Thursday, July 17, 2008

infernal brownies

So, I've been wanting to make something from the Black Oven blog since it started -- because it's not just funny, the recipes all look really good! I'd been thinking of trying her brownie recipe first (because who doesn't like brownies?) but hadn't really thought about it too much. Until I was browsing the King Arthur catalog before placing an order, and spotted BLACK COCOA. Black Cocoa for my Black Oven brownies? Too good to be true! A week later, this arrived (along with assorted other yummy cooking things):

the cocoa

But was it really black? You be the judge:

how black is black?

Pretty close to black, I say. That's black cocoa on the left, natural process cocoa on the right. And on hands and counters, it looks even blacker. Seriously, I looked like I'd been shoveling coal! So, I got to work, making the recipe but replacing the baking chocolate with the equivalent in cocoa powder and oils (I used a little less than 1/2 black cocoa, natural process for the rest). It passed its first test with flying colors -- the batter was probably the tastiest brownie batter I've ever eaten, and everyone else in the house agreed. Then it was time to bake -- and the result was, well, pretty evil looking:

surface of an asteroid? no! evil brownies!

We couldn't wait for them to cool, so I cut few pieces as soon as possible and wow, these are some dark chocolate brownies!! So cool!! Ta-da!

brownies as black as your EVIL HEART

We loved them. Unfortunately....the following day was when we all started getting sick. So I ended up eating, maybe one of them. Evan ate several though, and said they were great. Emily hated them though -- and she will eat ANY crappy brownie on the planet. She just didn't like the color, mainly. (Although there is a slightly odd taste from the black cocoa -- I saw it described somewhere as slightly chalky, like the taste of the chocolate cookies in oreos.) So I promised her that future batches of these brownies would actually be brown. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the rest of this black cocoa!

9 comments:

  1. Oh those look evil AND delicious!
    Hugs to you all and I'm glad you are feeling better. We are in full birthday mode down here! I wish Emily could come to the party!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's black alright, and it looks SOOO yummy! And the rest - how about some black (hot) chocolate? :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll bet it would make good hot cocoa!! Or you can send some to moi!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I made some yummers chocolate cookies the other day, and i wanted white chocolate so bad to make Panda faces! Maybe this is your chance! Some big melting disk for Panda greatness! With for really real black!
    Im biased of course
    I *heart* Pandas!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oooo, that looks nice and black. Is it darker than Dutch Process cocoa? That's what I've been using when I want a darker cake or brownie. I'd love to go even darker. As for Emily...maybe you could make black cupcakes. With enough icing on top, maybe she'd be distracted from the dark color of the cake. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. They were so good...cake would work, yup, and Emily wouldn't balk at that! Cookies are definitely already on my list (the kind you make into ice cream sandwiches, to be specific!). Hot chocolate, now there is an idea! I wonder if it would look really dark, or if it would actually look kind of gray? I will have to save some until winter and try it out!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those brownies look HEAVENLY! I have been wanting to order some of the black cocoa from King Arthur, but hesitated b/c of reading a comment about how it might not work right in American recipes. Grrr! I still may have to order it anyway and if it doesn't exchange right, then I'll just have to find a way around that lol!
    What if you made "Oreo" cupcakes - squirt some vanilla frosting into the middle? Oh that is making me hungry!!! Are you feeling better now? I sure hate that you missed out on your brownies!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Why don't you make bannana pops? Just cut a bannana in half, put a popsicle stick in it, and role it in the black coco!!! They are really delish :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey I finally found your website. It wasn't really lost it was in my favorites. But you know how that goes. I hope you are all feeling better now. A suggestion: try Royal Jelly -- good immune booster and helps with allergies -- The chewable rather than the capsule, less impurities. Recommended by my cardiologist and I have recommended with good results to other people! Everything is fine here!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...