Brownies

“To each his own.” This is the only way to describe the perfect brownie because everyone has a preference. It is interesting to note that the image of the perfect brownie is very different for people. Should you go for the cake like and slightly dry brownie? Or the moist and chewy brownie similar to fudge? Do you prefer nuts in your brownie? Do you prefer sweeter brownies or the more chocolate indulgent kind?

A warm brownie taken with a cold glass of milk is simply heaven for some. While some may like to have brownies as after-school snacks.

While there are people who may not agree on what the perfect brownie is like, there is one thing which people can agree on. Brownies must be made with the best ingredients. Preferably rich chocolates made from the finest cocoa. The base of the perfect brownies is chocolate. It can not be called a brownie if it is made from cake batter without the cocoa. The chocolate is what turns the ordinary flour batter into brownies. It follows then that chocolate is what makes or breaks the brownies.

Some people contribute the name of the brownies to its color, a rich brown color made that way because of the chocolate in it. The origin of the brownies is unknown, but there are people who contribute it to the Palmer House in Chicago in 1892. There are myths which even tell of a housewife who accidentally left out baking powder in a cake batter, which caused the cake not to rise, thus giving birth to the brownies.

The popularity of the brownies had escalated when easy-to-make brownie mixes are introduced to the American market. Since then, the brownies have become associated with growing up as mom’s find it easier to make brownies from these recipes than from scratch. However, for the true purists, brownies must be made from scratch, made from the finest ingredients and even using gourmet chocolates instead of the regular cacao which can be picked up from the grocery store.