Rum and Raisin Brownies

I was thinking its been a really long time I have not tried a chocolate recipe as I was using more of fruits and other stuff in my baking. I have tried a lot of recipes of which I have posted the pictures on my FB page but somehow couldn't post the recipe here on the blog. Something or the other just kept me away from writing the recipe and posting it on the blog lately. I promise all of these would get archived on the blog by end of next week. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

The day has been very packed for me as I was in the kitchen all day baking some homemade granola muffins to participate in a healthy cooking competition at the Golds Gym being hosted. I was excited about my first ever participation in any cookery competition. I didn't win, but enjoyed just being a part of it.

Once I came back from the competition, Mr. SD was waiting for me to go to the Volkswagen showroom to test drive the new car he finalised for us. By the time we came back from home, it was already 7 in the evening and I was completely exhausted. And that's when Mr. SD tells me that we would be leaving in precisely an hour for his friend's birthday dinner and wondered if I can make "something" for the birthday boy.
I was awestruck!

I realised cake was not an option considering the amount of time I had. I thought of something boozy as it was going to be an all adults dinner and something chocolate as that is the choice of anybody for a birthday no matter what the age. Hence, I thought of Rum and Raisin Brownies as it takes no time to whip up everything and much less time to bake and once baked you are done. I was good to go...Exactly what I wanted at the occasion.

And for this, I completely involved Mr. SD to whip things up. (Yes, he is very supportive of me...Lucky me!!!) I started off by melting butter, chocolate and brown sugar in the microwave...less than a couple of minutes. While Mr. SD was breaking the eggs and whisking them up with some caster sugar I added the melted chocolate butter mixture while continuing to whisk the eggs. I then got the bottle of rum and measured it to half a cup while Mr. SD was staring at the quantity of rum I was adding to the mixture. I know, it was in excess, but that's exactly what was required to make these brownies decadent and full of flavour!

These brownies were packed with the flavours and all the main ingredients i.e. chocolate, rum and raisins mingled so well with each other giving it a great dark dense taste and a gooey fudgy texture. I made 24 brownies and took half of them over to the dinner of 7 and was surprised to see that everybody took 2 helpings of the brownies and all of it was over even before we finished the dinner.

Such a success!!! Yayyy!!!

Lets get you the recipe of these decadent brownies so that you can also make and savour some boozy goodness with your dear friends this upcoming festive season..:)

(Print this recipe)

Rum and Raisin Brownies

Preparation Time: 10 minutes   

Baking Time: 25 minutes


Makes: one pan of 9' X 13' or
24 brownies 

Adapted minimally from: www.mabletan.com



Here's what you would need to make Rum and Raisin Brownies:

300 gms dark chocolate, chopped

200 gms unsalted butter

110 gms/ ½ cup brown sugar

120 ml/ ½ cup rum (I used 40% alcohol content rum)

4 eggs

½ cup caster sugar

½ tsp salt (ignore the salt if using salted butter)

130 gms/ 1 cup all purpose flour, sifted

110 gms/ 1 cup raisins/ dried cranberries (I used a combination of both)

For frosting:

Cocoa powder to sprinkle on the brownies

Here's how you can make it:

Preheat your oven to 350 F /180 C. Line a 9X13 inch baking pan with some parchment paper hanging out on the sides so that you can pull out the brownies very easily once they are baked.

• In a bowl, add all purpose flour, salt and raisins or cranberries and whisk it to mix it all together. The reason we are adding raisins in the flour is to get raisins properly quoted in flour so that they don't sink in the bottom of the pan while baking.
• In a microwave or on a double boiler, add dark chocolate, butter and brown sugar and melt it until nice and smooth. Stir it continuously after every 20 seconds. 
• In another bowl, whisk all the eggs with caster sugar until eggs become pale in colour. Do not over mix the batter as we don't want a cakey brownies. Mix just until the ingredients are combined nicely.
• Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture while continuing to whisk the egg mixture.
• Add the rum to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. It will be a very runny mixture at this in time.
• Add the flour mixture and mix it well using a plastic spatula or a wooden spoon just until all the flour are combined in the wet ingredient and you don't see any flour in the mixture.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean or with few moist crumbs.
• Take the pan out of the oven and let it cool on the wire rack for 10 minutes before taking out from the pan.
• Once cooled enough, take the brownies out from the pan by lifting the parchment paper overhanging on the sides and transfer to the wire rack to cool.
• Cut the brownies and sprinkle them with some cocoa powder passed through a sieve. 

Note: we consumed these brownies when these were slightly warm and everybody loved it. You will like them even when cooled I bet.

Hope you would also enjoy making this recipe as much as I did.

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Happy Baking!

Nutella Fudgy Brownies

There are days when you crave for something sweet and you can't wait to whip up a cake or a batch of cup-cakes to satisfy your craving. One thing which could fulfill your craving in such situation would be having a spoonful of the rich and silky goodness of Nutella! Another thing which you can do is make these Nutella Fudgy Brownies which takes just 20 minutes in all to make, bake and take these brownies in your mouth to calm your taste buds. :)

This is one of the recipes which I made immediately once I saw it on Abby's blog here. Also, this was one of my bake items which got over within 5 minutes of coming out of my oven.

This recipe is made in one bowl using the smallest whisk you have available at home. All you need to do is dump everything in the bowl, mix and spoon it into the smallest size muffin/ cup-cake tin you have. Thats it! You are done. Isn't this the best recipe for you to start experimenting with baking? So what are we waiting for? Lets get straight to baking...

Here's what you would need to make Nutella Fudgy Brownies:

1/2 cup Nutella spread

1 large egg

5 tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Here's how you will make them:

Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Line a 6-cup cup cake pan with paper or foil liners.

• Put the Nutella, egg and vanilla extract in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and well blended. 
• Add the flour and whisk until blended.
• Using ice-cream scoop, spoon the batter into the prepared cup-cake tins (about 3/4 full) and sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips.
• Bake until a pick comes out with wet, gooey crumbs, about 12 minutes. 
• Set on a rack to cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

Variations:

In place of the chocolate chips, switch in the following:

Chopped toasted hazelnuts     1/4 cup

Hope you would have also enjoy making these brownies as much as I did! So, don't forget to share your experiences.

Happy Baking!

Cocoa Delight Brownies

It was the time when I was going home, as in my mother's home. Sometimes, I feel sad when people tell me that after marriage my mother's home is not my home anymore. But, how could I just stop saying or believing that home, where I lived so long, where I took my first breath, my first steps, spoke my first words, made my first friends and the place that gave me comfort for more than 21 years of my life when I knew nothing would go wrong as long as I am here. I certainly believe in calling my hubby's home "my home" as I am making this home with tender love and care for the people who will be there with me for the rest of my life. But still, my mother's home will always be my first home. 

I know it became too sentimental, this topic is very touchy for every Indian girl I think, who loves her family.

Okay, so when I was going to my 'first home', I got a last minute request from my younger brothers to bring some of my delights, especially brownies, as both of them are die hard chocoholics. I just had a couple of hours and had to pack my bags (yeah, I do everything at the last minute!!!) and make some brownies before I left to catch the train.

The recipe I chose to make was very simple and was so quick that I was bang on time with my hot brownies and my packed bags to leave. These brownies do not need tempered chocolate as the flavour comes from cocoa powder. Yet the taste of the brownies is dense chocolate-y and soft. I even need not wait for the butter to come to the room temperature as the butter needs to be melted which just took a minute and a half in the microwave and it was all it took to proceed with the recipe immediately. These were so yummy that all of these brownies were finished in less than 3 days. :)

Please spare me for the poor quality of the photos here as the pics were taken at night and in great hurry.

Brownie Recipe adapted from Hershey’s

Makes: About 18 brownies.

Here's what you would need to make Cocoa Delight Brownies:

1 cup/ 226 gms (2 sticks) butter

2 cups/ 400 gms sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

3/4 cup/ 75 gms HERSHEY’S Cocoa Powder

1 cup/ 130 gms all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional but I recommend)

Here's how you can make it:

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13x9x3-inch baking pan with butter or line it with a parchment paper leaving some extra paper from the sides so that its easy to take out the brownies when they are done.

• Place butter in large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH for 2 to 2-1/2 minutes or until melted. 
• Stir in sugar and vanilla and whisk for 2 minutes until well blended. 
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with a whisk after each addition. 
• Add cocoa; beat until well blended. 
• Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat well. Stir in nuts, if desired. 
• Pour batter into the prepared pan and level the batter using an offset spatula.
• Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. 
• I dusted snowy icing sugar over my brownies. Optionally, you can frost the brownies with chocolate ganache.

Hope you would enjoy making these brownies as much as I did!

Happy Baking!

Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

There isn't anybody who loves to eat in a restaurant and hasn't tried the Sizzling chocolate brownie. Who doesn't like the flavour of hot chocolate dripping down a cold dollop of ice-cream. And meeting the dark chocolate brownies making it even more divine. The feeling makes me go Yummm.

Have you ever thought of giving the sizzling chocolate brownie a try? 

Even I didn't really think of making it until I had this brownie at Theobroma bakery at Colaba where I and my sister-in law happened to visit on our trip to Gateway of India while taking her on a Mumbai yatra. The brownie that I had that day with hot cup of coffee was so magnificent that I decided to give it a try at home.

Hence started my search for the recipe of a perfect brownie online until I spotted this website www.joyofbaking.com with the video of recipe demonstration. Like a lucky girl, I was ready to give this recipe a shot coz its really very simple n easy to make and can be made in just one bowl with one whisk and spatula. This doesn't need any electric mixer or beater, even better for a lazy person like me. I made some alterations to this recipe as we don't get the same ingredients as people do in America. 

These are so amazing to taste that I earn a lot of "brownie" points every time I make this for friends visiting my home. :)

DARK CHOCOLATE BROWNIE

Before you start, there's one tip for you - Baking is all about precision and doing the things as has been prescribed in the recipe. Hence, measure your ingredients appropriately as a difference of 10 gms here and there can also make a difference to your delight. With this, lets get going....

Here's what you'll need for this recipe:-

150 gms - Dark Compound Chocolate (there are several brands available. I used Morde brand of dark compound chocolate)
100 gms/ 1 stick - Unsalted Butter (If you can't find unsalted butter, go with the salted butter and leave salt mentioned in the ingredients. I used Amul Butter which is salted)
2 tbsp - cocoa powder
3/4 cup - caster sugar/ granulated white sugar
1 tsp - vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup - all purpose flour
1/4 tsp - salt (leave this if you are using salted butter)

For Chocolate Ganache Frosting:-

90 gms - Dark Compound chocolate
1/3 cup - cream (I used Amul cream - it is 25% fat)
1 tbsp (15 gms) Butter

Baking Equipments:-

• Oven to bake
• 8 X 8 inch square baking pan
• parchment paper/ butter paper to cover the pan
• Wire whisk and spatula/ wooden spoon (rubber spatula works best)

Prep Time:- 15 minutes

Baking Time:- 25 - 30 minutes at 180° C

Yield:- 16 brownies

Here's what you need to do to get these wonderful brownie delights:-

• Grease the baking pan with butter and line it with parchment paper/ butter paper. Preheat your oven at 180° C.
• Cut the chocolate into small pieces. Add the chopped chocolate and butter in a heat proof mixing bowl and place it over a saucepan of simmering hot water. This process is called Double boiling. DO NOT put the mixing bowl directly on stove as the chocolate will burn. 
• Once the chocolate is melted, sift the sugar and cocoa powder and add into the mixing bowl. Whisk until the mix is combined.
• Add one egg at a time and beat the mix until the egg is combined well into the mix after each addition.
• Mix vanilla extract, beat the mix for about a minute until the sugar gets dissolved into the mix.
• Sift all purpose flour and salt (only if using unsalted butter) and add into mixing bowl. Sifting is important to incorporate some air into the batter and to remove any lumps. 
• The batter is now ready to go in the prepared baking pan. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of the pan comes out with few moist crumbs. DO NOT over-bake it as otherwise the brownies will get dry.
• Remove from pan after 5 minutes and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

For chocolate Ganache Frosting:-

• Melt the chopped chocolate and butter on a double boiler.
• Remove from heat and stir for 30 seconds to cool the chocolate.
• Add cream and stir until its combined. Let it cool to room temperature.
• Spread the ganache over the brownies with the help of a spatula/ butter knife. Let the frosting set in the refrigerator before you cut into small pieces.

These brownies are best with ice-cream (vanilla/ coffee/ chocolate). So, enjoy making this super easy delight at home and please your taste buds.:) Don't forget to share your experiences...:)