Winning

Recently, some people have made comments about my competitive nature in ways that made it sound like it was something I was aware of. Actually, this came as quite a surprise because I'd never considered myself a competitive person.

However, my entire reason for deciding I was not competitive was based on the idea that I don't like sports. But once these comments started, I realised that I might have this concept the wrong way around. I enjoy many physical activities but have have found that most don't like me. I am in no way aerodynamic and in the words of Hannah Gadsby "independent flesh is the enemy of speed". Because I am apparently competitive, if I can't win it, I'm not interested.

Upon further reflection, yes, you might be right. In fact I've actually "won" things that aren't, never have been, and never will be, competitions. My particular favourite is yoga. I love yoga because I'm super flexible. I can therefore win because I can bend further than you, get closer to my toes than you, look more like a pretzel than you, and generally be more awesome than you. I come away with a happy, glowing feeling that I suspect has less to do with reaching a zen state than your usual yogi.

For my birthday, some friends & I went to the coast. Our plan was to drink wine, watch DVDs and do some sedate bushwalking. The most satisfying part of this for me was when we walked along the rocky side of a bay, the perfect opportunity for winning. Since I was a kid, the goal of the competition has always been to travel across the rocks as fast as you can, as close to the sea as you can without either drowning or breaking a bone while everyone else walks along the path. Needless to say, I won. I still maintain that it doesn't matter if the other contestants actually know they're competing or not.

A side effect of this lovely weekend was that I ended up with a bag of uneaten cashews & cranberries after it turned out that our hikes were so sedate we didn't really need "supplies" beyond m&ms and an apple. So here is a fabulous way to get rid of your unwanted trail mix... Winning :)

A note on these brownies, they are the only ones on here so far that don't have chocolate in them. I found that I wasn't too thrilled with them on the day they were made but after leaving them in a box overnight, they turned awesome.

Cashew & Cranberry Brownies

140g butter
1 cup sugar
80g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
70g flour (2/3 cup I think but that's a guess)
1/3 cup of dried cranberries
1/3 cup raw cashews

20 cm square cake pan lined with baking paper                                        Oven @ 160°c

Melt the butter, sugar and cocoa together and allow to cool.
Stir in the vanilla, then eggs one at a time, and then the flour. Mix until smooth but don't overdo it.
Spread cake mix in the baking pan and sprinkle with the cranberries and cashews, pressing them in lightly.
Bake for 30 minutes or until centre is slightly soft. Allow to cool in the pan.

The guilty shame cycle

This evening I was nursing a tin of peaches (for a trifle I'm making) on the train home when I was struck by the sudden urge to have takeaway lemon chicken. Usually, I would ask my flatmate if she wanted in but I knew she was busy helping to stage-manage a birth (yay! congratulations to all involved!).

This is where the guilty shame cycle began.

I had to call the restaurant in a crowded train, and who wants to be that person overheard ordering takeaway all for themselves... even if you are? The solution to me seemed obvious. I ordered twice as much as I could reasonably eat, therefore making it appear that I was not going home to stuff my face alone... even though I was.

At home, after working my way through about half of the takeaway, I was overcome by shame and decided I should at least be productive and set about making my trifle. Only once it was fully assembled did I remember that the reason I made it in the first place was to use up sub-standard cake and therefore, would be too embarrassed to share it with work people.

It seemed only right to make something I could share with work people so more baking ensued. This did, at least result in tonight's recipe which originally comes from the BBC and contains more sugar than I would usually consider acceptable but that's why they're supposedly chewy.

Of course, after I'd produced a ridiculous amount of food, I immediately remembered the reason I was coming home for a quiet night was to send out a choir newsletter... It's going to be a late night.

Not So Chewy Raspberry Brownies
300g dark chocolate
200g butter
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
110g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
170g frozen raspberries

Oven @ 170c                                                    20cm square pan lined with baking paper

Melt the chocolate and butter together then allow to cool slightly. Whisk in the sugar, then the eggs.

Fold in the flour and baking powder.

Spread half of the mixture into the pan, then sprinkle over the raspberries. Top with remaining mixture (this stops the batter from freezing).

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the surface is set. Cool in pan for at least half an hour before turning out.

Like Soufflé? Brownies? Raspberries? Me too!

Last week, I met someone else who made brownies and fed them to strangers. This was a glorious thing and made me feel much more normal. She made raspberry brownies that were beautifully chewy and I thought I'd have a go at replicating it. 

Sorry about the picture, had to use my phone

This did not work. 

I did, however, manage to create a wonderful brownie-soufflé hybrid. I can recommend this brownie both hot and cold and I imagine it would be delicious with cream, ice cream, chocolate sauce or any other condiment that typically goes with a dessert. I'll have another go at the chewy brownie next week.

Make sure your eggs aren't too cold for this one or the chocolate will reset. Also, be prepared for the finished brownies to be very soft immediately out of the oven and to fall when cooling.

Raspberry Soufflé Brownies
200g butter
250g  dark chocolate  

1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup caster sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup plain flour
175g frozen raspberries

Oven @ 160c                           20cm - 23cm square cake pan lined with baking paper

Melt butter and chocolate together then stir in sugar. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.

Stir in the eggs and then the milk. Whisk until the mixture forms a silky texture.

Fold in the flour, then the frozen raspberries. Spread in pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. Brownies will be soft when removed from oven. Allow to cool before turning out unless serving as a dessert.

The brownie to get you through a meeting

Today I spent the entire day in a meeting. What's worse is that I had to do the minutes... no gazing off into the middle distance for me. So I decided that some sort of maximum-impact brownie was needed. I was initially going to make one of Jamie Oliver's but then I had a closer look and developed diabetes on the spot (300g of sugar... really?). My next port of call was Nigella and while the woman may be as annoying as all get out, she knows how to make a good brownie. I especially liked that this one had coffee in it which would hopefully keep me awake just that little bit longer.

This is your classic, crunchy on top, gooey in the middle dose of awesomeness. The way I've done it, it turns out fairly bitter which I quite like. However, if you want it a bit sweeter, add another 25 - 50g of sugar.

Rich Chocolate Mocha Brownies 
200g dark chocolate
100g butter
2 tbsp coffee
75g caster sugar (about 1/2 cup I think)
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
50g plain flour (about 2/3 cup I think)
75g dark chocolate chopped, extra
100g walnuts, chopped

Oven @ 160c                                           20cm square pan, lined with baking paper

Melt the dark chocolate, butter and coffee until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla, mix well and allow to cool slightly.

Stir in the eggs, flour, extra chocolate and nuts and spread into baking pan.
Bake for 40 minutes and cool completely before turning out.

Rummin my Raisin

So last week I decided that a gluten-free fruit cake would be an awesome idea. I still maintain that the idea is awesome, just the execution was slightly less than breathtaking. It turns out that gluten-free fruit cake is really hard to make for reasons I haven't quite figured out yet. I managed to make one which was both stodgy and dry which I think is quite an achievement.

Anyway, to satisfy my craving for moist, alcoholic, fruitiness, I decided to give a rum and raisin brownie a try. Unfortunately, the recipes I found didn't really feel quite right. I wanted a heavy & dense brownie with plenty of drunk fruit so I made one up... here it is.

Rum n Raisin Brownies

120g raisins

3tbsp rum

200g dark cooking chocolate

75g butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup caster sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 cup plain flour

20 cm square pan lined with baking paper                       Oven @ 160c

Soak the raisins in the rum for three hours (or microwave them a little so they absorb the rum).

Melt the chocolate and butter together then allow to cool slightly. Mix in the rum and raisin mixture, then the vanilla, sugar, eggs and sour cream and stir until well combined.

Fold in the cocoa powder and the flour. 

Bake for 35 mins. Stand in pan for 10 mins before turning out.

Cheesy Chocolaty Goodness

Today's brownies are a bit of a difference for me because they don't have any fruit or nuts in them. They've turned out really well and would make a fabulous dessert, both hot and cold. Next time I'll give them a bit more of a swirl though.

The recipe is a bit bigger than my usual ones so needs more cooking time but the brownies are nice and high.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

150g butter, chopped

250g dark chocolate

3 eggs
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup sour cream
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence

20 cm square cake pan lined with baking paper                                          Oven @ 180c

Melt the butter and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat. Allow to cool slightly.
Mix in two of the eggs and 1/2 a cup of the sugar. Stir in the flour and sour cream and stir until well combined.

Beat the cream cheese, vanilla, egg and remaining sugar in a bowl until smooth.

Spoon chocolate and cream cheese mixtures alternately into the pan. Swirl with a knife to create a marble effect. Bake for 45 minutes. Stand for one hour before slicing.

Brownie essentials

There are many things I've learnt about brownies. This has taken many years of extensive testing, all for your benefit. I will never be skinny. See the dedication??

Chocolate v cocoa
Ok, chocolate is expensive! On the other hand, it makes waaay better brownies. It's the combination of chocolate and lack of bicarb that makes brownies brownies and not cake. If you do have a recipe calling for cocoa, just be prepared that it's gonna be lighter and dryer... if you're into that kind of thing.
When buying chocolate, don't bother buying the fancy stuff, or even cooking chocolate (unless you have a large disposable income). I buy the massive slabs of Old Gold, those babies will last you 2-3 batches. Whatever you end up getting, just make sure it has about 70% cocoa.


Sugar
Sugar is great isn't it? Well, no. Not really. The main change I make to my recipes is to reduce the amount of sugar, there's already almost enough in the chocolate. Generally in my recipes, if I've put 3/4, it was probably a cup to begin with etc. etc.

Nuts
As a rule, any nuts are better than no nuts (isn't that the rule for pretty much everything?). My favourites are walnuts because they're soft and lower in fat, although that's a minor concern. I also use almonds a lot, pecans when I must and macadamias if I'm using white chocolate/suddenly get a sugar daddy.

Baking Paper
The last awesome little tip is from Jamie's 30 minute meals. Baking paper is a must when baking brownies, given the vast amount of sugar. The best way to fit it into the tin is to crumple a good-sized sheet and wet it completely, then squeeze excess water out. This makes it really easy to handle & easy to get into the corners of the pan. Neat huh?