David Lebovitz's Absolute Best Brownies

Tomorrow my cousin Emily moves to Toronto, to warm her new home, I decided to bake her some brownies to go with the pizza we'll be ordering tomorrow (a traditional first meal in a new home). In a google search of "best brownies ever", I came across David Lebovitz's recipe. It was quick and easy, and I do agree that the one minute of vigorous stirring is essential!! From my little taste test, I can assure you that they live up to their name. Can't wait to go over and share them tomorrow :)

Absolute Best Brownies (by David Lebovitz)

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted or salted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for the pan
• 8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Directions

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
• 2. Line the inside of an 8-inch square pan with 2 lengths of foil, positioning the sheets perpendicular to each other and allowing the excess to extend beyond the edges of the pan, or with a single large sheet of extra wide foil or parchment paper. Lightly butter the foil or parchment. [Editor's Note: The original recipe calls for a 9-inch square pan, although we've had success with an 8-inch pan.] (I used a round cake pan, for my failed efforts in finding my square pan)
• 3. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the chocolate and stir by hand until it is melted and smooth.
• 4. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla until combined. Beat in the eggs by hand, 1 at a time. Add the flour and stir energetically for 1 full minute—time yourself—until the batter loses its graininess, becomes smooth and glossy, and pulls away a bit from the sides of the saucepan. [Editor's Note: There are two crucial elements in the making of these brownies. One is throwing yourself into the making of them by stirring them "energetically," as the recipe stipulates. The second, also spelled out in the recipe, is making certain you stir the batter thusly for a full minute. It may appear to separate a few seconds into stirring, and it may appear grainy midway through, but when you stir with vigor for a full 60 seconds--and we do mean a full 60 seconds, along the lines of "One Mississippi, two Mississippi..."--you'll end up with a batter that's rich, thick, satiny smooth, and glossy as can be. And therein lies the difference between dry, crumbly brownies and what many brownie mavens around the world feel are, indeed, the world's best brownies.] Stir in the chopped nuts.
• 5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the center feels almost set, about 30 minutes. Do not overbake.
• 6. Let the brownie cool completely in the pan—this is the difficult part—before lifting the foil or parchment and the block of brownie out of the pan. Cut the brownie into squares. (The brownies will keep well for up to 4 days and can be frozen for up to 1 month.)

(Surprise) Strawberry Cupcakes

I have a weird aversion to surprise parties. Just something about secrets and jumping out and yelling with a room full of people is unsettling and awkward to me. My favorite tactic for such occasions is to get someone to text me once the surprising has occurred, and then come join the party after. I have made a couple exceptions though, and this past Thursday was one of them. My friend Andrea suggested we throw a surprise party for our two friends Clint and Mikey, since Clint was grumpy and refusing to do anything for his 27th, and Mikey had been too busy with exams to go out for his. It was held at Clint's favorite bar, Toby's, on College St. Everyone came out and it was a lot of fun, despite the hiccup of having to change the time the night before, and the whole surprise aspect. I was in-charge of inviting Clint's baseball friends, and making the cupcakes :)

 I decided to make Martha Stewart's strawberry cupcakes because I had 2 cartons of strawberries sitting in my fridge, and the idea of baking with fruit is really appealing to me lately. Instead of the icing that goes with the recipe, I opted for a strawberry cream cheese icing from The Joy of Baking, since I also had cream cheese on hand. Both turned out very nicely, although a bit girly. Good thing I had found some baseball themed baking cups at Bulk Barn :)

Strawberry Cupcakes (from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white, at room temperature
1 cup milk, at room temperature
2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries 

To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (I used a hand mixer), cream the butter, sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Add the eggs and the egg white, one at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions alternately with the milk, mixing only until incorporated. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries with a rubber spatula.

Fill each well of the cupcake pans about 3/4-full with the batter.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove the cupcake pans to a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pans to the rack to cool completely.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting (from Joy of Baking)

8 ounces cream cheese, cold
5 tablespoons softened butter
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
(scant) two cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh strawberry purée
To prepare the frosting:  Using a hand mixer, beat the top three ingredients together until well combined.  Gradually add the powdered sugar as you continue beating the mixture.  Lastly, stir in the strawberry purée.

Wait till cupcakes have cooled completely to frost cupcakes. I used a Wilton piping bag and tip.

The Hiatus

Hi there again, I know it's been about a million years in blogger days since I last posted about any culinary attempts or even what I've been up to. My excuse is that life happened in the way of this New Year's resolution to keep this food blog alive. School has been a part of it, also getting put on antibiotics for nine months has been a part of it too. Sometimes these things happen, and if I've learned anything (now that I'm also a year older at 26), it's that it's never too late to try topick up where you left off before that bump in the road got in the way. So here are a few photos of some fun things that happened during my blogging hiatus. And I hope and promise to be back here soon with something delicious.

St. Patrick's Day brunch of pancake bacon and caesars. We also made some delicious mimosas with strawberries in them, and the champagne that I got for my birthday.