Thursday, September 23, 2010

Moist Nutty Brownie

This is one of Pierre Herme's recipes which I tried out today, using my new toy - kenwood chef.


I have two majors which are already more than 30 years old. One of them had decided that 'Enough is enough! I want to retire!' And so it did after going through numerous corrective surgery!
Well, I still have one faithful noisy major left, still going strong and not wanting to retire.

I used to bake daily in bulk because of the many orders I received from friends, colleagues and even strangers who came to know about my cakes by word of mouth. I had people whom I did not know, calling up to ask if I had cakes available for sale. I had to tell them that they had to place their orders. There was also a pastor who came all way from the western part of the tiny red dot, thinking that he could buy some cakes on the spot.

I have completely retired from the baking business. Now I only bake for pleasure which was why I bought the chef this morning. It's smaller and suits my baking needs which means I bake smaller portions!


Here's the recipe:

145g bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona (66.5%), finely chopped (I used cadbury)
260g unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
250g sugar (I used fine sugar)
140g all-purpose flour
145g pecans, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped (I used 1/2 pecans and 1/2 walnuts)

1. Grease and line a 24 x 30-cm tin. Preheat oven at 180 deg C.

2. Melt chocolate in bowl over simmering water or in a microwave oven. Set aside.

3. Beat butter until smooth and creamy but not airy. Stir in chocolate. Gradually add eggs and then sugar. Stir only to incorporate each ingredient. Finally add flour and nuts.

4. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 19 to 20 minutes. The top of the cake will be dry, but a knife inserted in the centre will come out wet. Remove from oven.

5. Remove from tin and paper. Cool on rack. Cut into squares or rectangles and serve.



Tsk! Tsk! Bad slicing job! That's for being impatient!

It's not as moist as I expected. I had overbaked it. I should have taken it out of the oven when I tested the centre which was slightly wettish and going by the book, it should. It could have been more chocolatey if I had used Valrhona. Okay, lesson learnt!
But the nuts were super!

13 comments:

  1. Wah... those kenwoods are really hardworking!!!

    Why don't u continue to take orders, now that you've retired. Can bake, but don't need to eat all of them :)

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  2. You must have been really good in your younger days to have people come far far away just to try your bakes Busygran! You should keep making people happy, why retire so quickly?

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  3. I love my pink kitchenaid mixer and it was the best ever money spent, couldn't live without her now!

    These brownies sound and look lovely.

    Maria
    x

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  4. I love chocolate desserts. I can have it any time :) You are just awesome in baking. Shouldn't have retired. Just how cool to make money out of your hobby!

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  5. Hi Wendy, Quinn & Mary,
    Thanks for all the encouragement.
    I'm already past 60. At the time of my baking business, I was holding a permanent job too. Looking back, I feel I was crazy then to survive on an average of 4 hours sleep daily. But then my kitchen was about two and a half times the size of a normal HDB flat bedroom with plenty of room to play! :)

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  6. Hi Maria,
    I would love to own a kitchenaid mixer. My sis has one and she finds it awesome! Maybe one day.......

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  7. I can never even be patient in baking measurements. That's why I never bake!

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  8. Hi Tigerfish,
    Cooking is easier than baking. There's a lot of room for flexibility.

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  9. You should continue to take in orders, maybe not much, bake and sell when you feel like it! Your Kenwood has retired doesn't mean you need to do so too, ha, ha! My Kenwood Chef is still serving me well, the dark blue and white type, more than 30 years old!

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  10. Your new toy kenwood Chef looks like to render its long service for you and your friends.
    Baking for business is a different thing. I also love baking for pleasure. :)

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  11. That's a cool kitchen gadget! Your brownies look divine!

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  12. Congratulation on your new toys!
    I love everything with chocolate, I will be happy you share the brownies with me. Thanks for sharing :)

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  13. Hi Cheah,
    Thanks for dropping by! Just like my retired major's motor that had burnt out, I, too feel burnt-out. :)


    Hi Christine,
    This new toy has got me all excited. So I will be baking more often.


    Hi Angie,
    The brownie tastes better the next day!


    Hi DG,
    More sharing to come from my newly acquired books!

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