Cashewnut Brownie

Brownie is always one of my favorite dessert but I haven't bake one before from scratch except those off-the-shelf pre-packed mixture. I still have one box left on my shelf though, hehe. 

Well, tempted to bake my very own, I tried out this recipe which is adapted from Kevin Chai cook book "AA Touch of Classic Baking". It turns out a bit sweet for me.

INGREDIENTS

140g cooking chocolate

50g brown sugar (to reduce to 20g  if you want a less-sweet brownie)

50g butter

1/2 tbs cocoa powder

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp baking powder

40g plain flour

15g white chocolate chips

15g semi-sweet chocolate chips

30g cashew nuts

Notes: For full recipe, double the ingredients and use a 7x7" pan.

METHOD

1. Melt butter, cooking chocolate and coco powder in a medium or large pan over low heat.

2. Stir in brown sugar until almost melted and remove from heat to cool down slightly.

3. Add in eggs and mix well.

4. Preheat your oven at 180 Celsius and lined a 7"x3" loaf pan.

5. Mix the flour and baking powder. Fold flour into the chocolate batter and do not overdo it.

6. Pour and spread the batter into the pan and sprinkle the chocolate chips and cashew nuts over the top.

7. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes.

8. Serve when cool.

Easy-Mix Walnut Brownie (Part 2)

This is the second part of testing off-the-shelf product from hypermarket on a lazy Sunday noon. If you are following my blog, the brand that I bake previously was Pillsbury and the taste isn't so nice to my preference. I hope that this brand from USA would be better i.e.  Betty Crockers.Talking about laziness, the preparation of this brownie mixture actually takes less than 10 minutes and real easy.

Betty Crockers Brownies

INGREDIENTS

1 box of walnut brownie

2 eggs

1/4 cup of corn oil

1/4 cup of water 

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 160 Celcius and line a 8 inch square pan.
2. Blend water, oil and egg in a medium bowl using a whisk or hand mixer until integrated. Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.

3. Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes and do not overbake.

4. Once cooled, cut brownies into rectangular size and serve.

My verdict on Betty Crockers
Disappointed, it has similar taste to Pillsbury with lower artificial flavour presence but yet I didn't really get the chocolatey satisfaction. With a scoop of ice cream on top would probably make the cut for this brownie. Nonetheless, I would cross out this from my shopping list.

I still have one brownie box left in my shelf for another lazy endeavor.

Easy-Mix Walnut Brownie (Part 1)

I must confess that I'm so into chocolate and brownie is one of my favorites. Brownie is a type of dense, rich chocolate cake, which is, in texture, like a cross between a cake and a cookie. Brownies come in a variety of forms, either fudgy or cakey and may include nuts, frosting, chocolate chips, or must I say, ice-cream.. So delicious!!! The moment you have a taste of it, just feel like heaven.

Well, being lazy and yet to find my perfect brownie recipe, I opt to buy something off the self to bake and there's so so many choices in the supermarket. Price-wise is about the same among the brands but most of them claim to be the best in the market. Let's check them out then, the 3 brands of walnut brownie that I bought..

1. Pillsbury (Made in Philippines), 
2. Betty Crocker (Made in USA) and 
3. Ghirardelli (Made in USA)

INGREDIENTS

1 box of walnut brownie

1 egg

1/4 cup of corn oil

1/3 cup of water 

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 160 Celcius and line a 7 inch square pan.
2. Blend water, oil and egg in a medium bowl using a whisk or a hand mixer until integrated. Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.
3. Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes and do not overbake. Fresh-baked brownies appear underbaked  but cool to doneness.
4. Once cooled, cut brownies into rectangular sized and enjoy ;-) 

Here's the results

Pillsbury Walnut Brownie

My verdict on Pillsbury

It doesn't really taste nice and not up to my expectations. I find that it doesn't have that fresh smell of chocolate, too much artificial flavor. Definitely not buying this brand again.

 





For Ghirardelli and Betty Crockers results and review, please stay tune.