Quintuple Chocolate Brownies from Dorie Greenspan

Well, there is news on the DoughMessTic front. Remember the Cafe I used to bake for? Well, it died. Seriously….died died. As in, the owner put an obit in the paper. He was a strange fella – so this does not surprise me. Nor did the closing up shop – I knew it was coming. This town, my town, well, it just isn’t ready for a coffee shop. If you don’t make your own coffee at home, then your wife does. And if she doesn’t, you buy it at Clover Dew. And if you don’t go to Clover Dew then you are probably over 70, and eating your breakfast at Hardee’s or DQ with your peers. In other words, you are not going to buy your coffee at a coffeeshop. I applaud him for giving it a go, I do…but I can’t say I am missing making all those muffins. In fact, I hate making muffins. And it wasn’t easy, trying to bake for the cafe with Seven being up and active…you Moms know what I am saying.

So, now that I have a nice clean kitchen (for some reason I have been cleaning the house with a toothbrush similar to the time on Desperate Housewives when Lynette took her kid’s Ritalin) I felt the need to bake something for FUN. Not for the Daring Bakers, not for the Pie Challenge, not for Tuesdays With Dorie…just for FUN. So I turned to Dorie anyway and played catch-up. I joined last year after the group had made the Quintuple Chocolate Brownies, so that particular recipe called out to me. Anything fudgy. I love fudgy. Cakey Brownies? Nope – if I want cakey, I’ll make cake. These are NOT cakey brownies.

What they are is RICH. Richhhhh. Hello? 5 types of chocolate…of course they are rich. And the first bite is ever so coffee heavy. I am not a big fan of coffee, but most “grownups” are. If I make them again, I think I will lessen the amount quite a bit or maybe omit it all together. Strangely enough though, I really only taste the coffee for the first couple of bites…then, it’s gone. By the last bite I am wondering how I ever made such a fantastic brownie.

I rarely if ever post a recipe of Dorie’s, but because this one was picked ages ago from Baking:From My Home to Yours in the TWD line-up, a lot of other bakers already have it on their blogs…and I really think everyone should give it a shot if they haven’t already!

 

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons strong coffee

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6 ounces premium-quality milk chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts

 

 

6 ounces premium-quality white chocolate, finely chopped, or 1 cup store-bought white chocolate chips

1/3 heavy cream

 

Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and add, in the following order, the butter, the two chocolates and the coffee. Keeping the pan over low heat, warm just until the butter and the chocolates are melted– you don’t want the ingredients to separate, so keep an eye on the bowl. Stir gently, and when the mixture is smooth, set it aside for 5 minutes.

Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Don’t beat too vigorously– you don’t want to add air to the batter– and don’t be concerned about any graininess. Next, stir the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. You should have a smooth, glossy batter. If your not already using a rubber spatula, switch to one now and gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. Finally, stir in the milk chocolate chips and nuts. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until a think knife inserted into the center comes out streaked but not thickly coated. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the brownies rest undisturbed for at least 30 minutes. (You can wait longer if you’d like.)Turn the brownies out onto a rack, peel away the foil and place it under another rack–it will be the drip catcher for the glaze. Invert the brownies onto the rack and let cool completely.

 

Put the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Wait 30 seconds, then, using a rubber spatula, gently stir until the chocolate is melted.and the glaze is smooth.Hold a long metal icing spatula in one hand the bowl of glaze in the other. Pour the glaze onto the center of the brownies and use the spatula to nudge it evenly over the surface. Don’t worry if it dribbles over the edges, you can trim the sides later (or not). Refrigerate the brownies for about 20 minutes to dry the glaze.Cut into 16 squares, each roughly 2 1/4 inches on a side.

**Note – I added a few squiggles of milk chocolate ganache to my glaze, just to pretty it up a bit. I also used almonds for the nuts.

 

On another note – if you are a food blogger and live in Virginia – I am still looking for you! Please see my previous post for details!