I was invited for a potluck yesterday and was deciding what to bring. I’d already decided on baked chicken, and I almost made cornbread muffins to go, thinking I could go all Kenny Rogers-style. To my horror, I found insects in my cornmeal! So I decided to make dessert instead. And to be safe, something chocolatey. You can’t go wrong with chocolate.

I have been using Martha Stewart’s brownie recipe for a long time and decided to try something new instead. I chanced upon Alice Medrich’s brownie recipe a while back and it has been on my to-bake list. Here’s my own adaptation of the recipe:

Double Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Best Cocoa Brownies

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons salted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

In a large glass or metal bowl, combine the butter, sugar and cocoa powder.Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until butter melts and combines with the sugar and cocoa.Here’s when I panicked. Usually, when I make brownies, the mixture is ganache-like, but this time it was a paste! I tasted the paste and it was grainy because the sugar crystals did not melt. But it tasted soooo good! So don’t panic! When it looks like this, remove the bowl from the heat and allow to cool until warm to touch.Next, stir in the vanilla extract, followed by the eggs. You don’t want the eggs to cook so stir quickly with a whisk or a wooden spatula. After the addition of the eggs, the mixture should look shiny, like a ganache frosting.When well combined, add the sifted flour and mix until no streaks of flour remain. Here’s the interesting bit: the instructions ask to beat the batter for 40 strokes.

I added the chocolate chips and chopped nuts as an afterthought and stirred until just combined. Spread the batter evenly in a prepared baking pan. The batter was thick and hard to spread, but be patient. A spatula should do the job. I used a 8″ x 8″ baking pan and I didn’t oil/flour-dust or use any parchment paper or baking foil because I forgot. But please do. It’s much easier to remove and to slice afterwards. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Alternatively, if you like your brownies fudgier or a little under-cooked, 18 minutes should be good.

The result: A perfectly crackly top brownie.As you can see, I used a fork to remove the brownies out of the pan, making sure not to scratch my baking pan. So please, use parchment paper or foil. The sides are especially pesky because they tend to be more harder and stick to the pan.Dense. Fudgy. Nutty. Moist. Chocolatey. I’m sold. If you’re a chocolate lover, then this is the recipe for you. Reminiscent of my Tunnel of Fudge Cake, it’s like the fudge centre of the cake (the best part)!

Best eaten warm, we heated the brownies up in the microwave for about 30 seconds and had them with ice cream from Island Creamery. Sinful, but totally worth it!