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Brownies too cake like. Help!

post #1 of 16
8/12/07 at 4:52pm
Thread Starter 
I have a recipe for brownies and I've only been able to actually make it like brownies instead of cake, maybe twice. Why are my brownies coming out like cake? Here's the recipe:
Decadent Blonde Brownies
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking power
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 package (1 oz) semisweet chocolate chunks (Next time I make them I won't use this, didn't care for it too much)
1 jar (3 1/2 oz) macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped to measure 1/4 cup

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 13X9-inch baking pan.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl; set aside.
Beat granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture. Beat at low speed until well blnded. Stir in chocolate chunks and macadamia nuts. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove pan to wire rack; cool completely. Cut into 3 1/4 X 1 1/2-inch bars.
Makes 2 dozen brownies
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post #2 of 16
8/12/07 at 7:31pm
My thinking is your mixing method or mixing time if you have inconsistent results with the same recipe. I have a recipe, can't find it now since I just got back from a 1000 person catering and I'm totally beat, that is more dense but chewy that it calls for corn syrup. I'll have a look around once I've rested.
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post #3 of 16
8/13/07 at 4:58am

Fudgy Brownies are where it's at...

There is no crime worse than cakey brownies. If you want cakey - have a cake. Brownies should be fudgey (though some would argue I should just eat fudge, but we of course know the difference...)

Anyway, the reason your recipe is turing out like cake is simply because you have a recipe for cake there. The dry ingredients you sift together there in step one are the same you would find in most any cake or cookie recipe, complete with baking powder as a leavening agent.

You then cream the two sugars together with the butter unti "light and fluffy" which whips more air into the batter which further aids in the rising process.

In short, this is a great chocolate cake recipe, but not a brownie recipe.

You want to melt your butter with the chocolate to make a dense, rich base for your brownies, and separately beat together the sugar, salt, eggs and vanilla. Then add the melted chocolate (cooled slightly so as not to scramble your eggs) to that. Then gently fold in the flour. (Leave out the baking soda.)

Bake in a well-greased pan - maybe even line with foil for easier removal - and you should be good to go with a nice, fudgy brownie recipe!

Enjoy!
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post #4 of 16
8/13/07 at 12:31pm
Since you have made brownies with this recipe this leads me to think 3 things:

1. You changed flour brands or bought a new bag of flour
2. You are not ensuring repeatability
3. You are overbaking (sometimes)

1. If you changed brands of flour or bought a new bag of flour you reset the starting point. I know many people are partial to some very specific brands of All Purpose Flour. Some of the stuff bought in the supermarket is not in that league. Some all purpose flours will vary greatly from shipment to shipment. This will affect your brownies. Try to find a brand name flour and stick with it.

2. Using volume measures does not ensure repeatability. Buy a scale. Next time dump the volume measured ingredients on the scale (cracked eggs too) and note the weight. Hopefully next time you'll get brownies you like and you'll be much more able to repeat your results. I urge everyone to get a scale for all baking.

3. Overbaking is what kills most brownies. Use a thermometer in the oven to ensure you have the same temp each time. Don't bake to color. Bake to time. When the brownies are in don't open the door "just to see". Leave the door shut until you are ready to take the pan out. Bake less minutes than more. Experiment with time.
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post #5 of 16
8/13/07 at 1:01pm
I'm with MattFin on this. You're not going to get a fudgy brownie with this method. Being as how this is a "blonde" brownie (not my favorite kind - chocolate all the way for me) there isn't any chocolate to melt with the butter to create the dense base MattFin talks about. However, you might want to try it anyway with just the melted and slightly cooled butter added to the beaten eggs and sugar.

Like MattFin says, fold the flour into the batter - don't beat it which will develop too much gluten. You could also try using cake flour to further reduce the risk of gluten development. This is not a product that needs a lot of stucture to hold it together like a cake so going with the low protein cake flour won't hurt.

Jock
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post #6 of 16
8/16/07 at 11:42pm
Thread Starter 
WOW! Thanks heaps for all the help! I will try some of the suggested y'all have listed here and will let you know how they turn out once I try it.
I feel so sinful when I create cake like brownies. :( Thanks again! You guys/gals are the best!
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post #7 of 16
8/20/07 at 10:29am
I read through the section on brownies from KAF's Cookie Companion and can give you this advice. Brownies can be made cakey or fudgey based on the amount of flour, sugar, butter and eggs in the recipe. To make this fudgier, I would add 1 more egg, up the butter to 1.5 sticks, 1 cup of each sugar and reduce the flour to 1.25 cups. Also, melt the butter in a small pot (keep the temperature LOW) and disolve the sugar in it. then add all of the dry ingredients, except for the flour, then add the eggs one at a time, and then fold in the flour.

Give that a try and play with it a bit.

Dan
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post #8 of 16
8/29/07 at 12:34am
yup, i was going to say to add half a stick more of butter and melt it... the more butter you have in your recipe the more fudgey and gooey they will be.

-joujou
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post #9 of 16
8/29/07 at 1:51am
Fudge Brownie


4 cups sugar
2 cups all purpose shortening(or Butter)
8 large Eggs
1 1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 /1/4 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 cups nuts
1 tsp salt (optional)
**********procedure**********
*preheat oven 350° this will yield a full sheet brownie 16x24*
1)beat sugar and shortening for a while (you want the mixture to turn from pale white to bright)
2)then add eggs beat again untill light & fluffy)The first two things are key to get a chewy shine on the top on your brownie
3) sift dry ingredents together add slowly to the sugar mixture mix to incorporate.
if you want nuts add last.

this is how we make brownies you can see that the sugar is double the shortening, not enough sugar you will have cakey brownies.
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post #10 of 16
8/29/07 at 10:16am

Cakey Fudge

CHEF RAZ:
Good afternoon. I also live in Las Vegas Chef. My question to you chef is this. I have read your recipe & I noticed the weight of the flour as opposed to the weight of the sugar. I believe we have a case here of a
"HI~RATIO" cake formula???. Shouldn't SWEETEX be used in this formula???. Just curious chef. I would like to know how we can get around this un~balance between flour & sugar.
Good luck Chef & have a nice day.

~ZEE.:chef:
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post #11 of 16
8/31/07 at 12:52am
Ponygr, sorry I ithought you were making chocolate brownies , my bad.
just like was stated before me, you do need melted butter with blondie brownie


And to the recipe I posted. It has no problems, I've been making them for 13 years with the a.p.shortening creaming the sugar until bright white mixture.(which is the key) they turn out rich & chocolate'y. sense there is cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate it takes the place of dry ingredents, so there is no problem "we" need to take care of.


have a great day ponygrl477.let us know how your brownies turn out with the melted butter.
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post #12 of 16
8/31/07 at 4:18am
Z-
With brownies, you want this unbalance. It keeps them from being too cake-like. A brownie is basically an unbalanced chocolate cake.

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post #13 of 16
8/31/07 at 8:15am
CHEF ERIK:
Good morning. Thank you for your quick reply. I appreciate the lession.
Have a nice day.

~ZEE.
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post #14 of 16
7/29/09 at 7:52am

help

hey there matt!!i,m a real hopeless case!all my brownies came up cakey!tried ur suggestions,still cakey!HELP!
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post #15 of 16
8/2/09 at 9:44pm
thanks chefraz for posting the fudgey brownies recipe. I was curious as to your recipe using shortening and coco powder. Also 8 eggs but then 4 cups of sugar. All the other recipes keep saying that you need to use melted chocolate and butter. Your recipe seems to have a better shelf life and less costly using no chocolate and no butter.. since I have not tried your recipe , anyone knows what the difference in taste would be?
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post #16 of 16
8/27/09 at 9:19pm
Hmm, if no chocolate, I guess the taste would not be that chocolatey ?

Cocoa powder is not enough to bring out the chocolatey taste !!

I've always use Van Houten chocolates for brownies !
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