2HCB: Triple Chocolate Brownies

I may not be a fan of all chocolate cookies but I looooove brownies. Nice thick fudgy brownies fresh from the oven. I've attempted many homemade versions in the past but nothing really competes with the yummy pan of boxed brownies. Yes...I much prefer the taste and texture of a boxed homemade brownie. In some ways it makes me feel less of a foodie wannabe. Shouldn't I naturally prefer the from scratch version of well...anything.? Sadly, this is not the case. There are many things that I prefer store bought or boxed, brownies are just one.

Last week Christine picked Alton Brown's Ginger Snaps for our first Two Hot Chicks Baking. For my turn this week, I chose something completely and utterly bad for you. Nigella Lawson's Triple Chocolate Brownies. After those failed attempts in the past to make delicious homemade brownies better than the boxed kind, I was ready to try again.

Nigella is my kind of cook. She's not afraid of butter or sugar or anything that we're supposed to fear these days. Take one look at her and you know she's also not afraid to eat what she makes. Not that she's fat by any means. She has meat on her bones. Just like me. And that makes me like her all the more.

These brownies are loaded up with three different kinds of chocolate. Bittersweet, semisweet, and white. Because I like my chocolate to be sweeter, I replace the bittersweet with semisweet for the batter and used milk chocolate instead of semi for the add ins.

They were pretty simple to make. I cheated and melted the chocolate and butter in the microwave. I don't like using the double boiler and I'm lazy so the quicker it melted the better. I halved the recipe since I really, really don't need 18 brownies in my house and if there were good, I seriously doubt I was going to share with the work guys.

Unfortunately, for all of my enthusiasm, these brownies were a semi-failure too. I baked the brownies for 25 minutes, tested them, and they weren't done yet. No problem. I baked them for five minutes more and checked them only to find them still a gooey not done mess in the middle. I gave them a few more minutes and this time when I tested, the little tester came out clean. I set them aside to cool while I made dinner.

So you'd think that the tester coming out clean meant they were done right? Wrong. Absolutely without a doubt wrong. I cut into those babes and the middle was a complete and utter gooey mess. Seriously not done. The outer edge was done perfectly but the center was pretty much no edible. I thought about putting them back in but at this point they were room temp and I wasn't sure it would matter.

See the super gooeyness of the upper one?

The outside edges were quite tasty. If I could figure why the center never cooked, I would consider making these my go to brownies. I talked to Christine later than evening after I made them and I was happy (well sort of ) to find out that she was having the same problem. Only she didn't have the tester that LIED and she was able to keep cooking them until they were somewhat done.

I'd be interested to find out if anyone has made these before and if they had the same problems. Even if you haven't made them and know what I screwed up, I'd be glad to know as well.

Check out Christine's blog to see her take on the brownies!

Triple Chocolate Brownies
Adapted from Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

* 3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 12 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate (I used semisweet)
* 6 eggs
* 1 3/4 cups superfine sugar (I used regular sugar, just a tad less)
* 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup white chocolate buttons, chips, or morsels
* 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate buttons, chips or morsels (I used milk chocolate)
* Approximately 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar, for garnish
*
* Special equipment: Baking tin (approximately 11 1/4 inches by 9 inches by 2 inches), sides and base lined with baking parchment.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a large heavy based pan over a low heat.

In a bowl or large measuring jug, beat the eggs together with the superfine sugar and vanilla extract.

Allow the chocolate mixture to cool a little, then add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. Fold in the flour and salt. Then stir in the white chocolate buttons or chips, and the semisweet chocolate buttons or chips. Beat to combine then scrape and pour the brownie mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake for about 25 minutes. You can see when the brownies are ready because the top dries to a slightly paler brown speckle, while the middle remains dark, dense and gooey. Even with such a big batch you do need to keep checking on it: the difference between gooey brownies and dry ones is only a few minutes. Remember, too, that they will continue to cook as they cool.

To serve, cut into squares while still warm and pile up on a large plate, sprinkling with confectioners' sugar pushed with a teaspoon through a small sieve.