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Fudge-Iced Brownies
This Fudge-Iced Brownie recipe is courtesy of Heather Albrecht who works for the Kitchener Rangers hockey club. The recipe originated with Mary Moore, former food columnist for the Kitchener Record (now known as the Waterloo Region Record).
Heather says (and I’d concur) that this recipe is a winner – delicious and very easy to make. The brownies mix up in one bowl with no melting of chocolate required, and they taste very rich and fudgey. One bite and you’ll know why they’re called Fudge-Iced Brownies. Consider them a special treat!
Heather starts checking the brownies for doneness after about 20 minutes of baking because she doesn’t want them to dry out. She finds that the baking time varies with the outdoor temperature and humidity.
I baked these brownies in a Pyrex baking pan so I found the brownies took 40 minutes to bake to my liking. (Brownies will cook faster in a metal baking pan than in a glass pan.) They turned out very fudgey and moist.
Determining when brownies are done can be a challenge. Of course if they are overbaked, you run the risk of drying them out. But if really underbaked, they will be soft, sticky (almost gooey), and they won’t hold their shape well.
Often you can tell visually how close to done brownies are because the centre section of brownies in the pan may look wet and glossy. Start testing for doneness early as oven temperatures vary, and brownies can go from perfectly baked to overbaked in mere minutes. It’s best to underbake brownies rather than the opposite.
The easiest ways to test if brownies are done are the touch and toothpick tests. Gently touching the surface of the brownies with your fingertip will give you an indication of how set the brownies are. If the brownies feel set, insert a toothpick or cake tester into the centre. If the toothpick comes out wet, with batter clinging to it, the brownies are not ready. If the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it, the brownies are done. For optimal flavour and texture, let them cool completely before icing and indulging!
Fudge-Iced Brownies
(Makes a 9 x 13-inch/3 L baking pan)
Brownies:
2 cups (500 mL) brown sugar
1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 mL) chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup (125 mL) cocoa
4 eggs
2 teaspoons (10 mL) vanilla
Icing:
½ cup (125 mL) butter
5 tablespoons (75 mL) cocoa
1/8 teaspoon (.5 mL) salt
2 teaspoons (10 mL) vanilla
2 cups (500 mL) icing sugar
Hot water
To make Brownies: Combine brown sugar, butter, flour, walnuts (if using), cocoa, eggs and vanilla in a bowl. With electric mixer, beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Spread evenly into a buttered 9 x 13 (3 L) baking pan. Bake at 300F (150C) until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the brownies comes out with a few crumbs clinging to it, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
To make Icing: Melt butter in a saucepan; stir in cocoa, salt and vanilla. Heat mixture, stirring frequently, until boiling. Remove from heat and stir in icing sugar. (Mixture will be thick.) Add small amounts (1 to 2 teaspoons/5 to 10 mL) of hot water at a time and beat with a whisk until mixture is just thin enough to spread over brownies.
(For more brownie recipes, visit Brownie Lover’s Diary.)
We’ve been so focused on the Memorial Cup hockey championship in our house that my birthday (today!) kinda’ snuck up on me. This 10-day national championship series was hosted by Kitchener this year. Building a team that would get the Kitchener Rangers (for whom Murray scouts) to the championship game actually began last year. In the end, the Rangers had what it took to get all the way to the final game against the Spokane Chiefs, but unfortunately things didn’t go quite as the Rangers’ team and fans had fantasized. Although the Rangers gave it their all and then some, in the end the Chiefs emerged victorious in a hard-fought game.
Needless to say, the mood’s been a tad sad around here since yesterday.
The Rangers had a brilliant season – ranked in first place across Canada for most weeks of the season, finishing in first place, then clinching the OHL championship to advance to the Memorial Cup as the OHL representatives.
Since only one team can emerge victorious, sports can be bitterly disappointing for those who participate as players or fans. But as Coach Pete DeBoer’s mom wisely reminded me partway through yesterday’s game, sports is also about entertainment, and the Rangers proved masterful at that. They provided their fans with a winning season of entertaining hockey. Hats off to a great team and a classy organization!
But back to me! It is supposed to be all about me today, right?! (LOL)
Murray and I don’t usually make a huge deal of our birthdays, but since May 26th fell on a Monday this year, and I don’t go in to work on Mondays, it would have made sense to have planned a fun way to celebrate the occasion. Instead, I’ve spent the day doing laundry, tidying up the house, taking my vehicle into the dealership to get a front end noise checked out, and answering emails. Murray and I are going out to dinner tonight, but if I’d had my act together and planned a day that included some of my favourite “things”, here’s how it could have gone……….
* Sleep in!
* Enjoy a breakfast of fried eggs (sunny side up!) and bacon, home fries, toast and marmalade, freshly squeezed orange juice and tea.
* Spend the morning at a spa.
* Hit Booster Juice for a Tropical Tornado or Canadian Colada smoothie or Starbucks for a Strawberries and Creme Frappuccino.
* Head to a play at the Stratford Festival in Stratford or the Shaw Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake (neither theatre actually schedules plays on Mondays but remember, this is my fantasy day!)
* Enjoy dinner at a favourite restaurant in the Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge area – Hannah’s Bella Bistro, 20 King Street, King Street Trio, Blackshop, Charbries, Sole, any of the dining establishments in the Charcoal group of restaurants (to name a few!)
Since a fantasy day can be as long or as short as one wishes, I’d also want to include time to read a book, have afternoon tea at Langdon Hall, and go on a hike, then I’d end the day with friends and an ice cream cake or a platter of interesting cheeses, crackers and fruit, and a bottle of ice wine. (Notice that the day would have involved a fair amount of eating and drinking!!)
It might be too late to fulfill my birthday fantasy day this year, but judging from experience, I should really get a head start on planning for next year!
Last week I spent four days in Quebec City. What a great place to visit! I count it as one of my favourite spots in all of Canada. For the many tourists who flock to the city (especially this year, the city’s 400th anniversary), its special charm is the area known as Old Quebec with its European-style architecture, narrow cobblestone streets, old brick buildings, boutiques, galleries, antique shops, and restaurants.
I stayed in the stylish Hotel 71 in Old Port and enjoyed casual dining at St. Alexandre Pub and Le Conchon Dingue, and a more formal meal at L’Echaude. The sugar pie at Le Cochon Dingue, a cheese burger at a small restaurant in the Petit Champlain district, and chocolate noisette gelato at a nearby confectionary, were favourite taste experiences.
Cheese burger and fries
Quebecers enjoy eating out and take their food seriously. There are plenty of restaurants, many offering table d’hote (you can choose a meal from a set menu at a fixed price). I found serving portions appropriate and my meals tastefully prepared and garnished. Since you “eat with your eyes” before actually tasting what’s set before you, a garnish definitely adds to the pleasure of a meal. The cheeseburger and fries platter I enjoyed at a small restaurant in the Petit Champlain area of lower Old Quebec (unfortunately I don’t recall the restaurant’s name) was garnished with a small salad made of long thin carrot strings, cucumber slices with the edges artistically notched, tomato slices, rings of onion, and strips of sweet pepper perched above a bed of lettuce. My late lunch looked appetizing, and since it was raining outside and I was inside and dry, seated at a table by the window watching the world scurry by, it tasted c’est délicieux!
Although I support the movement to ‘buy locally produced foods as much as possible‘ and to ‘eat according to what’s in season’, I think British chef Gordon Ramsay’s suggestion (as reported on The Daily Telegraph’s website) to fine chefs who use out-of-season, not locally produced fruits and vegetables in their restaurants is rather extreme. In fact, the idea is as outrageous as Ramsay himself. According to the article, he’d be among the chefs who would have to pay up as apparently he doesn’t always practice what he preaches.
Educating chefs, culinary students and the general public about the environmental and economic benefits of eating what is seasonally available, not to mention promoting the generally superior quality, freshness and taste of locally produced food, would be a more civilized and sensible way to encourage buy-in of this concept.
I suspect Ramsay’s idea was just Gordon Ramsay being Gordon Ramsay! Bold, brash and controversial.
Asparagus and rhubarb are two spring crops just coming into season here in southern Ontario. If you’d like to know what other produce is seasonally available right now, visit Foodland Ontario’s website.
Laura Secord’s new Spice Collection
Chocolate company Laura Secord has created a boxed Spice Collection designed to appeal to more than one’s sense of taste. The five pairs of chocolates are visually attractive, and will appeal to those with slightly adventurous palates. The flavours are pleasant….certainly not overpowering. A 120 g box is priced at $12.00.
These are the flavour combinations you’ll find in the collection:
* Mediterranean Rosemary & Apple (milk chocolate)
* Mexican Lime & Chili (dark chocolate)
* Persian Cardamom & Cinnamon (white chocolate)
* Chinese Ginger & Lychee (dark chocolate)
* Micronesian Lemon Grass & Coconut (milk chocolate)
My personal favourites are Lime & Chili and Ginger & Lychee.
As a follow up to my April 28th post with the recipe for Pizza Frittata, here’s a picture of a quick-version single-serving Pizza Frittata.
Pizza Frittata for one!
I made this frittata in an 8-inch (20 cm) frying pan with 2 eggs and a couple shakes of seasoning blend. The recipe for the herbed seasoning blend is also in that post. Instead of making your own seasoning blend (which is as complicated as making a trip to a grocery store or bulk food store that sells dried herbs in bulk!), you can use Italian Seasoning to add a pizza-y flavour.
I topped the frittata with pepperoni and cheese, omitting the green pepper, onion and mushrooms called for in the original recipe. You can use whatever pizza toppings you like to personalize your Pizza Frittata.
The frittata will slide right out of the pan onto a plate. It’s best eaten with a fork as it will be hot. If you let it cool a little, then cut it into wedges, it could be served as an appetizer, sans cutlery!
This is such a simple and great-tasting recipe. No flash in the pan, but certainly ready in a flash!
When making presentations about eggs to high school Family Studies classes, I often ask a couple students to help me make a few 6 or 8-egg versions of Pizza Frittata so everyone can have a taste. The recipe always goes over well.
You don’t need an endless list of ingredients to make a great recipe. That said, usually the list of ingredients in a recipe includes more than four or five things.
Not the recipes I’m sharing today! Both recipes have five ingredients or less.
When a recipe can be pared down to just a few components, and the end result tastes darn delicious, it’s usually a keeper – for a couple reasons. First, because of its simplicity, and second, because the ingredient list and preparation method can probably be remembered without having to refer to the recipe. What a bonus when you’re wandering through the grocery store after work, wondering what to make for supper!
My first (or perhaps most memorable) introduction to minimal ingredient cooking was years ago with a recipe for Apricot Glazed Chicken. This easily assembled dish was made by pouring a mixture of Russian dressing, apricot jam and onion soup mix over chicken pieces, then baking the chicken in the oven or a slow cooker. I made this recipe repeatedly, because it was easy and tasty, and the ingredients needed were etched on my brain.
I’ve shared the recipe for the slow cooker version of Apricot Glazed Chicken below, along with a another favourite minimal ingredient go-to recipe – Fusilli with Sautéed Eggplant and Feta Cheese.
Sometimes less is more, and keeping it simple makes delicious sense!
Apricot-Glazed Chicken
(Makes 8 to 12 servings)
I’ve made this recipe in a 5 qt (5 L) slow cooker, making 3 layers of 4 chicken breasts halves.
1 cup (250 mL) apricot jam
3/4 cup (175 mL) Russian (or French) dressing
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
12 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
In a medium bowl, stir together jam, dressing and soup mix until well blended.
In the bottom of a 3 1/2 qt (3.5 L) slow cooker, arrange 3 chicken breast halves. Spoon a quarter of the apricot mixture over top. Repeat with 3 more layers of chicken with apricot mixture between layers.
Cover and cook on High for 1 hour. Reduce to Low and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until chicken is tender.
Serve sauce over chicken. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice.
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Fusilli with Sautéed Eggplant and Feta Cheese
(Makes 4 to 6 servings)
1 lb (about 450 g) uncooked fusilli pasta
1/2 lb (250 g) feta cheese
1 medium eggplant
2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 mL) olive oil
1 jar (700 to 750 mL) chunky pasta sauce
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook fusilli according to package directions.
While fusilli is cooking, cut or crumble feta into approximately 1/2-inch (1 cm) pieces; set aside. Dice eggplant into 3/4-inch (2 cm) pieces. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add eggplant and cook, stirring frequently, until eggplant softens and begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in pasta sauce and feta cheese; heat through.
Drain pasta. Toss gently with sauce and serve.
