The late night hankering for a snack that hasn’t been made yet. It’s one of those things that make your significant other question, “Wait. You’re going to make that tonight?” And you look at the clock, see it says 1am and respond, “Yes I am.” Last night for some strange reason I got a craving for brownies. Not boxed brownies, but full on homemade brownies. And not just any delectable chocolate treats, but ones featuring the end of the fresh raspberries and my favorite nut accompaniment. So it was that at 1am I sped off to the store to pick up the few essentials not already on hand to make these Raspberry and Hazelnut brownies.
Here’s the problem with brownies for me, I like them chewy. And most often chewy means brown sugar. I contemplated doing some nice chewy blondies, but my wife agreed to let me take on this adventure if I provided her with some chocolate treats. I capitulated against my better judgment and did indeed go the chocolate route. Unfortunately the brownies turned out as I knew they would, with a more cake texture than I prefer. You’ll soon learn that the only cake I truly like is my sister-in-law’s delectable carrot cake.
The best part about shopping late at night is the avoidance of annoying shoppers. At 1am there’s a lack of people all deciding to stop and look for 5 minutes at the same three boxes of instant rice barely passable for eating mixes. Seriously people, it’s all the same poor quality rice with weirdly flavored sauces that will leave you feeling sad. Just pick one and move on. Whenever possible I shop late in the night, most often after I’ve left work. Last night’s trip was without any event to speak of. Although I did have a mild panicky moment when the raspberries weren’t in their usual spot. I wandered the produce aisles broken hearted until I saw a small display containing just a few pints of raspberries. Disaster avoided I paid for the goods and headed home to cook the following recipe.
Not being a baker in the slightest – actually I loathe baking, which my wife tells me is something I should get over – I turned to epicurious for a recipe. If I wanted the desired brownies I had to put aside my dislike for baking and get down to it. I followed this recipe, which comes from an older Gourmet magazine down to the word. Well, except I did fold some nuts into the batter prior to spreading it around. Nut topping is good, nut topping and nuts in the brownie is even better.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup raspberry preserves, forced through a fine sieve to remove
seeds if desired
3 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and chopped fine
Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan, knocking out excess flour.
In a small bowl stir preserves until smooth. In a heavy 1 1/2-quart saucepan melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring, until smooth and remove pan from heat. Cool mixture 10 minutes and stir in sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon until mixture is glossy and smooth. In a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add to chocolate mixture, beating just until batter is combined well.
Spread half of batter evenly in pan. Drop preserves by spoonfuls onto batter and spread carefully to form an even layer. Drop remaining chocolate batter by spoonfuls onto raspberry preserves and spread carefully to form an even top layer. Sprinkle batter evenly with hazelnuts and bake in middle of oven 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool brownies completely in pan on a rack before cutting into 16 squares. Brownies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container at cool room temperature, 5 days.
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