June Birthday: Luxurious Chocolate Brownies with Macadamia Nuts ~ 豪華巧克力布朗尼蛋糕

My apology out to all you June babies! I know I'm seriously late this month but I have been really busy~____~ Also, we got some unbelievably warm weather for the last couple days here in the Bay Area, so it is hard for me to stay in and write anything! Forgive me~~~~~~~~~~~~

For this month's birthday sweet, I thought about making something light to celebrate the arrival of summer but since I already made custard w/ mixed fruits and a spring opera cake previously; I decided to go with my favorite – chocolate! I’m sure nobody would mind :)

I must warn all of you who get weak at the sight of chocolate that this ultimate luxurious ohmigosh brownie cakes is the stuff we chocoholic would die for, seriously. I found the recipe in this gorgeous Japanese dessert book by Chieko Naitoh – a book filled with beautiful creations with lots of interesting ingredient combinations. I’ve been tempted to make the brownie since I laid eyes on the beautiful pictures in this book, simply irresistible! Sinfully rich, intense and surprisingly not overly sweetened knowing the amount of sugar I added. You will have a hard time putting down the fork after the first bite. Notice I said to eat with a fork? It is because the brownie is super moist that it is hard to pick it up with your fingers. However, if licking chocolate off your fingers is something that you enjoy doing then be my guest^^

The brownie was baked twice and please be advice that the baking time may vary due to temperature variances with different ovens. If it look runny to you then bake for an extra 10 minutes. However, please note that it should look “wet” due to the added chocolate sauce.

Although this is for the die hard chocoholic but I’m confident that even those who do not have a serious sweet tooth will enjoy it too! Oh, one more thing, people who attempt to slim down for the bikini season should stay away =)

Cocoa Batter
90g granulated sugar
25g cocoa powder (Dutch-process)
1 ½ tsp instant coffee powder
2g salt
60ml water
120g unsalted butter (@ room temp.)
60ml milk
80g sour cream
2 whole eggs
120g all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda

Sauce
30g granulated sugar
45g cocoa powder (Dutch-process)
1tbsp instant coffee powder
3g salt
100ml water
100g unsalted butter (@ room temp.)
200g powdered sugar
2 drops vanilla extract

Prep:
- Bring butter back to room temperature.
- Sift together flour and baking soda, twice.
- Butter and line a 9x9-inch or 21cm square pan; set aside.
- Chop the macadamia nuts into fourth then spread out on parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake at 360°F/180°C for 8-10 minutes.

I thought you should know:
- Use the best quality cocoa powder you can find. It makes a world of difference.
- You can replace macadamia nuts with hazelnuts or walnuts.
- These brownies can be stored up to 2 weeks in the fridge and still taste divine. Just bring it back to room temperature before serving.


Chocolate Sauce:
Preheat oven to at 420°F/210°C. Sift together sugar, cocoa powder, instant coffee, and salt in a saucepan. Add water, cook over medium heat until all ingredients dissolved then remove from heat just below a boil. Pour into a heatproof mixing bowl. Add in the sliced butter, stir till completely melted. Sift in the powdered sugar, adding small amount at a time, stir until melted and combined. Add in the vanilla extract then stir the combine; set aside.

Brownie:
Sift together sugar, cocoa powder, instant coffee, and salt in a medium saucepan. Add water, cook over medium heat until all ingredients dissolved then remove from heat just below a boil. Add in the sliced butter, stir till completely melted then add in the milk and stir until combined; set aside.

In another bowl, whisk the sour cream until smooth then add it to the cocoa cream, stir until combined. Add the eggs (beat them before adding), sift in the flour & baking soda mix, stir until completely combined. Pour the batter into the buttered and lined pan, spread out the batter evenly. Bake for 5 minutes at 420°F/210°C then 10-15 minutes at 360°F/180°C. Insert a cake tester or a wooden skewer into the center of the cake and if it comes out clean then the brownie is down. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack to cool completely before proceeding.

Using a spoon, scoop out the top portion of the cake (2/3 of the cake) and place into a bowl. Using your fingers, break the cake into small crumbs. Evenly distribute the crumbs back into the pan, smooth it out (do not pack). Sprinkle 2/3 of the pre-baked macadamia nuts on top, pour in the chocolate sauce - make sure that the sauce covers ever inch of the cake. Add in the remaining macadamia nuts, bake at 340°F/170°C for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely on cooling rack before serving.

To serve:
Cut the brownie cake into strips, squares or whatever shape you fancy and serve with a big glass of milk or ice cream. I served it with coconut ice cream and it was a perfect match. Absolute deliciousness!



豪華巧克力布朗尼蛋糕

讓六月生日的你們久等了﹗除了生日sweets加送擁抱一個 (不准拒抱哦)! 每月的生日sweets確實讓我很頭痛﹗這個月的當然也不例外囉﹗眼看夏天到了﹐本來想做一些比較有夏天氣息的甜點的﹐可想說前些時候已經做過超有"鮮"氣的卡士達醬與干燒油桃及黑莓及法式劇院蛋糕 所以不能自己的又做了巧克力甜點了;p 我想應該沒有人會反對的是不是^0^

對於那些愛吃巧克力的人(我)﹐這個布朗尼蛋糕可是我們這些Chocoholic一直尋找的那個超級無敵特濃濕潤布朗尼﹗我看過無數的布朗尼食譜﹐可是只有這本由內藤千惠子著作的京都精緻西點裡的讓我心動。書裡的每一個甜點都是驚人的美﹗每掀一頁心跳就加速不少﹗再說材料組合很特別賣相賞心悅目又別出心裁﹐讓我磨拳擦掌躍躍欲試﹗還有那個照片拍的非常吸引人﹐我看的眼珠子都跳出來了(外帶口水流了滿地的說*Q*)~

這個布朗尼蛋糕究竟有什麼過人之處呢? 它比起其他的布朗尼的做法來的複雜一點但相對的美味度也略勝一籌。烤好冷卻後將表面搗碎﹐淋上醬汁﹐然後再烘烤一次﹐使蛋糕整體變的濃郁。味道香濃又充滿了濕潤的口感﹐還有甜度出奇的恰恰好。那個夏威夷果仁的香氣也勾勒出布朗尼的美味﹐令它更可口。

我敢說不僅chocoholic會愛死它﹐不嚐甜食的人也會﹗不過我要告誡那些正在瘦身的人﹐先將食譜存起來吧﹗這個碰不得~

可可亞麵糊
90g 細砂糖
25g 可可粉(Dutch process)
1 ½ 茶匙 即溶咖啡
½ 茶匙 鹽
60ml 水
120g 無鹽奶油
60 ml 牛奶
80g 酸味奶油
2個 全蛋
120g 低筋麵粉
1 ½ 茶匙蘇打粉
100g 夏威夷果仁

可可亞淋醬
30g 細砂糖
45g 可可粉(Dutch process)
1茶匙 即溶咖啡
2/3茶匙 鹽
100ml 水
100g 無鹽奶油
200 糖粉
2滴 香草油

事前準備:
- 將無鹽奶油切片﹐還原成室溫。
- 將麵粉及蘇打粉混合後過篩兩次﹐備用。
- 將一個9x9或21cm方形模具抹上厚厚的奶油，再鋪上烘烤紙後﹐備用。
- 將一烤架移到烤箱中間，烤箱預熱至360°F/180°C。
- 將夏威夷果仁切成四片﹐攤開放在鋪了烘烤紙的烤盤上﹐然後用360°F/180°C烘烤8分鐘﹐備用。

要注意什麼呢?
- 可可粉的品質主宰著這個布朗尼的美味度。務必用你財力範圍可以負擔的好的品質的可可粉喲﹗
- 如果你不喜歡夏威夷果﹐榛果﹑核桃也是不賴的選擇。
- 這個布朗尼蛋糕可以冷藏保存長達2個星期﹐美味不變。吃前回室溫就可。

可可亞淋醬:
將細砂糖﹑可可粉﹑即溶咖啡﹑鹽放進小鍋裡充份混合後加水開中火煮至溶解。沸騰前將小鍋移開﹐熄火﹐倒進耐熱大碗裡。加入切成片的無鹽奶油﹐攪拌至完全溶解後加進篩過的糖粉﹐一點一點的加進去﹐不停的輕輕攪拌至完全溶解。最後加進香草油﹐備用。

可可亞麵糊:
將細砂糖﹑可可粉﹑即溶咖啡﹑鹽放進小鍋裡充份混合後加水開中火煮至溶解。沸騰前將小鍋移開﹐熄火﹐倒進耐熱大碗裡。加入切成片的無鹽奶油﹐攪拌至完全溶解後加進牛奶﹐再攪拌至混合成可可亞漿。

將酸味奶油在另一碗裡打至滑潤有光澤後﹐加進可可亞漿中﹐攪拌至混合。然後將已打散的全蛋加進﹐混合。跟著將混合篩過的麵粉及蘇打粉加進去。攪拌混合均勻後倒進模具中﹐放進預熱過的烤箱裡﹐用420°F/210°C烤5分鐘﹐再用360°F/180°C烤10- 15分鐘。取出﹐放在模具中直接至完全冷卻。

用湯匙將烤過冷卻後的蛋糕從表面刮掉2/3﹐放的碗裡。用手捏碎後﹐放回原來的模具中﹐輕輕的將表面撫平﹐千萬不要用力壓。將烤過的2/3份量的夏威夷果仁均勻的撒在蛋糕上﹐再均勻的將淋醬倒在蛋糕上﹐最後將剩餘的夏威夷果仁加進去。用340°F/170°C烤20 -25分鐘﹐取出﹐放在模具中直接至完全冷卻。