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Are you a fudgie brownie lover or do you prefer that cake-like texture? On today’s Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer I’m giving the basics on how to tell when brownies are done!
So my house is a house divided… that is when it comes to brownies. I prefer a denser, cake-like brownie that is rich and firm with a deep chocolate flavor. However Mr. Fantabulous, he’s all about that fudge texture. He wants ’em fudgy, almost unbaked-like and soft. Now don’t get me wrong I’m certainly not going to turn my nose up at ‘his’ however when I’m making brownies for me I prefer my style and let the frosting or ganache be the ‘gooey’ part versus the actual brownie itself.
Cake-like brownies contain less fat (butter or oil), have more eggs (or at least more yolks – this is what lends to its richness) and more flour. This is what gives them their height and firmness. The texture has a tighter crumb as well. Fudgy brownies get their consistency from more fat, less flour and less eggs. The butter is melted instead of put in cold. They tend to also have a bit more chocolate in them. Their texture is more gooey and soft. But what about Chewy brownies? Yeah so to be honest I never understood this type of brownie. It’s just …weird. But if that’s what you’re into just add more eggs and use bread flour instead of ap flour. The higher gluten in the bread flour will also give you that chewy texture.
While both types of brownies contain the same ingredients, the proportions vary greatly.
Yeah I know, not a tough question when the answer can simply be “Both!”. Why choose, right? However the biggest thing in all of this is to know when they are done! Because yes folks there is such a thing as an inedible brownie. You know what I’m talking about – that burnt on the top/stuck to the bottom of the pan, hard as a rock, dry as sawdust and overall charred. Now I’ve had “smoked” brownies and trust me there is a difference between smoked brownies and “oops I burnt them but I’ll try and pass them off as charred on purpose” brownies.
So how do you tell when they are done then? Remember not every oven bakes the same, the pans aren’t all identical and then we have to take into consideration that whole altitude thing. And don’t even get me started on the whole metric measurements thing. Thank GOD my scale converts from grams to ounces. That’s hard math there folks. I can’t do that. LOL
Cake-like brownies
– These puppies are done when they just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, when a cake tester is inserted in the center comes out mostly clean (a few crumbs are okay). You do NOT want to overbake them as they can turn quickly from cake-like to dry as a sand.
Fudgy brownies
– Yeah so fudgy brownies are the odd balls here as you’re going for that appearance of being underdone without actually being underdone. Make sense? Yeah, confusing I know. What I typically tell people is go with the time range stated in the recipe. The doneness honestly depends on how you like your brownies. If you go with the minimum baking time, you’ll get a very, VERY moist brownie that will appear “wet”. If you bake at the maximum time you risk them turning into not cake-like but rather super dense. I tend to go in the middle – meaning the top is set and when a cake tester is stuck in, globs of batter doesn’t come out BUT there is wetness and a little “gooeyness” on the toothpick. First i do the touch test. The top is set and when pressed, doesn’t feel “squishy”. Next I insert a cake tester about 2″ in from the side of the pan, never the center. If it comes out with just a wee bit of gooeyness, then I pull it out. While it’s cooling the residual carry-over heat will finish any last bit of baking.
For some delicious brownie recipes try one of these:
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