The Secret of the Delectable Brownie

I don't brag.  Okay, let me clarify.  I don't brag when it comes to myself.  If we're talking about my kids, get a coffee and a good comfy chair because I can talk about them all day. 

Photo credit: Lindsay Stevenson Photography

I mean LOOK at them!  Who wouldn't brag about those handsome little devils.  And little devils they ARE, so it's not just bragging, but lots of funny stories as well.  :) 

But I digress...when, it comes to myself however, I tend to be a little quieter.  (Those of you who truly know me just laughed at the sentence that included a reference to myself being 'quiet'.)  I will, however, admit that I make the best damn brownie around.  For.  REAL. 

And I love to bake - so for friends, family and co-workers that works out REALLY nicely for them.  Everyone always asks me the secret to my brownies.  Well, let me first tell you, it's not just one secret, it's several elements. 

First of all, I love to bake.  Cook - not so much.  BAKE - I'm all over it.  I think I was 7 or 8 when I got my first easy bake oven and started subject my family (mostly my poor little brother and sister who knew no better) to my stone hard cookies, or sand dry 'cakes' all baked with the power of a 100 watt bulb.  I love the mixing of sugars and oils, the beating of eggs.  The science behind why for some reason when I beat the eggs with the wet ingredients and THEN add the dry it almost always turns out better.  And I love refining my craft.  Taking bits and pieces of when something turns out really well (or scraping and starting again when it's really bad!) and incorporating them into how I do things.  I really think this is the major secret.  If you're adding water to a mix and throwing it into the oven - you really lack a key ingredient.  And that is passion.  You need to, at the very least, like what you're doing. 

Okay second.  The good stuff.  Callebaut chocolate. 

I am seriously not even going to explain this one to you.  If you don't know what it is, Google it.  If you still can't figure it out I will spell it out for you: It is God come down to earth and make chocolate.  My brownies ALWAYS include Callebaut chocolate.  If you want divine creations, you must use divine ingredients.  Callebaut is chocolate scripture. 

Third and lastly - a polar opposite to Mr. Callebaut - Betty Crocker.  Yes my friends Mrs. Crocker herself. I use tub icing. French chocolate of course - Mr. Callebaut would have it no other way.  I use store bought, tub icing.  No I don't add anything.  No I don't whip it in the mixer. Ms. Crocker has devoted her life to this icing and I just scoop that dark gooey goodness right from the tub into a piping bag and squeeze onto cooled brownies. 

So there you have it.  Secrets out in the open. Now go out there and make a batch of this yummy goodness.  It really is happy in a pan. :)