A sense of entitlement

Since your Mom went gluten free, we've adapted some of our favorite recipes and tried a lot of new ones out of books like Flavor Flours by Alice Medrich. But some things just aren't the same. For example, there are some decent gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, but they spread too much and fall well short of Katherine Redford's Chocolate Chip Cookies. (Jack Bishop wrote one of my favorite cookbooks, but I can't believe that he really prefers gluten-free chocolate chip cookies to the regular kind.) So sometimes I still make a dessert with regular wheat flour in it, and Mom makes do with good chocolate. This has lead to a sense of entitlement on your Mom's part when I do make a gluten-free dessert, as in she should get more than her share because she misses out on the floury desserts. So be warned: if it's gluten free, like these brownies, eat your share quickly, or hide some for later.

These are adapted from David Lebovitz, who worked for years in the pastry department at Chez Panisse before moving to Paris, where he writes cookbooks and blogs. He came to Charlottesville in April to speak at the University and obviously had an informed tour guide, as he went to Wayside (for fried chicken), Lampo (pizza), Albemarle Baking Company (bread), Gearhart's (chocolate), Mudhouse and Milli Joe (coffee), J.M. Stock (Wade's Mill corn meal), Citizen Burger Bar (burger and frites), and Feast! (a sandwich for the road). That's a pretty good list right there, missing only the absolute best restaurant in town (the Ivy Inn, of course), but it doesn't look like he did any "fine dining" while he was here.

These are definitely fudgy brownies, which Mom and Cassie like best. Brad is a fan of cake-y brownies, which we'll get to another day.

Fudgy Brownies

Adapted from David Lebovitz (the instructions for lining a metal brownie pan are adapted from Alice Medrich)

85 grams (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
225 grams (8 ounces) good bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (don't use chocolate chips)
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
150 grams (¾ cup) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs (~57 grams each in the shell)
1 tablespoon (5 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
25 grams (3 tablespoons) corn starch or Thai white rice flour
up to 100 grams (1 cup) toasted and coarsely chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts, optional
45 grams (⅓ cup) chopped dried cherries, optional

  1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350 degrees. Tear off a 12-by-12-inch square of aluminum foil. Turn an 8-by-8-inch metal baking pan upside down, center the foil on it, and fold the excess evenly over the sides of the pan. Fold and crease the corners like you're wrapping a present. Slip the liner off the pan. Turn the pan right side up and insert the liner, carefully working it into the corners of the pan. Spray the liner with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Melt the butter and chocolate, together with the salt, in a medium saucepan over a pretty low heat. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon until the mixture is completely smooth. Take your time; if you get impatient and turn the heat up, you risk scorching and wasting half a pound of good chocolate. Remove the pan from the heat.
    3. Stir in the sugar.
    4. Stir in the eggs, one at a time.
  5. Stir in the cocoa powder and corn starch or rice flour. Once they are incorporated, beat the batter vigorously with the wooden spoon until it is glossy and smooth, not grainy, at least 1 full minute. The batter will pull away from the sides of the pan some when it is ready.
    6. Stir in the nuts and/or any other mix-ins, if using.
    7. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the brownies feel just set, but not firm, in the center, about 30 minutes (check at 25 minutes). Don't overbake. Set on a wire rack to cool completely. Lift the brownies out of the pan using the foil liner, then slice on a cutting board. Makes 9 very large or 16 medium brownies.

Fudgy Espresso Brownies
Add 1 tablespoon of espresso powder along with the sugar.