Oh summer…..

 Being in a tropical country, summer is an all-year round season. In fact, it is the only season. The weather here is so so hot. This few weeks have been even more unbearable. My friend Chris is leaving for Canada soon and will be holding a farewell party at his place. I am so jealous! Blueberries are in the season now so I decided to make a blueberry crumb bar for the party. I used a  food processor to cut the butter as it is much faster. I reckon the butter will probably soften in minutes if I use a pastry cutter instead. It turned out pretty good, but don’t look too pretty for the party.

Blueberry Crumb Bars
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces), cut in to 1 inch cubes
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In the food processor, pulse together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Add in the cold butter cubes and pulse. Add in the egg and pulse to combine. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Steaming

The weather is killing me recently. I think I am just not made for the (extreme) tropics like this. Its hot hot hot. Did I mention humid too? Easily 34C at least. This kind of (damned) weather makes me grouchy and gives me a mega headache. Feel like soaking myself in a bathtub of ice cubes. I tried to seek refuge in the cool air-conditioned bedroom but found that I can’t do that too often or else my parents will give me a good one when they see the hefty electricity bill at the end of the month. Poor me. Don’t quite understand how you people can bask under the sun for hours or how you profess your love for the tropics. Try staying here for a year, honey. Witness the butter in your pie / tart dough melting at abnormally fast speed) and squishing out of the layers. Watch ur meringues and macaroons soften before you say ‘Arghhh!’. So before you starting complaining about how cold your toes feel, pity us at the other side of the world.

These brownies are seriously fudgy and has a crackling top. The addition of white chocolate and crunchy macadamia nuts made them absolutely irresistable. I used Valrhona 67% chocolate and the velvety tones of this chocolate shone right through these brownies.  I sit in my air-conditioned living room, eat my warm brownie and look at the sunny weather. Ah, bliss.

Classic Fudgy Brownies

(From The Art & Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet)

 

1 stick (4oz) butter, cut into ½ inch pieces

4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (up to 64% cacao), finely chopped  

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup (7oz) sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup (2 ½ oz) unbleached all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

½ cup (3 ¾ oz) chocolate chips or chunks (optional)

½ cup (2oz) nuts, chopped and toasted

 

1.       Preheat the oven to 175C (350F) and position an oven rack in the center. Line an 8-inch square pan with foil or parchment paper across the bottom and up two of the sides, then lightly coat with unflavoured or high-heat canola oil spray.

 

2.       Boil a saucepan of water. Place butter, semisweet and unsweetened chocolate in a medium heat proof bowl. Turn off the heat and place the bowl over the saucepan. Stir occasionally with the spatula until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

 

3.       Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and whisk in the sugar. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, stirring well to incorporate each before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla extract. Whisk in the flour and salt. Continue to stir until the mixture changes from dull and broken-looking to smooth and shiny, about 1 minute. Whisk in the chocolate chips and chopped nuts, if any.

 

4.       Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.

 

5.       Run a thin knife or flexible spatula around the edges of the pan to loosen the brownies. To remove the brownies from the pan, grasp the foil or parchment paper extending up the sides and pull gently upward. Set the brownies on a cutting surface and use a serrated knife to cut into desired sizes. To store, tightly wrap the remaining brownies (if any) or place in an airtight container. They keep well at room temperature for 2 – 3 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days.

  

To my newfound friends ^____^

Time really flies. It was not too long ago when I was bracing myself for the hardships to come when I was about to enter GE. All the horror stories I heard about the engagement, terrible clients, long hours….. But it wasn’t all bad. At least, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. True we worked insane hours (like till 5am in the morning), most people on the team were nice, and the clients I dealt with were (thankfully) cooperative too. I must be lucky Friday was my last day there (woo hoo!). I decided to bake those lovely peeps some brownies to cheer them on. Moving on to the next engagement, I hope things will turn out okay too. Hopefully, sitting in THE ROOM (EC & SP will know about this) will bring me some luck in job hunting as well.

I got this recipe from Dorie’s Baking: From my home to yours. It was the only recipe that did not require me to use unsweetened baking chocolate. I used my Valrhona chocolate and threw in a handful of toasted walnuts. It turned out wonderfully moist and fudgy as indicated in the book. However, the baking time and temperature needed a little tweaking. It was stated to use 165C (325F) and bake for 20 – 22 minutes. I did so and the brownies were still very wet when tested with a toothpick. Then, I upped my temperature to 170C and continued for another 7 minutes.

 Bittersweet Brownies
(Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours)

1 cup butter, cut into tablespoon sized pieces
9 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

 

1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Line a large rectangular brownie pan with aluminum foil (this makes the brownies easier to extract). You may want to grease the aluminum foil. I didn’t and the brownies got somewhat stuck to the aluminum foil.

 

2. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the butter.

 

3. Remove the double boiler from the water (i.e. take the top part off the pot), and whisk in the sugar.

 

4. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla extract and whisk gently. Stir in the salt and the flour until just combined. Gently fold in the walnuts.

 

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared brownie pan and smooth out the surface with a spatula. Bake the brownies for about 22 – 25 minutes. Test with a toothpick, if it comes out with a few crumbs on it, it is ready.