Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Tanya of Chocolatechic. It’s probably not a big surprise that she chose a decadent chocolate recipe, and she chose Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia. Dorie’s previous book was Baking with Julia, and she was also there when Julia Child was filming the PBS series Baking with Julia. These come from that time, a recipe that chef Rick Katz created for Julia Child. These are quite special and if you’d like to give the recipe a try, visit Tanya’s blog for the complete recipe.

I love brownies, but there are some brownies out there that I don’t like very much. Brownies from a box look good and come together quickly, but I’m so disappointed when I eat them. They are too cakey, and I prefer a fudgy brownie. These are certainly to my liking because I don’t think that you could make a fudgier brownie. They’re on the verge of being raw, but that’s ok. Handle them right and you can have your cake (err, brownie) and eat it too.

The brownies are simple in terms of the ingredients they contain, but the method to put them together is different. You melt the chocolate and butter and combine eggs and sugar. You add half of that mixture to the chocolate, but then whip the remaining egg/sugar mixture until light and then fold it in. The eggs are the only leavening in this brownie, so they have a fairly dense texture. They aren’t dry at all. In fact, it’s a little hard to tell when they are done, since they are still gooey when you take them out of the oven. I baked mine for the specified time plus a minute or two, and hoped for the best.

Dorie says to cut these into 18 bars, but I cut mine smaller since they are so very rich. I chilled mine after they had cooled since I knew some of the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers had trouble cutting them due to their gooey-ness. They cut beautifully when chilled! These are the ultimate fudgy brownie. They are pure, unadulterated chocolate!

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 91.