Warning: This brownie is not standard or generic. The taste profile is much darker and luxurious, perfect for those who love extremely dark chocolate. It’s more akin to a brownie on a plated dessert.
This is best served slightly warm (pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds) and can be topped with a simple vanilla ice cream or raspberry coulis. But it’s also fine to enjoy by itself. It’s extremely rich in texture, too, so serving size can be more petite.
If you’ve never worked with chocolate couverture before, it’s different from chocolate chips in a few different ways. It doesn’t have added chemicals to keep it from melting at room temperature. So once you melt it, it completely melts. It has a high amount of cocoa butter, which is why this brownie is rich and velvety.
This recipe makes 16 servings for 2×2 in brownies.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup melted dark chocolate couverture (room temp.) (If you want a sweeter brownie, you can substitute for milk chocolate.)
8 Tb butter (room temp.)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs (room temp.)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
pinch salt
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2) Butter an 8×8-in baking pan.
3) Melt the chocolate couverture using a double boiler/bain marie to ensure that the chocolate does not scorch. (You can also slowly melt the chocolate in the microwave, mixing every 10 sec.) Let cool to room temp.
4) Mix the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract.
5) Add the eggs one at a time.
6) Add in melted chocolate. (Make sure the chocolate is room temp.)
7) Separately, combine the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Make sure all lumps are broken up.
8) Add the dry ingredients and combine just until it is incorporated.
9) Put the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. (A small offset spatula is ideal.)
10) Put it in the oven for ~25 min, until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs (but not fully clean).
11) Let it cool for about a half hour.
12) When cutting squares with a knife, keep it clean as possible, wiping off the knife with every cut.