Spider Web Brownies Spider web topping: 4 ounces cream cheese,at room temperature 1 quart King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour 1 large egg yolk 1 teaspoon mint flavoring (optional) 2 tablespoons sugar Fudge Brownies 1 cup unsalted butter 2 1/4 cups sugar 4 large eggs 1 1/4 cups double-dutch dark cocoa or dutch-process cocoa 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 2 cups chocolate chips 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon espresso powder 1 tablespoon vanilla extract Brownie Mix: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan
In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it's hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies. While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth. Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan. Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving. Spiderweb Topping: Combine the cream cheese, sugar and flour in a small bowl, and mix until smooth. Add the egg yolk and flavoring (if using), mixing until smooth once again. Transfer the mixture to a disposable pastry bag, and cut just the very tip off the end, as shown. Place a small pool of the mixture in the center of the brownie batter. Draw circles around this pool, about 1 inch apart, moving out from the center each time. Once the circles are drawn, take a table knife, wet the tip, and draw it back and forth through the circles. The knife will draw the cream cheese filling into arcs, as you see here. Once you've gone all the way around the circles, take up your pastry bag again. Use the remaining filling to trace the path where the knife traveled, to create the spokes of the web. Bake the brownies at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, until the brownies just barely pull away from the edge of the pan. The center will rise while baking, but will sink back level once the brownies are cool. Remove them from the oven and cool before cutting. If you want the chocolate chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips. -- Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore
