Brownies have a lot of variations. They can be just plain chocolate, spiked with espresso or liquor, shot through with fruit filling or mint, swirled with cream cheese, with nuts, or butterscotch. But what people love about the brownie is its texture. There are three brownie styles today: cakey, fudgy, and chewy. Although all brownie recipes have the same ingredients, they vary in their chocolate, sugar, butter, and flour proportions to come up with different brownie textures.
A fudgy brownie recipe typically results to a moist, dense, and bitter chocolate interior. The chocolate used can be unsweetened, bittersweet, or a combination of both. An egg yolk may be added for the greaseless fudgy richness. A wooden spoon is best used in beating to ensure a smooth yet even texture. A chewy brownie recipe, on the other hand, also moist but is not as sticky as the fudgy brownie. The chewiness is due to the following: use of whole eggs, and more all-purpose flour. The egg whites give the brownie its form while the all-purpose flour gives the brownie its chewy texture. The cakey brownie has a little fluffy interior and a moist crumb. This is primarily because the batter has less butter compared to the other recipes. A little corn syrup and milk can be added for more moistness. Brownies need not have expensive chocolate. Bakers may opt for fancier chocolates but the simplest and most popular bittersweet and unsweetened chocolates are still one’s best bet for the best chewy brownie recipe.
Baking time also greatly affects the texture of the brownie. To ensure consistency, an oven thermometer can provide valuable help. Fudgy brownie recipe that is baked 3 minutes shorter can result to an unpleasant gooeyness while chewy brownie recipe left to bake 3 minutes longer becomes dry and tough. Metal pans can hasten the time of baking while glass pans make baking longer. One can test the brownies for doneness after twenty minutes of baking. The fingers can be pressed gently into the pan’s center. A toothpick can be inserted in the center. It will surely come out wet. After five to eight minutes, the toothpick can be inserted again. When the toothpick comes out with some moist crumbs, the chewy brownie recipe is done. The toothpick can look moist but if it has wet batter, it means the chewy brownie recipe is not yet done.
When the brownie is already done, it must be cooled then flipped over out of the pan. It will be easier to cut the brownie into squares when it’s out of the pan. So that the brownie can be taken out of the pan easier, parchment or waxed paper can be used to line the bottom of the pan before the batter is poured. It is best to cut the brownie when it is completely cool.
The first brownie is said to be created at Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel when Bertha Palmer requested that a dessert be prepared for her guests attending the fair. The dessert was said to be smaller than a piece of cake and can fit inside the boxed lunches. The first brownie had walnuts and apricot glaze.
