Brownie Buttons
These easy-to-make, bite-sized brownies are downright delicate -- smooth and moist with a deep chocolate flavor. The recipe is from "Baking, From My Home to Yours." The author, Dorie Greenspan, suggests serving them "as is" as an afternoon snack or dressing them up with a dip in white chocolate. For a more stunning presentation and amazing flavor combination, I frosted them with chocolate ganache and sprinkled them with a few grains of fleur de sel. Makes 16 brownies. Brownies: . 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour . Pinch of salt . 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces . 2-1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped . 1/3 cup brown sugar . 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract . 1 large egg Chocolate ganache glaze: . 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped . 1/4 cup heavy cream . 1 tablespoon sugar . 1 tablespoon water To prepare oven, pan: Place rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter 2 miniature muffin pans, each with a dozen cups. (Or use little paper or foil cups.) Place on baking sheet. To prepare batter: Whisk together flour and salt. Set aside. In medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan over very low heat, melt butter, chocolate and brown sugar, stirring frequently with heatproof spatula. (Note: Keep eye on pan so mixture doesn't overheat or burn.) When mixture is smooth, remove from heat. Cool for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla and egg until well blended. Add flour mixture. Stir only until incorporated. (Note: Batter should be smooth and glossy.) To bake: Spoon batter into 16 muffin cups, using about 1 teaspoon batter to fill each cup three-quarters full. Put 1 teaspoon water in each empty cup. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until tops of buttons spring back when touched. Transfer pans to racks to cool for 3 minutes. Carefully remove buttons from pan. Cool to room temperature on racks. To make chocolate ganache glaze: Put chopped chocolate in heatproof bowl. Bring cream, sugar and water to a full boil. Pour liquid over chocolate. Let sit for 30 seconds. Using whisk or rubber spatula, make small circular motion to gently stir chocolate and cream until chocolate is melted and glaze is well blended. Set aside until thickened enough to set when poured. To glaze buttons: One by one, frost tops of buttons with ganache. Sprinkle with fleur del sel. Tips To make Greenspan's white-chocolate glaze, melt 2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped, over a double boiler. Stir constantly and don't leave the chocolate for even one minute; white chocolate scorches easily. As soon as the chocolate is smooth, remove from the heat. Dip as instructed in recipe. Refrigerate the buttons for 15 minutes to set the glaze. The chocolate ganache glaze can be made a day ahead and warmed in 5-second spurts in the microwave to bring it back to frosting consistency. _______________________________________________ Cookinginthedark mailing list [email protected] http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark
