White Chocolate Fudge Brownies

" What I love about cooking is that after a hard day, there is something comforting about the fact that you melt butter and add flour, then hot stock, it will get thick! It's a sure thing. It's a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure!" - Nora Ephron

I was NOT planning on cooking/baking anything today! I thought I better just relax and take it easy, but........... I couldn't resist! I got online, checked my email and then somehow started browsing my old recipes! Initially I wanted to bake a cake, but we're all out of eggs, and not enough butter and no more whole milk......I still had the urge to do something, so I kept it simple with these to die for brownies.

These brownies are really delicious! Make sure you use white chocolate that has a profound taste, the better the quality of your chocolate, the better the brownies!

6 tablespoons of butter
8 oz of white chocolate
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
2 handfuls of semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit
2. butter and flour an 8inch baking pan, or line with aluminium foil
3. Melt the butter and the white chocolate on top of double boiler over hot water
4. In a bowl, with an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar really well
5. Add the chocolate butter mixture to the egg sugar mixture, add the flour and vanilla too and beat all together just until incorporated, thick and smooth
6. Fold in chocolate chips with a spatula (do not beat here)
7. Pour mixture into the baking pan
8. Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes, keep an eye out
9. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick, brownies are ready when the toothpick comes out clean
10. Let it cool and then cut into squares

I am planning on bringing these into work tomorrow. I just hope some remain! (Mona's friends are passing by!) Tina if at 8am you are sipping on coffee at your desk, browsing my blog, come over to my side of the office and claim your piece! ;)

Chocolate Fondant a la Bailey's

Recipe adapted from Chef Axel Godefroid from Empire in Monarch Dubai.

Makes 4-6 chocolate fondants (I used 4 ramekins, mine were pretty big, but if you use smaller ones you can make 6 chocolate fondants)

Ingredients

150grams chocolate

150gr butter
2 pcs eggs

2 pcs egg yolk ( I used only 1 egg yolk)

60 gr icing sugar (1/2 cup)
16 gr flour (2 tablespoons)

Preparation
CHOCOLATE FONDANT

• melt chocolate• melt butter

• whisk sugar, egg, egg yolk

• add chocolate and butter mixed together

• add sieved flour

• add 1 tablespoon of bailey's irish cream or orange liquer (optional)

• put on ramekins that are already buttered and floured

• cooked at 180 degrees celcius for 8-9 minutes
Place the ramekins upside down on a plate and slowly lift it up, the fondant should slide out easily.

Serve this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmm FONDANT-LICIOUS!!!!!!

I added a tablespoon of baileys, I also tried this once with orange liquer it was delicious! This is also really good without any liquer. Don't forget the vanilla ice cream!!! Oh, for presentation purposes you can sieve some icing sugar on top of the fondant, like i did with the brownies below, add some raspberries on the plate too! This is a great dessert to serve at a dinner party, your guests will be VERY impressed! :)

Remember to be CREATIVE! After all.....

"Cooking and Entertaining is about finding your own style while following a
few basic guidelines."

- Patty Kriz

After all this baking today (and tasting) it is time for me to hit the gym because I am feeling very full! ( tip: if serving chocolate fondant as a dessert during a dinner, make sure your main course etc is not too heavy, otherwise it will be painful to eat this as dessert because it is quite heavy!)

ENJOY!

Arlene's Brownies

This brownie recipe is absolutely to die for! Always a favorite growing up, they are sweet, densly rich, chocolatey and very fudgy! I've always been on the hunt for the perfect brownie recipe and this one comes very very close! The best brownies i have ever tasted, has to be from Fat Witch bakery in New York City. I managed to get a hold of their caramel brownie recipe-I think I will attempt to make it soon and share my results with you. In the meantime, Enjoy Arlene's fabulous Brownies!

Arlene's Brownies

Ingredients

*1/2 cup self raising flour
*3/4 cup melted butter
*1 & 1/4 cup sugar
*1/2 cup cocoa powder ( i used hershey's)
*1 tsp vanilla
*4 eggs
*3/4 cup hershey's chocolate syrup

Preparation

1- Sieve flour and cocoa powder, then set aside

2- Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat and add a tablespoon of cold water

3- Set aside and let it cool and then add the vanilla

4- Beat the eggs thoroughly till peaks form, add the flour-cocoa mixture and beat on low speed until it's all mixed

5- Add the butter sugar mixture and beat on low just until all ingredients are incorporated and you have a smooth batter

6- Add the chocolate syrup and fold it into brownie batter with a spatula

7- Put it in the oven ( 180 degrees celcius) for 20-25 minutes.

8- Around 20 mins, test doneness with a toothpick

9- Remove and let cool, then use a knife to cut into squares, also once cool you can sprinkle some powdered sugar on top to make it look puurrrty :)

ENJOY!!!!!!

I made these today and as you can tell from the picture, they don't look super fudgy, (which they usually are) that's because I used 1/2 cup of hershey's choclate syrup and baked them for 25 minutes. I urge you to use 3/4 cup of chocolate syrup and bake them for 15-20 minutes. It's ok if the toothpick comes out with a little batter on it, once it cools it will solidfy a bit more but retain its fudgy-ness!

WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FUDGY BROWNIE RECIPE? If you try this one, i would love to hear your feedback on your success!