Double Chocolate Brownies

Ok, so the first recipe I decided to tackle in this book was called Double Chocolate Brownies. I have to start out by telling you that I am not very good at making brownies on a normal basis, not even out of a box!, so this was not an easy recipe for me to start with. I decided to make these though, because it was one of Matt's coworkers birthday, and someone was already planning on making a cake for her, so I thought that it would be a good time to try some brownies. I also made some Chocolate Chip Cookies, but I figured, why not try out my first recipe for this occasion.

So this is the third time I have made brownies in this little oven, but the first time, I undercooked them, and they stuck to the pan, and the second time I overcooked them, and Matt had to force them down his throat just to make me feel better (I'm just kidding, but they were not very good in my opinion), and of course, these were both the boxed kind, so really, how do you mess those up?!? So needless to say, I was a little apprehensive about making these brownies, especially from scratch!

These brownies did look very fun to make, and on top of just the brownies, it also called for a fudge sauce, so I was very excited to try and make that. I thought that at least if the brownies turned out bad, at least we could just drink the fudge! I could handle that!

I also have to mention that with our little toaster oven, there are no temperature guages on there in F or C, it is just a guage numbered 1-10! Really?!? So on top of trying to work in a tiny workspace, I am also dealing with guessing how hot to make the oven! So there is challenge number 1 for this recipe. Challenge number two is going to the store to get the correct ingredients. It called for plain chocolate, and the store had only dark chocolate, called for golden caster sugar, there was only white caster sugar, called for white chocolate chips, only had melting chocolate (big buttons of chocolate, but at least it was white), and called for double cream (sort of like heacy whipping cream in the states) and there was only thickened cream at the store, so I was really working out of my element here, but with all that, I was still more nervous for burning them at the end! Challenge number three was actually just something I had to learn. Pretty much all the recipes in this book call to have the baking tin lined with baking paper. I have NEVER done this before (I know - sad!), but I figured if I was making brownies, I better do it right, so I lined the baking tin, and let me tell you, Ill never go back to not lining them again! It really helped - a lot!

So despite everything that I had to substitute in the recipe, it all flowed quite well. The dark chocolate made it very good, the thickened cream seemed to work well, and the caster sugar didnt seem to be a problem. I had to chop up the white chocolate buttons, but that worked well too! Everything went really well with the recipe, the only thing I have to say is that I need an apron. I was stirring in the cocoa powder that it called for and of course, it ended up on me. It wouldnt have been so bad, except that I was wearing a white shirt - of course! That was my own fault though I know :).  And on top of all that, I even cooked them just perfectly! And as I said before, Im never turning back on not having baking paper. When I pulled the brownies out, I pulled the baking paper off so nicely, and they were just perfect! I couldnt have been more happy about how they looked, and I have a new confidence for baking brownies, and Ill never make them out of the box again; I will always use this recipe, or Im open for some new recipes too!

So, here they are, and the picture looks so beautiful because I have a talented photographer for a husband. He is my food decorator and photographer. Everyone at Matt's work loved them, and they even gave a brownie to the one person in the place trying not to eat unhealthy, and he LOVED them too! My favorite part of baking is everyone enjoying them. I like eating some of the recipes, but the best part is sharing them with everyone else. Did I mention that I want to own my own bakery?