Ingredients:
- 175g butter
- 350g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 125g plain flour
- 1 level tsp baking powder
- 50g cocoa
- 100g chocolate chips
Method:
Grease and line a 25cm square (2.5cm deep) tin.
Heat oven to 180 degrees C, 350 degrees F, gas mark 4.
Melt the butter, then stir in the sugar and vanilla.
Add the eggs and stir well.
Sift the flour into the bowl; add the baking powder and cocoa, then mix well.
Add the chocolate chips and stir well.
Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth it over and bake for about 40 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack, then cut into squares.
In Australia, you can get The Ex Who Hired Her and Dr Cinderella’s Midnight Fling in shops. Both books are also available on the eHarlequin website in the US and the Mills & Boon website in the UK. You can find out more about these books, and Kate, on her website (http://www.katehardy.com/) and her blog (http://katehardy.blogspot.com/)
I adore brownies. The story from my Betty Crocker cookie book (I have my mom's copy from the early 60s) is that the legend is that the brownine was orginally a fallen chocolate cake. They first became popular in the 1920s. There is a bit in the cookbook about fashions in cookies. Different decades had different favourites.
ReplyDeleteLovely that you have your mum's book. I have a couple of my mum's, though they're from the 70s, and she's written a birthday message inside my Good Housekeeping cookbook.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting about different decades having different faves. (You know I'm going to ask more, don't you? The light bulb in the back of my head has just pinged...)
I have my mom's homemade recipe book from her mother. Since Mom was born in 1919, I'm guessing her mom was born in the late 1800's (as I'm too lazy to go upstairs to look it up, and she was 8 years younger than the eldest). The book is approx. 10"x16", with corregated cardboard covers and wallpaper for pages. There are news clippings from the 1920s to 1960s, including how to maintain your home (and keep your husband happy) too. Amazing stuff!
ReplyDeleteMy own brownie recipe has changed through the years, but now my favourite is to combine a cheap Walmart mix with a more expensive Betty Crocker mix, blend into a 10"x14" or so Pyrex container, and cook for 38 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit. Somehow it always turns out, whether one or both of the mixes is for a 13x9 tray (or an 8x8 tray). I rarely even ice them as they are decadent uniced (too).
Makes sense that the brownie originated from a fallen chocolate cake (thanks, Michelle!). My chocolate syrup recipe originated from fudge that was too runny!