Quintuple Chocolate Brownies

I've been wanting to make these brownies for quite some time and was definitely happy with how they turned out. Some people thought they were pretty sweet, especially with the white chocolate glaze/ganache on top. As for me, maybe I've been eating too many baked goods because they tasted just right! These brownies are, as Dorie says, more fudgy than cakey. To me they were kind of like a cookies and cream brownie due to the white chocolate on top. For those of you that don't like white chocolate (blasphemy!) you could omit the glaze or do a dark chocolate glaze instead. Actually that sounds really good - I should try a dark chocolate glaze next time.

Even though I left Tuesdays with Dorie, I still want to make every recipe in Dorie's Baking cookbook. Whenever I want to bake, it's the first book I'm drawn to. I tell myself that I should try recipes from other cookbooks but it's so hard to resist all the gorgeous looking and delicious sounding recipes in her book! So I've been giving in a lot recently.

Other delicious chocolate things:
Chocolate Fudge Souffle Bars
Chocolate Cinnamon Cake
Dulce de Leche Brownies
French Chocolate Brownies

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

My note: It's really important that you try and spread the batter as evenly as possible because it doesn't naturally smooth out during baking. Of course the brownies will still be delicious but you won't get as even of a distribution of white chocolate glaze on top. My slight modification was to use only 1/2 cup of walnuts.

For the Brownies
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons strong coffee
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces premium-quality milk chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts

For the Glaze
6 ounces premium-quality white chocolate, finely chopped, or 1 cup store-bought white chocolate chips
1/3 heavy cream

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt.

To Make the Brownies: Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and add, in the following order, the butter, the two chocolates and the coffee. Keeping the pan over low heat, warm just until the butter and the chocolates are melted– you don’t want the ingredients to separate, so keep an eye on the bowl. Stir gently, and when the mixture is smooth, set it aside for 5 minutes.

Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Don’t beat too vigorously– you don’t want to add air to the batter– and don’t be concerned about any graininess. Next, stir the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. You should have a smooth, glossy batter. If your not already using a rubber spatula, switch to one now and gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. Finally, stir in the milk chocolate chips and nuts. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until a think knife inserted into the center comes out streaked but not thickly coated. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the brownies rest undisturbed for at least 30 minutes. (You can wait longer if you’d like.)

Turn the brownies out onto a rack, peel away the foil and place it under another rack–it will be the drip catcher for the glaze. Invert the brownies onto the rack and let cool completely.

To Make the Glaze: Put the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Wait 30 seconds, then, using a rubber spatula, gently stir until the chocolate is melted.and the glaze is smooth.

Hold a long metal icing spatula in one hand the bowl of glaze in the other. Pour the glaze onto the center of the brownies and use the spatula to nudge it evenly over the surface. Don’t worry if it dribbles over the edges, you can trim the sides later (or not). Refrigerate the brownies for about 20 minutes to dry the glaze.

Cut into 16 squares, each roughly 2 1/4 inches on a side.