CHOCOLATE ALWAYS MAKES THINGS BETTER…’BETTER CAKE THAN CREAM BROWNIES’
“Any food not fit to wear is not fit to eat.”
Jim Rosenthal
Jim Rosenthal
‘Better Cake than Cream Brownies’…Chocolate Overdose
Diva @ Sugar Bar is hosting this intriguing event “Beauty & the Feast”. The challenge is to pick a cosmetic/beauty/body-hand-skincare,etc. product that has either a name that is food-related or has food-related ingredients. Use the combination of flavours of the product as best as you can& give it any funky name you like.
I picked Cocoa Butter Body Butter…a Body Shop product which is full of ‘brownies in another form’!!
Picture courtesy Body Shop, UK
“Doubly rich for extra dry skin with a yummy chocolate-and-vanilla scent. An excellent moisturizer that melts at body temperature, leaving the skin feeling soft and silky smooth. “
“Doubly rich for extra dry skin with a yummy chocolate-and-vanilla scent. An excellent moisturizer that melts at body temperature, leaving the skin feeling soft and silky smooth. “
With ingredients similar to what makes this delicious body butter, my ‘Better Cake Than Cream Brownies’ are on their way to Diva’s delicious feast!! Do stop by at the Sugar Bar to read her hilarious & interesting tales that spell the background for her event. It’s well worth the visit!
I connected to the event because of a small incident this morning. I was lavishing my recuperating little boy with my precious Cocoa Butter Body Butter, & he turned up his nose. Said, “YUK Mama, this smells of chocolate. I like to eat chocolate but it isn’t nice in the lotion!!” In Diva’s very words, she’s right when she says, “I suppose really, the men simply don’t get it.”
Triple Chocolate Brownies…better eaten than otherwise!!
I made these a while ago for the sons’ last day of school, which was a while ago. Have had them bookmarked for ages, & don’t know where the recipe came from. Was scribbled in my little book of recipes & decided to make them for a change from my regular ones. I adapted the recipe a bit here & there. Increased the butter & dark chocolate. These were nice, rich, decadent & seriously chocolaty…but not too fudgy. That may be because I over baked them a bit because I was on the phone!!
16 slices of delicious brownies…He took a bunch of slices for his last day before school broke up for 2 long months of vacations, & the daughter took some (read many). I bunged the remainder into the freezer in an attempt to prevent a chocolate overdose…mean ole me!! Discovered them just yesterday, when the kids were running me ragged for a snack (yes, the boy is doing great; thanks for all your messages & good wishes…he’s famished as usual!!). Served the slices right out of the freezer…good as good could be!!! They disappeared in next to no time…
If the brownie bottoms look different, I can explain. Actually was making a cottage-cheese cheesecake from a recipe which was quite disastrous (won’t see it on the blog because it didn’t set & I eventually froze it like I did the cheesecake pops. The kids loved it, but it fell short of the something special, so the recipe has been duly shredded). To cut my long woebegone tale short, I had saved some biscuit crumb mixture from the base because it looked like too much.
Crumbs!!Decided to use them as a base to my brownies for contrast. Didn’t add majorly to taste, but sure made them look different & appealing!! The crumb base had digestive biscuits, butter & pistachio nuts whirred in the food processor. I lined my Victoria sandwich cake tin with these crumbs & topped them with the brownie batter!!! I think it looked pretty… check it out!
Rightside up…
… & Upside down!!
Ingredients:
Cocoa – 3 tbsps
Flour – 3/4 cup
Baking Soda – 1/4 tsp
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Butter – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 2/3 cup
Water – 2 tbsps
Dark chocolate – 100 gms
Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
Eggs -2
Walnuts – 1/2 cup chopped
Chocolate chips – 1/2 cup
Cocoa – 3 tbsps
Flour – 3/4 cup
Baking Soda – 1/4 tsp
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Butter – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 2/3 cup
Water – 2 tbsps
Dark chocolate – 100 gms
Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
Eggs -2
Walnuts – 1/2 cup chopped
Chocolate chips – 1/2 cup
Method:
-
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Grease & line bottom of an 8″ Victoria sandwich tin or round baking tin, or 9″ square baking pan.
-
Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl and set aside.
-
In saucepan, bring butter, sugar and water just to a boil. Remove from heat and add the dark chocolate & vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
- Place chocolate mixture into a mixing bowl. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each egg.
- Blend in flour mixture. Stir in remaining chocolate chip morsels and the chopped walnuts.
-
Sprinkle the biscuit crumb evenly over the base of the tin. Gently turn the batter over the crumbs & spread evenly.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Cool in tin for 10-15 minutes, then turn out on rack & cool completely.
- Cool and cut into pie slices or as desired.
- Note: I think the original recipe used almonds instead of walnuts.
Brings me back to the point of the matter, which is…
“At some point of our lives, I’m certain we have played with our food. Turning our food into some sort of externally nourishing product (since you eat food and it provides nutrients internally) comes under that category too. As you can see, the links between cosmetics/beauty products and food are intriguing. It seems almost instinctive to make that link. Fact is, all beauty products somehow or another capitalize on food because it’s what is natural, has a lot of (sex) appeal and yes, food is good for you!”.
Let’s see what the rest of us can think of…all you men bloggers included!
Deeba @ PAB
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.
21 Comments
Purnima
Deeba, my paediatrician advised me against the pox vaccine, said it was better it pops at a young age..as u rightly put it, 4 agelong immunity!
Hows Rohan, hope he gets well soon! Rohan, wishing you a speedy recovery! So that u make a *special appearance* in Mamma’s next yum post! 😀 😉 take care! Meher..tch tch..nae lass, dont do that..ur bro is just down with pox, wd b fine soon! Take care Rohan!
Browniessssss! They look great!!!
Bikkis n Pistas! Base..U rock creating these!! Thanks for sharing!
diva
deeba! please send some of that through the post for me 🙂 and thanks for taking part. looks awesome. your son is so cute too! what an adorable thing to say, haha.
i can’t wait to put up the entries for the event. so till then, i’ll be coming back to your blog for more sweet goodies.
yum
xx
diva
Dhanggit
oh im passionately in love with this cake…sounds sooo good
btw, thanks again for tagging me and the award..i feel honored ..you are not only a goodbaker you also have a good heart ..big kisses
arundati
the crumbs do add a nice touch to the brownie….and i cant imagine M wiping everything the boy looks at!! haha….am hoping the next post will be for me!!
Asha
YUMMY cake! My son and hubby are addicted to chocolate!! I am not into it much except Belgian dark chocolate. Must try this for the kid!:)
Have a great weekend, see you on Monday!
Sangeeth
very informative post…my first time in ur blog and learnt a lot abt baking 🙂
Bellini Valli
Chocolate does make everything better Deeba!!!!
Cham
I love dark chocolate 4 bitter taste. Anything choco makes me happy, i am grabbing the spoon, oh may be the whole cake. Crust at bottom is great idea 🙂
Happy to hear ur son’s back to normal.
ovenhaven
Love the idea for the crust! Your brownie looks absolutely perfect.
And just between you and me, each time I see that body butter, I always refrain from buying it, coz I’m a chocoholic and I fear that I’d be licking myself if I start wearing that. Seriously.
And so I stick to strawberry body butter. Haha 😛
Kalai
What a treat for a chocoholic like me!! Looks delicious, Deeba. I love the contrast of color with the crumb base! Glad to hear your son is doing better. 🙂
Sukanya Ramkumar
WOW!… This creamed brownies looks so decadent. YUM!…
meeso
These look like some delicious brownies!
Jamie
All I have to say is WOW! I have such a sweet tooth and that looks wonderful!
Arundathi
I love Body Shop’s Cocoa Butter! 🙂
familiabencomo
You are TOO clever! I look the crumb bottom – you’re right, it does make them look more interesting than a normal brownie. I should try freezing the desserts in my house too because it’s just my daughter & I who have an obsession for anything sweet.
Tanti baci, my dear friend,
Amy
Ivy
Yummy they look delicious. How’s your son doing? Hope he is much better now.
Rosie
You ARE right Deeba chocolate does make things better!! Just adore this cake – any chance of a slice to try 😀
Rosie x
Gaurav
Deeba, the cake looks inviting…have always had a weak spot for anything with chocolates. Great post and great entry.
toontz
Deeba-Great entry! They sound delicious! I’m with ovenhaven…I would be tempted to eat that body butter!
Indrani
Hello, You have mentioned cocoa powder in the ingredient list and i couldnt find the directions in the recipe as to when it should be put in.
Regards,
Indrani.
Deeba PAB
My apologies Indrani. Updated it!