BAKING,  DESSERTS

Baking | One bowl cocoa wholewheat almond brownies … Alice Medrich {#urbandazzle}

2012/10/02 / 25 Comments

“I am endlessly inspired and challenged by ingredients and flavors; the craft involved both in bringing them together and writing about the process.”
Alice Medrich

Cocoa wholewheat almond brownies Cocoa Wholewheat Almond Brownies are a sweet opening to October, plated on the  new Diwali/festival gift collection from Urban Dazzle. Baked out of desperation since I had no good quality baking chocolate on hand, the wholewheat brownies were good unbelievably good!! They are adapted from a recipe by Alice Medrich – author, dessert chef, chocolatier.Cocoa wholewheat almond browniesAlice Medrich is an iconic baker who changed the way we looked at food, desserts, chocolate and baking of course. She’s written a series of  cookbooks, the latest one Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts. Of the 9, Bittersweet and Pure Dessert are two of my favourites. Cocoa wholewheat almond browniesFood weaves a magical pattern. I baked an adaptation of her Orange & Olive Oil Cake in 2008. Some time later I made delicious  Dark Chocolate, Walnut & Craisin Scones from a recipe @ David Lebovitz , another hugely talented cookbook author, dessert maker, ice cream man, story teller. Turned out that recipe was an Alice inspired one too.Caramel cake and sconesIn late 2008, me, a very timid and shaky food blogger in far off North India, virtually met Alice via the Daring Bakers Caramel Cake with Caramelised Butter Frosting. Her Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels was an optional part of the challenge. Those caramels didn’t happen as we were just back from a trip to Sydney where the daughter fell ill with jaundice, was hospitalised …. and what not! Yet, it was another intriguing window into the creative world of Alice Medrich.Pebbly Beach Fruit Squares 6Did I just forget to mention the Pebbly Beach Fruit Square cookies pictured above? Adapted from her cookbook “Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy: Melt-In-Your-Mouth-Cookies”, these are typical Alice style. Classic, comforting and high on taste. The fruit squares recipe is highly adaptable.Cocoa wholewheat almond brownies

Buono Decoration Plate Silver

So when I craved baking brownies and googled for a cocoa version, one of the first matches was a Medrich recipe. There was no looking further. I experimented with substitutions mainly because of the high-ish butter content. Using just whole wheat flour and almond meal instead of plain flour, they turned out to be brownie heaven – deep, dark, chewy, moist! Importantly, one bowl cocoa wholewheat almond brownies; hand whisked and with minimal clean up! Urban DazzleThe bell rang while the brownies were cooling off, and it was the new festive Diwali range of products from Urban Dazzle. Seemed like an early Christmas as I got a staggering array of their recently launched festive ware which includes stunning stoneware, ceramics, porcelain and much more.Cocoa wholewheat almond browniesStoneware is right up my street and the colours and texture hold instant appeal, the quality excellent too!  The soothing blue stoneware platter above with a Mediterranean appeal; and cups, mugs, soup bowls all in pretty colours, stuff you can mix and match. The good thing is the almost inexhaustive choice. You feel like grabbing it all. And that’s the good part! If you love it, others will to.Cocoa wholewheat almond brownies Urban Dazzle is quite a dynamic online option. An e-venture based in New Delhi, they are constantly adding aesthetic, stylish and reasonable  kitchen accessories and home decor items. With Diwali around the corner, they promise to take some burden of gifting off your shoulders… though the extensive range promises to overwhelm you with what to choose & what not!Urban DazzleYou might like these stunning glasses, or a banquet footed platter, chic Borgonovo bottles, pot bellied  jugs and carafes … the variety is endless!Urban Dazzle glasswarePeach Lime CoolerA while ago someone inquired about these white ribbed fruit plates that I recently used for the Empanada Gallegas. I got mine all the way from Sydney two years ago. Imagine my surprise when I saw them on Urban Dazzle a few days ago! Raise a toast,  browse the topsellers, … or then just hit the ‘Sweet Spot’!

 [print_this]Recipe: One bowl Cocoa Wholewheat Almond Brownies
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Summary: Single bowl cocoa brownies. Dark, deep, chewy, moist, chocolaty … and made with whole grain. Makes 16-20 squares. Recipe adapted  from Alice Medrich.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 140g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 80g cocoa powder {3/4cup}
  • 110g raw sugar {1 cup}
  • 2 eggs
  • 30g wholewheat flour {1/4 cup}
  • 25g almond meal {1/4 cup}
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 100g dark chocolate chips

Method:

  1. In a large heat proof bowl, melt the butter, cocoa and sugar in a microwave for 1 minute. Whisk well until smooth.
  2. Whisk in the eggs firmly one by one.
  3. Whisk in the flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt and then whisk briskly for about 1 minute until the mixture becomes smooth and glossy.
  4. Fold in the chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared tin
  5. Bake at 180C for about 25 minutes.
  6. Cool for about 20-30 minutes before slicing {if you like them warm}, else cool, chill and then slice.

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deeba
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About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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25 Comments

  • Sarvani @ baker in disguise

    2012/10/02 at 10:13 pm Reply

    cocoa brownies have been haunting me all day today… yours is the third post…. but yours is the one I am most likely gonna give a try because it has whole wheat.. these look so dark, moist and fudgy.. delish!!

  • Rushika

    2012/10/03 at 12:00 am Reply

    Hi Deeba
    Looking forward to giving these a spin; just wondering what might be the ‘desi’ term for raw sugar… Is it the same as ‘Boora’?

  • Diane

    2012/10/03 at 2:18 pm Reply

    Am gonna try them very soon…Its a delicious kind of dessert…Thanks for the recipe of this yummy kind of texture..

  • Sanjeeta kk

    2012/10/03 at 2:47 pm Reply

    Wow..these dark beauties look gorgeous! And the gifts are just right for the coming festive season. Am I still on your friend list Deeba 😉

    • Deeba @ PAB

      2012/10/03 at 6:33 pm Reply

      Sadia….almond meal is basically peeled and ground almonds. I often throw in whole almonds with their skin and grind them with the wholewheat or plain flour, whicever I am using. I also have some almond meal that a friend got from Down Under in my freezer, so use that at times.

  • Meenu

    2012/10/03 at 11:22 pm Reply

    Thanks for sharing Deeba.

    Your posts are always so very classy and tempting! You make everything look so beautiful.

    The stoneware, ceramic and glassware are classy indeed…I’ve been browsing Urban Dazzle after your post…it is a great estore.

    Is that gorgeous plate in grey/blue gold that you’ve served the brownie’s on also from Urban Dazzle? Loved it….

  • Vijitha

    2012/10/04 at 12:24 am Reply

    That looks so good Deeba. I got to this chocolate love all of a sudden and have been baking everything with chocolate. These brownies look so chocolatey and gooey. Lick, lick and lick!

  • manjeet

    2012/10/04 at 9:39 am Reply

    Saw it , baked it , devoured by all…not even crumbs for me…all in an hour’s time!!!!!
    Can’t afford to take out anything crystaly or beautiful in my household..I have a terrible two and a sulking seven here..:)

    Love,
    Manjeet

  • Ruchira

    2012/10/04 at 3:13 pm Reply

    I want the cups. I want the ceramics. I want the brownies. I want the whisk. In short, I want yeverything. YUM. And also, beautiful

  • Jamie

    2012/10/04 at 4:59 pm Reply

    Wow, first, all that Urban Dazzle is soooo beautiful! Can I come and shop? And these are the second Alice Medrich brownies I’ve seen posted recently and they both make me want to head right in the kitchen and make them. I need this book! They look amazing!

  • Neel

    2012/10/06 at 9:19 am Reply

    The brownies have such a dreamy ‘come grab me look’ . the mugs are pretty, rest of the ensemble is dainty….ah! I feel so inspired to bake a batch!

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