This Week in the Mercury
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Food Tonight at the Cleaners: Baked
Posted by Alison Hallett on Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 9:40 AM
Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito will be at the Cleaners tonight in support of their book Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. It's a free, Powell's-sponsored event, and there will be snacks.
Many of Baked's recipes are just this side of gimmicky, like a chocolate pie with Ovaltine filling, and others toe a familiar foodie line, like the Sweet and Salty Cake, which pairs dark chocolate cake with caramel and fleur de sel.
There are some simpler recipes too, two of which I took a crack at.
I made the Baked Brownie over the weekend (dubbed "Best Brownie" by the folks at America's Test Kitchen and the Today Show). It was very good--dark, dense, and fudgey. I'll post the recipe after the jump; it's pretty straightforward, though I did have to bake it for a few minutes longer than 30 minutes before the batter set--which, given the dire warnings in the recipe about not overbaking, led to some anxiety and compulsive toothpicking. Turned out fine otherwise.
I also made the pumpkin-chocolate chip loaf, a very basic recipe (pureed pumpkin, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc) which yielded excellent results. (Why is it so difficult to used "moist" in a sentence?) With a cup of coffee, it made a great, not-too-sweet breakfast.
Despite the lofty title, I'm hard pressed to agree that the book explores "new frontiers in baking" (and the fact that its authors are former ad men-turned-hip Brooklyn bakery owners perhaps makes me more inclined to pick holes in their branding). The book is in no way comprehensive, and I'd probably only turn to it if I was looking to make some impressively quirky treat--green tea tasty cakes something--but, that said, the simpler recipes that I tried turned out very well.
Anyway, there will be snacks!
The Cleaners at The Ace Hotel, 403 SW 10th, 6 pm
(Brownie recipe after the jump.)
(from Amazon)
The Baked Brownie
Yield: 24 browniesBaked Note: A great brownie is easy to make, but you have to be aware of several factors.
1. Use a dark cocoa powder, like Valrhona. A pale, light-colored cocoa does not have enough depth.
2. Make sure your eggs are room temperature and do not overbeat them into the batter.
3. Make sure you check your brownies often while baking. Once the brownies have been overbaked slightly, they have reached the point of no return.1-1/4 cups flour.
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons dark cocoa powder
11 ounces quality dark chocolate (60-72%), chopped coarsely
8 ounces butter (2 sticks), cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extractPreheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter the sides and bottom of a glass or light colored metal pan 9x13x2 pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, the salt, and cocoa powder.
Configure a large sized double boiler. Place the chocolate, the butter, and the instant espresso powder in the bowl of the double boiler and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water of the double boiler and add both sugars. Whisk the sugars until completely combined and remove the bowl from the pan. Mixture should be room temperature.
Add three eggs to the chocolate/butter mixture and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until just combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not over beat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.
Sprinkle the flour/cocoa/salt mix over the chocolate. Using a spatula (DO NOT USE A WHISK) fold the dry into the wet until there is just a trace amount of the flour/cocoa mix visible.
Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth the top with your spatula. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes (rotate the pan half-way through baking) and check to make sure the brownies are completely done by sticking a toothpick into the center of the pan. The brownies are done when the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Cool the brownies completely before cutting and serving.
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