Saturday, May 12, 2007

No Alarms and No Surprises

Brownies and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Fearing a backlash from faithful readers, I thought I should post about food again. I know you can only take so much of this I love my city so much it hurts chatter. Now back to the grub.

If you ask me, there is nothing more humdrum than a brownie, it’s flat, monochromatic and always tastes of chocolate. It’s almost ludicrous to expect something other than that of a brownie, because really that is what it is, and I must say that this one is no different.

When it comes to brownies I don’t like to stray too much left of centre, I like to keep within the brownie boundaries and never wander off into wild interpretations and unique embellishments. I like my brownie just like that girl-next-door, you know exactly what to expect and there are no surprises. Unlike the girl across the street and down the road to the left, who’s full of twists and turns and palatal meanderings; I like to keep my brownie just as it is.

Brownies and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I've always been this way when it comes to the brownie, even when I was younger. I hated it when mum would put walnuts or cherries or even dates in the brownies, I just wanted them plain, completely and utterly unadorned. Bear in mind, I was also the kind of kid that preferred just butter on my toast and sometimes when I was feeling rather brash and impulsive I would go for some Nutella. But most times it was plain old butter and bread for me.

I am not so plain nowadays, I do fancy a bit of jam on my toast sometimes, and when feeling bold (and sometimes stupid), I spread myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Okay, so I only did this the one time and hated it, and deduced that it must be a North American phenomenon as to how Vegemite is mostly an Australian-thing.

But tried and true, there are just some combinations that marry well. More than peanut butter and jelly and better than pork and beans, brownies and vanilla ice cream go together like the proverbial peas in the pod. I would go even as far to say that the combination is up there in realm of powerhouse combinations like fish and chips or chocolate and churros.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

When it comes to brownies, I think that the best recipes use some form of “real” chocolate, and when I say real, I mean not the powdered kind. There isn’t anything wrong with supplementing the recipe with some cocoa powder although I must say I prefer the taste of brownies that contain some sort of chocolate. And I have to say that the same goes for vanilla ice cream. There’s no use putting all that elbow grease into making an ice cream if you aren’t going to use real vanilla beans. This no time for vanilla extract and god forbid vanilla essence. You don’t exactly need to go for the Tahitian stuff; you can buy inexpensive vanilla beans for around $4.95 that will do the job just fine and is miles better than using and essence or extract.

Here is the basic recipe for brownies, if you aren't as plain as I am be inclined to add a few things here and there, be it some walnuts, some banana or a splash of Brandy, go for it.


Fudgey Brownie Squares
adapted from this book
makes 16 squares

Melt-in-your-mouth Brownies

70g unsalted butter, diced
170g bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), roughly chopped
¾ cup raw caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup plain all-purpose flour
icing (confectioner’s) sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare a 23cm square tin with parchment paper.
Set a medium heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
Place butter and chocolate in the bowl and stir until just melted.
Remove bowl from water and using a whisk stir in sugar. The mixture will look grainy at this point but this is all right.
Whisk in eggs, one by one and add the vanilla giving one last vigorous whisk before the flour is added.

Gently sift in flour and salt and using a wooden spoon or spatula, fold in the flour until it is just incorporated into the batter.
Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a dul crust forms and a skewer comes out clean when inserted.
Remove brownies from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
Turn out onto a cutting board and slice into 16 pieces.
Dust with icing sugar and serve with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (see recipe below).

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
makes about 1-litre of ice cream


Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

1 cup caster sug
ar
1 vanilla pod, halved and seeds extracted (still retain the empty pod)
4 egg yolks
350ml full cream milk
450ml pure cream (35-45% milk fat), refrigerated

In a small dry bowl combine sugar and vanilla seeds, using your fingertips and sugar granules, separate the vanilla seeds that tend to stick to each other.
Place sugar, vanilla seeds and egg yolks together in a large bowl and beat until thick and pale.
Place milk and empty vanilla pod into a medium heavy based saucepan over low heat and bring the milk just to a gentle simmer.
Remove from heat and strain the milk using a fine sieve.
Gradually pour the strained milk into the egg and sugar mixture, whisking slowly as you go.
Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk the custard until it thickens. (If you have a thermometer, the custard should be at about 60°C.)
Remove custard from heat and pass through a fine sieve again to remove any clumps that may have formed.
Place in the refrigerator to chill for 1-2 hours.
In another bowl, whisk cold cream until just thickened.
Remove custard from the refrigerator and using a whisk, incorporate cream into the custard*.
Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions**.
When churned, transfer ice cream to a 1.0-litre airtight container and place in the freezer.
The ice cream should be ready to serve after 1-2 hours.

*Ensure that you do not add the cream to a warm custard mixture.
** Under no circumstances should you place warm custard into an ice cream machine, unless you want to destroy it.

18 comments:

myriam said...

do you deliver to switzerland? they look gorgeous - sweet & wonderful! do you wanna join our browniebabe event? http://onceuponatart.blogspot.com come and join the fun!

Anonymous said...

Mmm... I want it now! :P

I also agree that brownie should be just plain chocolate and nothing else. BTW, my mom used to put peanut butter and condensed milk on toast and it tastes really good. Maybe you should try it!

Inne said...

That looks absolutely delectable Jen - I'm partial to a bit of 'vanille & chocolat' myself :) And I totally agree with you: don't mess with brownies. They are perfect just as they are!

miss jools said...

Of course you are more than welcome to take the idea. Although I have to admit that I can't take credit for it.. it was done by a catering company in town.

Thanks for stopping by and I am really loving your photos!

Truffle said...

Both of these sound heavenly and the pictures are stunning.

As an ex-Sydneysider with frequent bouts of homesickness I welcome any city related chatter too :)

Brilynn said...

I loooove a fudgy brownies, those look perfect.

Anonymous said...

Yummy.. brownies with vanilla icecream. It's the only dessert I can't resist. Looks really moist and fudgy. My first attempt on brownies failed badly. Baked for too long and turns out dry like chocolate cake.

Peabody said...

You can never go wrong with the classic brownie with vanilla ice cream.

Kelly Innes said...

Brownies should be simple, unadultered chuks of chocolate. I'm sure it's a rule somewhere....

They look so good, I could eat the photograph!

Patricia Scarpin said...

These are just perfect, Jenjen! Look how fudgy they are... yummy!

Kajal@aapplemint said...

** Under no circumstances should you place warm custard into an ice cream machine, unless you want to destroy it....haha looks like you speak from experience ! i will definately keep this in mind as i have never tried to make icecream , and i must confess i am a little impatient in the kitchen !

Cheryl said...

Those are just the most simple, yet perfect and moist brownies I have ever seen. I too prefer my brownies with no nuts in them, so these are just up my alley.

jasmine said...

These look absolutely heavenly!

j

Jen said...

Myriam- Thanks for giving me a heads up about the event. Count me in! By the looks of your blog, you don't need me to deliver you anything, as your creations lk even better!

Windy- Hmm, peanut butter and condensed milk on toast...Sounds like a toothache waiting to happen. But I am definitely intrigued.

Inne- Thanks, yes vanilla and chocolate are another one of those powerhouse combinations you can't beat.

Jules- Thanks! Well whoever came up wit the idea, it is great. Thanks for posting about it, or I wouldnt have come across it : )

Truffle- Oh yay another Sydneysider! I will definitely be thinking of you whenever I post more Sydney pics.

Brilynn- Thanks, I cannot agree more!

Didally- This recipe is pretty flexible. Even if you overbake them a little, it's very hard to turn them into rocks, so hope you can give them a go.

Peabody- I'm glad you agree, it is a excellent combination : )

Kelly- yes, I think there should be some brownie guideline that stipulates something along those lines.

Patricia Scarpin- They are as close to perfect as brownies can get, if I must say. You can't really go wrng with a Dorie Greenspan recipe.

Kate- Fortunately I have never done this myself. Although the lady who taught me at an ice cream class has done it a couple of times and this is exactly what she said.
So I thought I would re-iterate the importance of not doing it : )

Cheryl- I am quite surprised at how many other people prefer plain brownies. I thought I would be alone on this. Thanks!

Jasmine- As always, coming from you, that is a great compliment. Thanks : )

Helene said...

I am playing catch up with you since I (over)celebrated my birthday and I am sitting down to comment with a warm piece of brownie and a scoop of cinnamon ice cream that I made this afternoon...cravings reach across the pond!

Anonymous said...

i think my husband would drop to his knees if i made this exacly as you have with the cone and brownies! your pictures are stunning!!

Julia said...

Gorgeous brownies - and a Radiohead reference! What a combo!

Pille said...

I've never seen brownies so fudgey!!! Nice :)