte said...

I've made these three times already as the guys are in love with these brownies! Love the stick with the box comment...your brownies do look very good. More chocolate next week, oh, boy!

chocolatechic said...

So sorry you thought these were fussy.

I heart me some Ghiradelli brownie mix. Especially the one with the chips in the mix.

Megan said...

I absolutely love Ghirardelli chocolate, so maybe I need look outside the box (pun intended) and try it!

Yeah, these were fussy, but I thought they were really, really good.

Unknown said...

Ohhh--Ghiradelli---forgot all about using that! Your brownie looks delicious--these were such a hit with us as well! Definitely will make them again.

Cindy said...

I baked my brownies in muffin tins--they were perfect, plenty of 'edges'. Sorry you were disappointed. Luckily there are many ways to get a chocolate fix!

Bella Baker said...

Sorry you weren't obsessed with them! I liked them a lot, though I found them extremely, extremely chocolatey!

Hindy said...

I love the Ghiradelli mix. It comes in giant boxes at Costco and we always make a double recipe.

Susan said...

Shhh, don't tell anyone, but I also bake boxed brownies. Hubby is non-finicky...just give him something sweet and he's happy! I thought these were worth the effort though. Your picture is fine. :)

Paula said...

I think I have just the recipe for you. They are called "Emergency Brownies." Made in the microwave in 8 minutes. Almost quicker than a mix. They are on my website. Delicious but not as much as Dorie's. Not as much trouble either.

Cakelaw said...

LOL - yes, rich does = fattening, and Dorie tends to have lots of recipes like this. But these were good.

TeaLady said...

Yes, these were excellent brownies. Definitely a return to recipe.

Anonymous said...

These were good, but I agree that they were a bit fussy and confusing to make. I haven't had a box mix brownie in a while, but I grew up eating them and always loved them, so I bet I still would.