New York Times recipe: New Classic Brownies

For a brownie almost as dark and dense as a chocolate truffle, there is Alice Medrich’s innovative method for New Classic Brownies: the pan goes directly from a high-heat oven to a bath of ice water, and the just-baked batter slumps, becoming concentrated and intense.

Ingredients:

6 tbsp unsalted butter

115g unsweetened chocolate

1.2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

½ cup all-purpose flour

⅔ cup lightly toasted walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preparation:

Step 1 Preheat oven to 200C. Line a 20cm square metal baking pan with foil. In the top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir often, and remove from heat when a few lumps remain. Stir until smooth.

Step 2 Stir in sugar, vanilla and salt. Stir in eggs one at a time, followed by flour. Stir until very smooth, about 1 minute, until mixture pulls away from sides of bowl. Add nuts, if using. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake, 20 minutes.

Step 3 Meanwhile, prepare a water bath: Pour ice water into a large roasting pan or kitchen sink to a depth of about 2.5cm. Remove pan from oven and place in water bath, being careful not to splash water on brownies. Let cool completely, then lift out and cut into 2.5cm squares or wrap in foil.

Makes 16 brownies

Total time: 40 minutes

Recipe from Alice Medrich’s Cookies And Brownies. Adapted by Julia Moskin.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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