Wednesday, May 22, 2013

chocolate brownie bowls


"Only the spoon knows what is stirring in the pot." (Italian Proverb)

I bought these baking pans some time ago, before I was pregnant with JL. Since I was tired a lot when I was pregnant, I put them away and forgot about them.


A few days ago, I was flipping through my copy of Kitchen by Nigella Lawson, and I came across this recipe for Chocolate Brownie Bowls. That reminded me I still have those pans! So, what was I supposed to do but bake these babies?



Now, you do not need to have these trays in order to bake these brownies. A regular muffin tray will do the trick just as well, although you may need to adjust the baking time.

This is a really strange recipe as all you really need are a pot, a wooden spoon and a hand whisk.

I started by melting the butter in the pan over low heat. Once the butter has melted, the sugar was added and stirred with a wooden spoon until it has dissolved.



The heat was turned off.

The malted milk powder (I used Milo) and cocoa powder were placed in a bowl, boiling water was added and the mixture was whisked.




This was added to the butter-sugar mixture and stirred.



Next, I whisked the egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract and added that into the butter-sugar-milo-cocoa mixture.




And I stirred some more.

The sifted flour and bicarb were added, and whisked.




That was it. The batter was done!

I used a measuring jug to pour the batter into the pans, coming up to about 3/4 of the way up.



And baked them for 12 minutes.




They were rested in the pans for 10 minutes - I could wait no longer than that - and turned onto a cooling rack.



Since I had to wait for them to cool before I could do anything else, I took more pictures.



Once cooled, I topped the cake with ice-cream (and chocolate sauce).




And tucked in.

This is not a fudgy type of brownie. In fact, I think it should be called a cake instead of a brownie because the texture is more cake-ish. 

Having said that, it is great for kids, and for days when you want to make SOMETHING, but cannot be bothered with too much washing up afterwards.

I certainly will use these trays again. I guess the hunt is on for  more recipes! :)

RECIPE
Chocolate Brownie Bowls (Makes 6-8 bowls)
Adapted from "Kitchen" by Nigella Lawson

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soft unsalted butter, plus some for greasing
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp malted milk powder (such as Horlicks)
1 tbsp best-quality cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water, from a kettle
1/2 cup buttermilk or runny plain yogurt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 F and lightly butter the indentations in a 6-hole muffin tin.
Melt the butter in a thick-bottomed saucepan over a low heat; add the sugar, stirring with a wooden spoon to help it dissolve into the butter. Turn off the heat.
Put the malted milk powder and cocoa into a mug or measuring jug and whisk in the boiling water until smooth. Add this liquid to the warm pan of butter and sugar, stirring to combine with a wooden spoon.
To the emptied-out mug or jug (no need to wash out) add the buttermilk (or yogurt), egg and vanilla and whisk together before stirring this mixture into the pan, too.
Finally, whisk in the flour, baking soda and, using a ladle for ease, fill the 6 bowl indentations. You will have enough mixture to fill them three-quarters of the way up, which is what you want.
Place in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes. When they're cooked (they will feel gently bouncy if you press on the surface), sit the tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes before turning out the little brownie bowls. Fill while still just warm or when cooled, as desired.
Make ahead note: The bowls can be baked up to 1 day ahead and stored in airtight container, layered with baking parchment. Reheat in warm oven for 5-8 minutes before serving.
Freeze note: The bowls can be frozen in airtight container, layered with baking parchment, for up to 2 months. Defrost for 3-4 hours on wire rack at room temperature and reheat as above.
Coffee Brownie Bowl Filling
Coffee-flavored ice cream
Pecan pieces
Maple syrup
Top a cooled brownie bowl with a small scoop of ice cream and pecans. Drizzle with maple syrup.
Strawberry Brownie Bowl Filling
Squirty cream (a.k.a. whipped cream)
Strawberries
Strawberry sauce

MummyMoo

Back for Seconds

4 comments:

  1. "Since I had to wait for them to cool before I could do anything else, I took more pictures."

    Hahahhahha!!

    Dammit, woman - looks like you're gonna make a baker out of me yet!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is my life goal right now! I bet you will cave soon lol! :P

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so going to have to try this!!

    ReplyDelete