Page 75 in the old book / page 123 in the new book
The brownies this week are truly over the top - 6 ounces of chocolate, 8 ounces of butter, 6 eggs, 3 cups of sugar plus some corn syrup for good measure, and 3 cups of pecans! Care to hazard a guess as to the number of calories in one brownie?
These brownies are made in a 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 inch jelly-roll pan, so it is a much bigger batch than last week, but the number of brownies isn't much greater - 24 last week versus 32 this week. I was rattling off the ingredients to someone in my office and they put it quite succinctly, "Wow, that's a meal." I found that half a brownie was more than enough at one sitting, so I'd recommend that you cut them smaller than suggested in the recipe.
The corn syrup creates very dense and chewy brownies, which Maida describes as being "almost like chocolate caramels". These went over extremely well in my office, but there were at least a couple of us (including me) that preferred the more traditional texture of last week's brownies.
These were a little more trouble than the other two brownies so far, but not much. The cake takes a little longer to cool and then must be chilled before cutting. After the cake had cooled to room temperature, I put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes and had no trouble cutting it.
There was a wider range of scores this week, the texture and type of nuts figured into the decision...
Suzanne: "These were the best brownies I've ever had. They are chewy and not cakey like last week's. As I was eating the brownie, I couldn't stop saying "hum" since they were so delicious. We are definitely into my element now -- chocolate, nuts and lots of sugar. They don't call me sweet Sue for nothing. Rating - 5+"
Denny: "Very good, like the big pecans but too moist. I thought they might be spiked with that name. Rating - 4.2"
Laura: "Tasty & yummy - you can never go wrong with chocolate! (I learned however, that while I like pecans in other goodies, I don't care for them in my brownies.) Rating - 3.0"
Phil: "A truly decadent brownie - rich fudge like chocolate, dense, moist with just the right mix of pecan chunks. Particularly suited for beatnicks, hippies, and free spirits everywhere. Rating - 5.0"
Overall rating by the panel - 4.3
Next week - Cream-Cheese Brownies
Nutrition Facts
14 comments:
Accchh!!! Talk about anticipation! I usually have the 'display image' setting turned off so that the page loads faster... so when I turned the settings back on to view, I got a view of the graphic brownie!
I am so waiting for the real thing... after reading the ingredient list and everything else, a sudden urge for chocolate made my tummy rumble.
Hi Rowena! I was thinking when I did this that I may be building expectations for a not-so-great photo. I remember I took the pictures in a bit of a hurry and didn't really set it up - the brownies were just packed and ready to go in the plastic container. I'm afraid the edges didn't really even show!
I think Phil might be on to something. "Beatnick brownies" could sell!
These sound SO good. They were second in my shortlist - the scarcity of corn syrup being the major factor in choosing the fudge brownies instead.
wow, decadent indeed!! Can't wait to see a picture! (Although I loved your brownie graphic as a substitute! :)
OK - the photo is up now... just realized I forgot to put the pecans on top in my little drawing! :)
Hi Nic! I think these would sell no matter the name! Even though they weren't my favorite of the brownies so far, they created quite a commotion in the office!
Hi Niki! I wonder how some other syrup would do in these. They have brown sugar in them anyway, so I don't think a little added caramel flavor in the syrup would hurt.
Hi Alice! You know I struggled to find some other words to describe these brownies because Phil had used the word decadent in his review, but that is really the best word to describe them! My original intent with the drawing was just to have something as a place holder, but then I kinda got in to doing the drawing - it was fun!
Hey Cathy. Your brownies looks great! I am excited that you've moved from drop cookies to brownies- cant wait for next week's cream cheese variety!
The photo is DECADENT! (too!) Oh why is it 1 am. here and there's not a brownie in sight?? Except for the one on the screen which, I'll admit, makes a great substitute (and doesn't make me put on weight):-)
Hi Tanvi - Oh my, you've turned into Cookie Monster! (I can't remember what you're little photo was of before, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't that little fellow!) I'm happy to have moved on to bar cookies as well - they are some of my favorites!
Hi Zarah! Thanks - but brownies in person are so much better than brownies on screen!! Wish it was easier to share them with you!
Hi Cathy,
These sound really, really sweet, but I love walnuts (or any nuts in brownies), so I just might like these.
Hi Reid! Oh yes, these are VERY sweet. They call for pecans, but walnuts would be nice to try - they might moderate the sweetness a little.
hi cathy, those look totally over-the-top, and totally awesome - maida heatter always has the ultimate brownie recipes!
Wow, the photo is gorgeous!!
Hi Jocelyn! Of course in my humble opinion, Maida Heatter always has the ultimate of any dessert recipe! But seriously, when I read your comment it suddenly dawned on me that she must have a bunch more brownie recipes in her chocolate cookbook, so I looked and sure enough... she does! Not that I'll be needing another brownie recipe anytime soon! :)
Thanks Alice!
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