Cold Comfort

In the complex world of desserts, as in the complex world of human relationships, looking good and feeling good are often not related, and often inversely related. Decades of research have shown definitively that the best lovers are not necessarily the best looking lovers. Some persons are exceedingly pleasing to look upon. Get them in bed, however, and like royal icing, fondant, and gum paste, the erotic flavor is mostly disappointment.  

Other persons by contrast may not be much to look at – may not draw much attention to themselves, may not stand out in a crowd or a bakery case – but draw them close, touch them, draw them under the covers, turn down the lights and start to nibble, and the flavor is all sweet melting pleasure.

One can only hypothesize at the cause of the difference. Perhaps too much beauty, like too much wealth, leaves those it graces with a weakened will to strive harder. Perhaps ordinary appearances are disinhibiting and leave room for the imagination to expand its horizons. Perhaps good looks, like great expectations, can’t help but disappoint. Perhaps common features are an index of common appetites and a capacity for common pleasures, all the more satisfying because within one’s grasp. Or perhaps it is the universe quietly teaching that life isn’t totally unfair after all.
 

Whatever the cause – and some mysteries are best left unsolved -- here’s a brownie that isn’t much to look at, but boy does it put out. It is undeniably plain and unassuming and overcompensates joyously in taste for what it lacks visually speaking.

This is a summer brownie. It thrives in the freezer, where it never fully hardens, paradoxically enhancing its capacity to provide pleasure. Direct from the freezer on a hot muggy day, it is all cool satisfaction. Sort of like a hot fudge sundae with chocolate ice cream and walnuts in a bar. It has almost no crumb and leaves only a trace of itself on one’s fingertips. If Gabriel Porras were a brownie, this is the one I would wish him to be.

From Nancy Baggett’s All American Cookie Book.

1 stick plus 2 tbs unsalted butter
5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1½ tbs American style cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2½ tbs vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 and line an 8 x 8 pan with easy-release foil or parchment paper.

Heat butter and chocolate in microwave until about 80 percent melted, then stir until fully melted. Stir the sugars into the melted butter and chocolate. Add eggs and vanilla and stir vigorously for a couple of minutes until batters ceases to appear grainy. Add salt and walnuts, sift flour and cocoa over top and stir just until incorporated.  Bake on middle rack of oven for 33 minutes.

Let cool about 20 minutes in pan, then lift out brownies by edges of foil or parchment and cool another hour or so at room temperature. Freeze overnight or longer and slice into 1 by 1½ inch bars.