Smitten Kitchen's Best Cocoa Brownies - To Heal The Broken Hearts

When I get bad news, my first instinct is to head to the kitchen to lose myself in a recipe. Or two. Or three.

And so it was when I got the call and the first words pretty much were, "Anne, he's gone." The gut punch.  I do the mental math and the months between our ages barely matter to any statistician.  In the sadness of it all, my own mortality blankets the scene. "It could just as easily have been me. Or my mister. Or my brother..."

I don't think I am terribly unique to find refuge in the kitchen as funeral plans are formulating around another kitchen table down the road.  The burners and ovens are blazing for the usual cast of characters.  Food that can feed plenty but also freezes well. Lasagnas, chickens, chilis, stews, casseroles.  Then there are the treats.  There is a bit of irony baking up a calorie laden, sugar and butter weighted treat on such a sorrowful occasion. But desserts are tradition.  There will be company and tea times.

So this time I hit the larder to see what I had on hand and I knew I could double up a batch of Smitten Kitchen's Best Cocoa Brownies.  Chewy, dense chocolate.  Its sweetness hidden behind the deep cocoa.  Its buttery-ness married with eggs, for a firm lava. No need for icing.

A gift for you to heal the broken hearts.  From my kitchen to yours.

SMITTEN KITCHEN'S BEST COCOA BROWNIES
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted from Alice Medrich's Bittersweet

Ingredients:
280 grams unsalted butter
500 grams sugar
130 grams unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, cold
130 grams all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method:
Preheat the oven to 325ºF.  Lightly grease a 9"x13" cake pan and line with parchment that continues up the sides and over the edge.  The lightly greased pan will help the parchment stay in place and not fold in on top of the batter.  The overhang of parchment will help to lift the baked brownies from the pan.

Warm the butter in a heatproof bowl to almost melting using your microwave.  Add the sugar, cocoa and salt and stir. Place the bowl over a boiling water and stir the mixture occasionally until fully incorporated and the batter is quite warm to the touch.  The batter will seem somewhat grainy.

Using an electric hand mixer add the vanilla extract.

Let the batter cool to warm.  Then add each egg one at a time and use the hand mixer to blend.

Add the flour in three batches and use the hand mixer to blend.  When all the flour has been added, mix the batter for another 45 seconds on low.

Pour half the batter in one end of the pan.  Add the chopped walnuts to the remaining batter and pour into the other end of the pan.  This way your can keep your nutty fans happy and also the not so nutty.  Even out the batter with an offset spatula.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  Place on a rack to cool.  Set the cooked brownies in the fridge or freezer.  When you cut into it, you will have clean edges.  Remove the pan from the fridge or freezer and remove the brownies from the pan by lifting on the parchment.  Trim the edges and then divide into squares.

Zucchini Bread - Smitten Kitchen Style

When I received my Roots and Shoots Farm CSA basket on Thursday, I made a commitment as to how I planned to use each piece of produce over the coming week.

The zucchini was going into zucchini bread. I made the rare confession of saying I had never made zucchini bread before. It is so ubiquitous, that it seems just a bit unfathomable that someone who loves to bake has been holding out this long on zucchini bread.

I wasn't expecting to hit a new recipe home run and figured that I would start my first experience with 'tried and true'. Something out of Smitten Kitchen would likely land me safely. Just get it done and over with. Lose my zucchini bread virginity with some predictability, minimize the thinking thus minimize the pain.

I did linger on the idea ever so slightly. Not surprisingly I made my Smitten Kitchen announcement out on Twitter just to test the soundness of my plan.

[AMWATERS : If I wanted to make zucchini loaf, any reason why I just wouldn't make @smittenkitchen's http://t.co/nOJls1s Why reinvent perfection?]

Clearly I was showing hesitation and was looking for some sort of approval. Twitter friend @hellokaitlin did what Kaitlin does best. Not let me off so easy.

[hellokaitlin: @AMWATERS because @sevenspoons's rivals @smittenkitchen's. they are different, but both INCREDIBLE.]

She approved of Smitten Kitchen but brought my commitment into question by dangling the equally solid baking skills of Seven Spoons before me. She was right. I did need to look around just to be sure. After all, this was my first zucchini bread. The subtext of her message, possibly? - My recipe choice for my first zucchini bread is not a decision that should entered into without respectful thought.

I weighed the taste of chocolate and the taste of spice and realized that, although my choice had been hasty, cinnamon and nutmeg was the style of zucchini bread that I likely wanted for my first time.

For those familiar with her recipe, I did boldly add walnuts (1/2 cup), as well as cranberries (3/4 cup), raisins (1/4 cup) and chocolate chips (1/8 cup). Other than the optional questions, I mindlessly followed the recipe to a tee.

The verdict? The spice smells are intoxicating. It is the kind of bread that tastes great with a smear of butter and a cup of tea. It was great sharing it with friends fresh from the oven.

What did I learn? Well this was a bit of a surprise. I totally acquiesced to the iconic Smitten Kitchen when I approached my challenge and I shouldn't have. Not that it wasn't a beautiful and yummy bread. But it wasn't 'my bread'. Although I didn't plan to go at it that way, I realized that it actually mattered. To me. I didn't consider for a second the outcome. I just relied on the master. What is good for her, must be good for me. @hellokaitlin took a poke at my non-thinking and I opened one eye for a quick glance at an alternative. But really, my input was lame.

I love to bake and I love to tinker with recipes to suit my likes or perhaps those of my guests. I have so many things I want to do differently next time. Things I think I would have actually considered from the get go if I had just stopped to give it some thought. I want my nuts to be Brazil nuts. I want to grind them. I want to put in less flour. I want less cinnamon. I don't want any chocolate chips. I may just want raisins. I am still debating the cranberries - I did love them after all. And I just might use a cream cheese frosting to make it look more cake than bread.

The moral of the story? When losing your zucchini bread virginity, don't treat the experience carelessly. Sure, it is great to partner with someone with a lot of knowledge, but you need to have a say in it too. Contribute. Say what you like. Own the outcome. Thankfully, Smitten Kitchen did make my first time a very beautiful thing.