# getting the paperthin crust on cocoa brownies



## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I'm trying to perfect a cocoa brownie recipe i found years ago in an ad for hershey's cocoa.  It comes out very good, the brownies are chewy and chocolatey.  But it doesn;t have that paper-thin "crust" on top that traditional brownies have.  The brownies i remember making with unsweetened chocolate had a sort of thin crust that lifted off from the top of the brownies.  It;s not even correct to call it a "crust" since it was not crusty.

Keep in mind that i can't use unsweetened chocolate, since they don;t sell it here, except as a VERY expensive specialty item. 

The recipe i use is for a 13X9 inch pan

250 gm butter

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa (i use european cocoa)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

melt butter, add sugar, beat in eggs by hand one at a time, add dry ingredients all at once and stir to combine. 

bake at 350 about 25 min

The large quantity of butter compensates the lack of cocoa butter in the cocoa. 

I think also i would like them to be chewy but ? drier? i remember more bite to brownies.  (I'm talking about traditional brownies, not the super fudgy ones of today, but still fudgy, not that thick and not cakey at all).  These are - how can i put it - too soft. 

thanks


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## pjswim (Nov 5, 2011)

Hi Siduri~

I was reading over ur recipe & thought hmmm. I have here a Hershey's Chocolate Hard cover book, & this is what i read. (it noted hersher'y BEST brownie.

1 C. (2 sticks butter)

2 C. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla ex.

4 eggs

3/4 C Hershey's European style coco

1 C. APF

1/2 tsp. B/powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 C. chopped nuts (optional)

heat oven to 350 degrees. grease a 13 x 9 x 2" pan.In a large bowl place butter, microwave on HIGH 2~2 1/2 min till melted, or I would say over your range.

Stir in the sugar & vanilla. Add you eggs one at a time. beating well after ea. egg so its blended.

Add the coco, beat well again. Add the flour, B/powder, salt & beat well again. Add in your nuts in desired.

Bake 30~35 min.till the brownies pull away from the pan. Cool completely in pan, then cut into squares.

I can see that there are some differences in the two recipes, but in this picture they do look more like a crust on top, & more cake like.

I dont know if this helps... lol /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif


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## chicagoterry (Apr 3, 2012)

Oops! Just realized the recipe I posted also included unsweetened chocolate. Sorry!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

It did?  i didn;t notice.  unsweetened cocoa yes. 

anyway, it's definitely not the cake-like texture i want, but more - i can't find the words for it - rough?    I notice that most of the brownies that seem to be in fashion now in the states are so very dense and fudgy, that they could almost be fudge.  But the ones i remember and love are less like one dense piece of fudge.  You know how fudge is cut and comes like a cube, perfectly smooth sides?  well that's not how i remember brownies.  They were more rough in appearance.  These are more cube like.  I want the rough.  still chewy though.


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## rlyv (Oct 28, 2005)

What I have noticed when making cocoa brownies is that the butter needs to be very hot when the sugar is added.  I make them by heating the butter to just boiling in a large pot.  Then dump in the sugar.  Whisk in eggs, the all then all the sifted dry.

I made them once when I was in a hurry, and heated the butter in the microwave.  Didn't get it hot enough, and not shiny crust on top. I remember reading a recipe from King Arthur Flour, and they say that heating the butter and sugar together until almost boiling produces the shiny top.  I think it has to do with getting more of the sugar to dissolve, and allows some of the sugar to rise to the top, which forms the shiny crust.

Could give it a shot, and see if it works.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Ok, hrv, i'll try it next time

thanks

and the texture?


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## chicagoterry (Apr 3, 2012)

Siduri,

These look like they have the kind of crust you are looking for and they are made with just cocoa powder.

The blogger says he added some coffee to the batch he made (and presumably photographed) so your mileage may vary if you stick to the original recipe but I thought of your post immediately when I saw these.

http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2013/03/the-best-brownies-of-your-life.html


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Thanks for posting this Terry, and thanks also for thinking of me when you saw it!

It does look like the kind of "crust" i was looking for


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