QUINTUPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES ~ Tuesdays With Dorie

                                                 
                                                 
Tuesdays With Dorie
This week's baking project was picked by Madam Chow’s Kitchen. However, there was no way I was going to attempt Pecan Honey Sticky Buns without a big honkin' KitchenAid stand mixer. I borrowed one the last time I made the Brioche Raisin Snails and the mixer tried to walk across the counter! I wasn't going to put my brandy new and shiny Cuisinart hand-held mixer through all that punishment. Neither did I want to put my arms through all pain of  standing there HOLDING the hand mixer while the bowl danced across the counter. I loved the Brioche dough, but not that much! Quite honestly, it was too much trouble. Check out the Tuesdays With Dorie blogroll for more Pecan Honey Sticky Buns and the recipe. I'm sure they were great!
                                                                                 

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies
So, the all wise and knowing TWD organizers, saw that not all of us are lucky enough to have these monster mixers in our kitchens...or galley's...and gave us a choice to make either the Pecan Honey Sticky Buns or a previously chosen goody. Because I came a little late in the game by a few weeks, there were some desserts I hadn't tried yet. The Quintuple Chocolate Brownies caught my attention as does everything chocolate! After all, it is one of the four basic food groups, right? By the way, this recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home To Yours

If you're looking for something sinfully rich and chocolatey, these babies are for you! I doubled the recipe and used a 9 x 13 inch pan because we had a few parties to go to this weekend. The small batch would have been enough! The brownies were SO rich and chocolatey, I had to cut them in very small portions. And even at that size, they were still too big!
                                                                          
One pot pretty much did it all!

The Quintuple Chocolate Brownies are named quintuple because, you guessed it, there are 5 kinds of chocolate in them! I'll bet you didn't know there were that many chocolates? They were easy brownies to put together too. NO MIXER this time! I dirtied one bowl, a saucepan and a baking pan. Actually, I didn't need to dirty the pan, because Dorie has us lining the baking pan with buttered aluminum foil.

Issues
I had one issue with this recipe. As with almost all Dorie's recipes that I've tried thus far, there is never enough frosting, never enough caramel, never enough glaze. I learned a while back to always double the topping! Don't get me wrong. I love Dorie's book and her amazing recipes. I just think the recipe we use and the photo in the book are two different recipes. I could be wrong, maybe it's me. But when I see a glossy photo in a cookbook, I expect it to have enough topping to do what the photo shows. Photo shoots aside, if you do make these awesome brownies - and you should - double the while chocolate glaze! And cut down on the cream in the glaze or it will be just that - glaze. You won't get that nice thick layer of white chocolate on the top like the glossy picture in Dorie's book. You'll have a runny mess of sticky glaze dripping down the sides of your brownies! And I know you won't be happy with that!

                                                 
Cups and Saucers and Teapots Oh My!
I'm sure by now, you've noticed that I've displayed my luscious brownies on some gorgeous plates. I made them all pretty looking and tempting and paired them with matching cups, teapot, sugar and creamer. I don't want to take up too much TWD space, but I have a great idea and hope you'll follow me by clicking here so I can explain what I'm trying to do with this April Cornell Tea set!

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies Recipe

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, (8 Tablespoons) cut into 8 pieces
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons strong coffee
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 ounces premium quality milk chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store bought milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts

For the Glaze:
6 ounces premium quality white chocolate, finely chopped or 1 cup store bought white chocolate chips
1/3 cup heavy cream (My Notes: I used 1/4 cup of cream)
                                                                                  

Directions:

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt.
• Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and add, in the following order, the butter, the two
• chocolates and the coffee. Keeping the pan over low heat, warm just until the butter and chocolates are melted-you don't want the ingredients to get so hot they separate, so keep an eye on the bowl. Stir gently, and when the mixture is smooth, set it aside for 5 minutes.
• Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Don't beat too vigorously-you don't want to add air to the batter-and don't be concerned about graininess. Next, stir in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. You should have a smooth, glossy batter. If you're not already using a rubber spatula, switch to one now and gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. Finally, stir in the milk chocolate chips and the nuts. Scrap the batter into the pan.
• Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out streaked but not thickly coated. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the brownies rest undisturbed for at least 30 minutes. (You can wait longer, if you'd like.)
• Turn the brownies out onto a rack, peel away the foil and place it under another rack-the foil becomes the drip catcher for the glaze. Invert the brownies onto the rack and let cool completely.
• (My Notes: Why would you need a drip catcher if the white chocolate was supposed to be this nice thick layer on top like the photo shows?)

                                                       
To Make the Glaze

• Put the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Wait 30 seconds, then, using a rubber spatula, gently stir until the chocolate is melted and the glaze is smooth.
• Hold a longer metal icing spatula in one hand and the bowl of glaze in the other. Pour the glaze onto the center of the brownies and using the spatula to nudge it evenly over the surface. Don't worry if it dribbles over the edges, you can trim the sides later (or not). Refrigerate the brownies for about 20 minutes to dry the glaze.
• Cut into 16 squares, each roughly 2 1/4 inches on a side.
• (My Notes: These are WAY too big! Half the size is just fine.)

                                                                                   

Serving
Serve straight up-whipped cream or ice cream is unnecessary with these. Well, a little ice cream is nice-why not?
(My Notes: You'll need at least one glass of milk per brownie!)

Storing
The brownies can be put back into their baking pan, wrapping (without touching the glaze) and kept at room temperature for about 3 days or frozen-glaze and all-for up to 2 months. (My Notes: DON'T refrigerate them after the initial glaze-drying step. These have so much chocolate in them, that they will be hard as boulders if you refrigerate them!)

There you go! Another new recipe for your collection! Try this one at least once, just so you'll know pure chocoholic addition first hand!
                                                                                

Comments

[Carrie]

This is a recipe I'll definitely have to keep in mind the next time I do a TWD Rewind. They are just too sinfully delicious looking to pass up!

[jessy]

they look soooo tasty!
also, the cinnamon rolls are not as hard as everyone is saying, and they're worth the effort of the dough!

[steph (whisk/spoon)]

OMG--i must make these!! wow!

[Rebecca]

I love these designs! You always know how to raise the bar, even on a lowly pan of brownies. ;)

[Di]

Between last week and this week, I've seen enough photos of these brownies to realized that I've got to make them. They're one of the half dozen recipes from before I joined. But not this week, since I have other brownies to bake. =)

[Cassie]

i have a friend that would die for these - she loves chocolate - so quintuple chocolate is right up her alley!

[Erika Martin - Stampin' Mama]

ooooooooh! These are JUST as delicious looking as what you made them sound!

[Gretchen Noelle]

These look delectable and so beautifully decorated!

[Megan]

You know, I contemplated making these, and skipping the buns - and your photos makes me wish I had!! The buns were good but chocolate is always better!!!

[mimi]

wowzers, those brownies look amazingly decadent! love how you decorated them!

[Madam Chow]

Whoa - I haven't made these yet, and I sure appreciate all the tips!

[Lori A.]

Wow...WOW! Those look so yummy!

[CB]

I love that chocolate dripping off the top of the brownie picture. Sinful! I hope you get the chance to make the sticky buns in the future. Trust me. They are worth it!
Clara @ I♥food4thought

[Mansi]

These look ravishing! I loved the glaze, and thanks for a very detailed post!

btw, these brownies would be a great addition to the Monthly Mingle food blog event I'm hosting on my blog; pls take a moment to check the details, I'd be glad if you could participate!:)

[Liliana]

These brownies look amazing on TasteSpotting!!

[LyB]

I haven't made these yet but I just might break out the chocolate very soon! Thank goodness next week's recipe is brownies! Thanks for the white chocolate glaze tip, I like the thick layer as you did, mmmmm, beautiful!

[Mara]

donna those look SO CUTE and rich...!! i made them for TWD last week and they were crazy rich. i cut them into TINY pieces and that was more than enough! love your swirls and hearts decor.

[mari]

Those brownies look like big chunks of chocolaty love! YUM!

[Jayne]

Those look yummy!! And the china is so pretty! Great photos!

[My Sweet & Saucy]

That chocolate drip is making making me smile! They look so good!

[Nancy]

Thanks for the link to these. I enjoyed your write up and your notes are especially helpful. I agree with almost everything - I was wondering why I had to take the brownies out of the pan to put the glaze on and then put it all back into the pan. Wouldn't the pan sides have contained the drips? And there really wasn't enough glaze.

Did you use a smaller pan than 9x9? Your brownies are so nice and thick! Any your pictures are fabulous!!

[Unique Chocolate Gifts]

Thank you for sharing this one....those chocolates are amazing they can really attract customers most especially the kids who really love to it chocolates.