Tuesday, 3 June 2008

I'm back... with French chocolate brownies to show for it After what has to have been the best month of my life - M & I got married (twice, no less) and then had a heavenly honeymoon in Bhutan - I'm back to London and to the baking group, Tuesdays with Dorie, that was started by the wonderful Laurie. Usually, the rules are that TWD bakers must participate at least 2 out of every 4 weeks, but Laurie very graciously granted me a month's absence for my wedding with no questions asked. So, now I'm back, and more into this group than ever, if that's even possible!
Since I've only been back for 2 days, I'm glad that this week's challenge, French chocolate brownies, was much less involved than some of our other challenges. Still, simple doesn't mean compromising on taste.
I know some of you probably think that my brownie looks a little lonely on its plate in the photo. But as I was thinking what to top my brownie with, I finally decided that a great brownie needs no embellishment. Sure, brownies can sometimes be made better with ice cream whether as the base to a brownie sundae or as the fold-ins into a vanilla ice cream (brownie chunk ice cream), but the true test of a good brownie is one that holds its own and that you want to gobble down even with nothing extra on the side.
This, is one such brownie. Along the spectrum of cakey to fudgey, I think this brownie falls nicely in between. I found the brownie to have an incredibly tender crumb that was wonderfully moist at the same time. I was afraid that the rum-soaked raisins would overpower the chocolaty taste that I love in my brownies, but the rum flavour was extremely subtle and gave the brownie a more intriguing after taste.
Thanks to Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook for a great choice! Its my turn to pick a recipe in 2 weeks and I can't wait!
French Chocolate Brownies
Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden
1 1/2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp dark rum
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp; 6 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces
3 large eggs, at room temperature

Makes 16 brownies

Posted by Caroline at 06:49 Labels: Baking, Recipe, TWD steph- whisk/spoon said...

congratulations and welcome back! looks like you are back into the swing of baking--these look delish!

3 June 2008 at 08:46 noskos said...

Congratulations and welcome back to TWD! Your brownie looks very tasty!

3 June 2008 at 10:23 Congratulations and welcome back to TWD! Your brownie looks chocolaty good!

3 June 2008 at 11:58 Congratulations - glad you are back and baking! These brownies do stand alone nicely, don't they?

3 June 2008 at 12:03 Engineer Baker said...

Congrats and welcome back to the group! I'm glad you liked these.

3 June 2008 at 12:29 Bumblebutton said...

Congrats! Nice that you liked these, and that you could pull them together with a short window!

3 June 2008 at 12:42 Congratulations and welcome back! :) Great recipe to ease you back in - your brownies look wonderful and you're right, good brownies don't need props :)

3 June 2008 at 13:35 Welcome back and great looking brownie! I loved the rum flavoured raisins in this one. I can't wait to see what you pick for two weeks time!

3 June 2008 at 13:45 Jules Someone said...

Mazel tov and welcome back! The brownies look yummy!

3 June 2008 at 14:19 You are right, these brownies do not need a thing! And congratulations!

3 June 2008 at 14:37 April said...

Congrats, your brownie looks yummy!

3 June 2008 at 14:41 Mary Ann said...

Congrats and great job on your 1st recipe back!

3 June 2008 at 14:49 Karina said...

Congratulations! Your brownie looks perfect all on its own!

3 June 2008 at 15:17 Congrats...and it sounds like you had a fabulous time on your honeymoon! Nice way to get back into the swing of things...your brownie looks delicious!

3 June 2008 at 15:19 Mevrouw Cupcake said...

Congratulations on your marriage! Your lone brownie looks perfect!

3 June 2008 at 15:26 I absolutely LOVE the simplicity of your pic. It looks like it needs to be in a mag!

3 June 2008 at 15:42 CB said...

Congratulations and Welcome Back!
Clara @ I♥food4thought

3 June 2008 at 16:59 Congrats! Your brownies look delicious!

3 June 2008 at 17:02 Cafe Johnsonia said...

Congratulations on your marriage! Your brownies look great!

3 June 2008 at 17:13 PheMom said...

Congrats on your wedding! Your brownies look beautiful!

3 June 2008 at 17:33 Lemon Tartlet said...

They should stand on their own, and yours are proud about it!

3 June 2008 at 19:03 Rebecca of "Ezra Pound Cake" said...

Welcome back, and congratulations! Looks deeelish.

3 June 2008 at 19:46 I agree with you - a good brownie doesn't need anything with it. Congratulations on getting married (twice!)!! And welcome back!

3 June 2008 at 20:50 Jaime said...

congrats MRS! :)

your lone brownie looks great - i agree that these need no embellishment

3 June 2008 at 21:20 Wow...sounds like a great month! Congrats!

4 June 2008 at 00:10 Congrats on your wedding! And your brownies! They look delicious!

4 June 2008 at 00:31 Carol Peterman said...

I too was surprised how good the raisins were in the brownies. Congratulations on your wedding. I have a friend doing a two year stint as a pastry chef at a resort in Buthan. Her photos are amazing, I bet your trip was fantastic!

4 June 2008 at 01:10 Your lone brownie looks fantastic. Congratulations on your good month!

4 June 2008 at 01:48 congratulations on your wedding! I wish you so much happiness. You'll have to post some wedding photos in between the beautiful food shots.

4 June 2008 at 03:28 Dolores said...

I'm with you... a truly great brownie needs no further embellishment. Congratulations on your wedding, and my best wishes for a lifetime of love and happiness to both of you.

4 June 2008 at 03:49 ostwestwind said...

Congratulations to your wedding, I whish you all the best for the rest of your life! Your brownies look very tasty.

4 June 2008 at 13:14 Garrett said...

Welcome back, sounds like you had a great time! I absolutely agree, that delicious brownies can stand on their own - sounds like yours came out great.

4 June 2008 at 15:22 Congratulations on your marriage! I thought these were delicious brownies!
Shari@Whisk: a food blog

4 June 2008 at 17:03 Aardvark Cakes said...

Congratulations! Nice to have you back and raring to go! Hx

4 June 2008 at 21:07 Congrats and welcome back! Tasty looking brownies!

5 June 2008 at 03:20 Lisa Thibault said...

I agree - a great brownie stands alone and yours looks delish! Congrats on your recent nuptials.

5 June 2008 at 05:45 The romantic in me thinks the only thing your brownie may need is another brownie to promise to love, honor and cherish it...

5 June 2008 at 14:02 Caroline said...

Thank you everyone for your well wishes! Its so nice to know that the TWD community is such a caring one.

5 June 2008 at 15:35 la tribu' said...

They looks tasty and soft..Mmmmm I'm hungry! Elga

5 June 2008 at 19:53 Jacque said...

I agree, a good brownie can stand on it's own.

Yours looks delish!

6 June 2008 at 03:02 Congratulations! How exciting!

The brownie looks great!

9 June 2008 at 23:16
[null, {"document_url": "http://www.aconsumingpassion.com/2008/06/im-back-with-french-chocolate-brownies.html", "unformatted_src": "http://bp1.blogger.com/_Pfd5BVtOAfM/SETjO7h8dLI/AAAAAAAAAlg/BuNWb38YCx4/s400/French+brownie.jpg", "src": "http://bp1.blogger.com/_Pfd5BVtOAfM/SETjO7h8dLI/AAAAAAAAAlg/BuNWb38YCx4/s400/French+brownie.jpg", "formatted_filename": "French brownie"}, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, {"document_url": "http://www.aconsumingpassion.com/2008/06/im-back-with-french-chocolate-brownies.html", "unformatted_src": "http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x100/aconsumingpassion/150-x-120-tuesdays-with-doriethumbn.png", "src": "http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x100/aconsumingpassion/150-x-120-tuesdays-with-doriethumbn.png", "formatted_filename": "x tuesdays with doriethumbn", "alt_text": "TWD"}, {"document_url": "http://www.aconsumingpassion.com/2008/06/im-back-with-french-chocolate-brownies.html", "unformatted_src": "http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x100/aconsumingpassion/Asianwomeneat.jpg", "src": "http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x100/aconsumingpassion/Asianwomeneat.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Asianwomeneat", "alt_text": "Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"}, {"document_url": "http://www.aconsumingpassion.com/2008/06/im-back-with-french-chocolate-brownies.html", "unformatted_src": "http://www.chefsblogs.com/images/chefsblogs.png", "src": "http://www.chefsblogs.com/images/chefsblogs.png", "formatted_filename": "chefsblogs", "alt_text": "Chefs Blogs", "rendered_width": 80, "rendered_height": 15}, null, null]