Chocolate Brownie by Surekha Chandrasekhar

Happy Valentine’s Day Dear osme family!

Every year I bake something chocolatey for Valentine’s Day. This year, I decided I am not baking anything special for Valentine’s Day. This was not a natural decision. It was just another ‘sour grapes syndrome ‘. The truth is, this time I was very enthusiastic and I tried baking a Chocolate Brownie on the 6th of Feb. Way too early! I do two types of cooking, one is routine, and another is inspirational. Inspirational cooking is always done peacefully and takes lots of time. So on the 6th, I decided to make a brownie taking all the time. I searched on Youtube and found a suitable recipe. Got all ingredients ready.

And followed all steps. But the result was quite unexpected. After 20 minutes I took my brownie from the OTG. The sides were getting charred and the middle was wobbly. I put it back once again for another 5 minutes without much result. I sliced it, molten chocolate oozed from the middle. Nope, it is not a Choco lava cake. It was just a failed Brownie!

I hit the rock bottom and decided, this time no Valentine’s brownie.

I had a hectic weekend and forgot about the ‘failed brownie ‘. Came Monday and I decided to take a break from the kitchen after the morning routine. I sat down with a cup of peaceful pea tea on the garden swing. I made plans to bring more plants for The Plant Of Forgiveness ritual we are doing as a community on Shivaratri.

The morning sun rays were charming. I had all the time in hand. I didn’t notice The Cupid hiding somewhere. 😊 I got up and went to the kitchen and made some flour dough to cut some patterns on it for a shoot. Kneading dough without the intention of cooking relaxed my mind. I felt energized. I rolled out the dough and cut tiny flowers on it with baking decoration tools. Arranged them on my photo board for a shot. The tiny dough flowers in different shapes were infinitely cute. I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

‘’I will bake you darling ‘’ I exclaimed!

It was definitely the Cupid!

I was struck by inspiration and the mood changed. There, I was back in the kitchen baking again! But this time I had the strength from the experience of the recent failure. I didn’t want to fail again. I was very cautious and decided to try the ‘’Skillet Brownie ‘’ recipe from YouTube. I measured the ingredients and started following the instructions. The lovely Baker on the tube was going on like a song. The butter was melted, sugar was poured in and cocoa powder was added. Now everything should melt on a slow flame. I removed the melted ingredients from the stove.

At this point, the story was taking an unexpected turn. I decided to taste the preparation before I proceeded further. I tasted a pinch of batter, and to my horror, it was so bitter. The batter looked black instead of the warm chocolatey brown. I tasted Cocoa Powder, it was bitter!

I realized my mistake. I cleaned the skillet. I need to make my own recipe for the brownie. I made the changes and the result was Delicious!

Here is my recipe for The Chocolate Brownie from my kitchen :

INGREDIENTS :

· 60 gms of unsalted butter

· 1 cup granulated sugar

· ½ cup Choco chips (love it: Cocoa crush )

· 1/4 cup cocoa powder (Love It: Cocoa Crush available on amazon )

· 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

· 3 eggs

· 1 cup all-purpose flour (Maida )

· Some more Choco chips and a few small pieces of dark chocolate.

· Sea salt for topping.

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 180 c.

Heat the skillet on a very slow flame. Add butter. While it is melting add sugar. Keep stirring for till the sugar starts to melt. Approximately five minutes. The skillet is very hot by this time. Add the Choco chips and stir. It melts very fast. Add the cocoa powder stir and remove the skillet from the stove. The sugar will continue to melt. Keep stirring and allow the ingredients to cool. Now add the eggs one at a time. Stir and mix after adding each egg. Sift the flour in. Slowly fold in the flour. The mixture is now ready for baking. Add some more Choco chips and pieces of chocolate bar on top. Keep the skillet in the oven and bake for 20 minutes at 180 c.

While the brownie is getting baked and emitting a heady aroma, let us indulge in thoughts of Beloved and Love!

What is Love?

Love is freshly baked Chocolate Brownie!

Love is sharing.

Love is validation.

Love is the anchor.

And,

Self-love is the recipe for unbridled joy.

Dear friends, you can add your own thoughts on Love in the comments section.

Exactly twenty minutes and the brownie is perfectly done. Delicious with a capital D . Enjoy it sizzling hot with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Thinking of excess? Pour some Hershey’s or ganache over the ice cream. Dripping in Love 😊

As a RAK shared some yummy treats with the maid so that she can give them to her elderly Mom who was visiting her.

Don’t forget to sprinkle some rock salt on top for garnish. You can skip it also. I have not added any salt to the recipe. The ingredients naturally have a little bit of salty taste in them.

Jai Sri Hari 😊 Have a sweet day lovely osme family. 😊