Urgh! Since yesterday I've been baking brownies and blondies for this charity fashion show... As horrible as it is to admit, the smell of brownies in the oven is actually starting to make me feel a bit sick : (
The first batch of blondies went terribly wrong (serves me right for not testing the recipe first), they were all hard and biscotti-like, which in itself isn't really a flaw but when it's blondies you want it kinda poses a problem. I made them in a swiss roll style baking tin (as suggested) and baked them at 170c for what was supposed to be 35-40 minutes but took them out as they were done after 20 minutes. Weird.
After some careful consideration and a bit of research from Rachel Allen's Bake I decided to alter the recipe and use self raising instead of plain flour to give them some oomph as they were terribly thin and that probably contributed to them being rock hard. I also made them in my 20 x 20cm silicone square tray in the hope they wouldn't cook too quickly as there would be a thicker layer of batter. Luckily the second batch turned out better and more blondie-like and it's a good job they did as by 10pm I was all ready to have a hissy fit and complete meltdown on the kitchen floor!
One thing that really bugs me about brownies is that good judgement is required in order to achieve the perfect brownie and good judgement is something I really don't have. For so long (and I still do it now) I have baked and cooked following recipes to the letter, too scared to change anything in case it goes wrong. I feel that at least if I follow the recipe to the letter and it turns out awful then it won't be because of something I did!
I have a batch of brownies in the oven as I'm writing this and for the past hour I've been hopping up and down to check on them, poking them with a skewer and covering them carefully with foil. I've only just taken them out of the oven after an hour at 170c (skewer came out clean), yet I still want to poke and prod them and make sure they're done. In my experience brownies are completely unpredictable. Yes the top is flaky, and yes the centre is still slightly soft, and yes a skewer came out clean but I just know that when I cut them they're still gonna look underdone. I still have the first batch on the side half wrapped in foil (that's them at the top) and I keep looking at them and thinking, will people say they're moist and dense or will they think they're undercooked??? And this is what brings me back to good judgement. All the signs may point to them being done but it's up to ME to decide whether they need another 5 minutes or not. And that's before I've even taken into consideration how much they're going to cook while they cool...
*Sigh* My brain hurts.
8 comments:
Brownies are fickle beasts, one recipe I made came out like a giant soggy cookie!!
The fail-safe one I use is from the beeb, also blogged http://anneskitchen1.blogspot.com/2008/12/chocolate-brownie-cake.html, tis very popular with the in-law's! :)
Brownie recipes always look so easy but the reality is as Anne has put it they are 'fickle beasts'. Yours look wonderful though - hope they turned out OK.
Yup..brownies can be a bit of a PIA sometimes. People have their own preferances on how they like them cooked. I personally like mine a bit undercooked!!! Who likes a bard dry brownie????YUCK
Love brownies and my no-fail recipe are the Snow-flecked Brownies by Nigella Lawson. Yours look yummylicious!
Maria
x
Brownies are P.I.A. at times depending on which recipe you use. Your brownies look wonderful to me :0)
Oh, I understand your Brownie pain! I always hover around the oven, v
checking every 5 minutes but they're still always underdone! They make me mad, they really do...if they weren't so delicious!
Katie xox
it's so true about good judgement. a lot of people i know bake only occasionally and don't understand why the results aren't flawless every time. it always turns out they used an ancient bag of flour, or have no idea if their oven is calibrated, and never checked along the way to see how the good were baking up. it may be different than cooking on a stove top, but you've still got to check on your brownies, cakes, cookies along the way. they need attention!
Hey Hayley, sorry it has taken me so long to respond to your question about the 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk -it was so long ago you probably forgot you asked it.
Anyway, I know I know, I hate the 1/2 can thing. But making a double batch with a full can would just be too tempting! I am developing a recipe for PB candy using the same recipe, just cooking it to hard crack stage, so the obvious thing would be to double it and take half out at the syrup stage and have half for candy.
Otherwise finding another recipe to use it for is pretty easy. But probably the best idea is to buy scm in tubes rather than cans. Do they sell them there? Many countries I've shopped in sell it in what seems like a 1/2 can size that is a tube -so it is easy to drizzle on fruit or shakes or other desserts / breakfasts etc. Are tubes an option for you there?
Sorry about the baking woes, I have them myself ALL of the time. The last time I made brownies they were my own recipe and were INCREDIBLE. They had this sheen and were as beautiful as they were delicious. Since then I've tried 4 times to replicate what I did with zero success. And I'm terrible at breads, terrible.
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