Breaking News: Woman Swoons, Brownies at Fault

If there was a press release that came out everytime that happened...! Swooning, or maybe going weak in the knees, is exactly what happened to me when I took my first bite of the Fiddlehead Brownies (pg. 176) last night.

Melting the chocolate and butter.

There's something about melting chocolate - maybe the smell - that just drives me crazy. I've been on a chocolate kick for the past couple of weeks - pouring through the recipes in my all chocolate cook book. Our little yurt has been over-heated almost every night and has almost permanently taken on the strong smells of cocoa, butter and cream. Ganache, frosting, sunday topper, cake, and now brownies.

While the chocolate was melting (be sure to keep stirring), I had the mixer beating up the eggs. When you check out this recipe for yourself you will be astounded by the number of eggs called for. I have never used this many eggs for brownies (my quick and easy recipe is mixed over heat on the stove and only uses 2-3 eggs), but I am absolutely sure that the whipped eggs are what make these brownies so special.

Whipped eggs

Hold onto your apron strings everyone! This is going to get intense.

The batter was very smooth but also thick and a little foamy from the beaten eggs. I carefully folded in the melted chocolate and butter and added the chopped nuts. This recipe really makes a lovely batter.

Batter in pan and ready for oven.

I have always steered clear of baking my brownies in a shallow pan. Mostly because I love a thick gooey browny and it seems like my brownies always get too crunchy in a shallow pan. However, that's what the Fiddlehead cookbook called for - so in the interest of actually testing it out for this blog, I pulled out my thin baking pan (essentially a cookie sheet with sides). After preping the pan (butter and flour), I poured the delectable batter into the pan and slid it into the oven to cook.

Fiddlehead brownies à la mode with home-made

chocolate sunday sauce. Ready, set, swoon!

Perfect. Absolutely, deliciously perfect! These brownies were gooey with a bit of crunch on the side pieces. As I took that first bite, I closed my eyes savoring the texture and flavor, feeling my knees go a little weak...