The Four
Two brownie recipes, a magic kitchen candle, and my discovery of Palazzo pants.
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Hi Everyone!
I’m all about brownies this week so you get two recipes. I am enjoying a candle that purports to cleanse the air in my kitchen, much needed. Palazzo pants have a weird name but they are oh so comfortable.
1. Easy One-Pot Brownies
No, not Pot Brownies, I mean you can make those if you wish, but what I mean is, I make these brownies in just one pot. They are super quick to whip up when you need a chocolate fix fast. The recipe is based on the Baker’s One Bowl Brownies featured on the inside of that familiar orange box. When I was younger, I made that recipe exclusively. As my cooking evolved, I discovered better chocolate and better brownie recipes. My absolute favorite brownies are Brown Butter Brownies, a recipe I adapted from Heather Mubarak and her blog, Browned Butter Blondie. They are the best, but take a little more time than I had budgeted recently when I needed brownies post haste. I can confidently say I’ve never made brownies from a box mix, and with this recipe in hand, why would you? When you’re in a hurry, Easy One-Pot Brownies to the rescue. And they’re sooo much better than a mix.
Equipment Needed:
Brownie
1¼ sticks (10 T) unsalted butter
5 oz (140g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips (I like Callebaut Dark Callets or Valrhona Guanaja)
1¼ c granulated sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
2 t vanilla bean paste or extract
¾ c all-purpose flour
½ t kosher salt
¼ c chocolate chips
Flakey sea salt for garnish, optional
Line a 9x9” cake pan with parchment paper and let the excess overhang the pan. Grease or spray parchment. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a pot, combine the chocolate with the butter and melt over medium low heat. Stir until smooth and melted then remove from the heat to cool slightly. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar, for 2 minutes total, which will create a crackly top to your brownies once baked. Add in eggs and vanilla and whisk for another minute or so. Add flour, salt, and chocolate chips and stir with a spatula until just combined.
Spread brownie batter in prepared pan and smooth. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out with only a few crumbs. Remove from the oven to a wire rack and cool in the pan for at least 1 hour.
2. Diptyque la Droguerie candle
This rather expensive candle is designed to eliminate odors from your kitchen or any room. The herbaceous scent is intoxicating, a blend of basil, mint, and tomato leaf which is perfect for the summer months. The fresh scent is awakened as the candle burns, but even unlit, this candle throws scent. Does it hunt down and remove obnoxious odors? I doubt it, probably more of a masking situation, but I love it anyway. Diptyque candles have been a part of my home ever since I discovered the store at 34, boulevard Saint-Germain when I lived in Paris back in the early 1990’s. I also love the le Figuier candle which for some reason is on sale on Amazon? Get it while you can.