Breaking the Brownie Code
What started as a product review became an adventure.
I noticed the Truffle Brownie Mix at Trader Joe's was accidentally vegan, so I picked it up, not wanting to deal with making them from scratch. I baked them on Friday night and we enjoyed them ala mode. Very rich and chocolatey, I really recommend them.
But, as I was reading the box, I realized that there were barely any ingredients in it. Could I replicate the recipe by playing with quantities?
Well, they aren't exactly the same, but they are pretty darn close. I'm chalking up most of the difference to the fact that I didn't have Dutch press cocoa, which makes a slight flavor difference. But I was quite happy with them, they are moist, dense and chewy, what else do you want from a brownie? Plus, I will admit, I felt rather badass by making these by guessing at the quantities. I estimated that the package contained about 2 to 2 1/2 cups of mix, so I just went down the line of ingredients, greatest to smallest and I estimated pretty darn well, if I say so myself. I will be experimenting and tweaking this for the book.
Not that it was really necessary to replicate it, the mix costs $2.29, but it was a fun challenge that kind of defeated my "I don't want to bake from scratch tonight" plan, lol.
In closing, here is a picture of my crazy little snake cat, Ravi, giving me instructions on how to lay around during the weekend. He's a good teacher, he convinced me to take a nap with him and it was rather relaxing.
9 comments:
Tickle Ravi's tummy for me :-)
awesome job recreating that recipe! whenever i try to make something up myself, it never comes out. usually if its baked goods, they don't cook all the way through and come out still mushy inside.
i'll have to work on that.
_tania_
Hi there! I was wondering what kind of egg replacer you used with the brownie mix? I have tried using Ener G in the past with brownie mixes but the results were pretty bad. Thanks! :)
Way to make brownies, you go!!!
Love your snakey cat. Cutie!!
Anon, know that his belly was tickled and smooched. He's the only kitty who will let me kiss his belly with no complaints.
Theonlytania, if it hadn't consisted of such few ingredients and if I didn't have so many years of baking experience it never would have happened. And trust me, for every experiment that succeeds there are countless others that are known only to myself and my trashcan.
Vegancookiemonster, my other boy cat's name is Linus! But he's a longhaired grey Maine Coon. How funny, how did you decide on the name Linus?
Rachel, I am not a fan of the Ener-G stuff. My favorite binder for moist/dense things (do not use for cookies, they will not hold together) is soy yogurt. For the box mix, which called for 2 eggs, I used a 6 oz carton of soy yogurt. If you buy it in big containers that's a 1/2 cup. It's really a great binder as well as a moisture retaining agent.
Thanks Kleopatra! Ravi likes to crawl around under the covers and he leaves tunnels, so he has long been "the snake cat".
Cute kitty! Good job on putting that recipe together on the fly, vegan baking can be sticky sometimes. :)
Too cute, vegancookiemonster! Our Linus, who is surely pictured in the last month or two on here, got his name because he ended up with a baby blanket that he would nurse when he first moved in with us from the shelter. Because we took his blanket all over the house to be with him, we started calling him Linus. There's a better face shot of Ravi a way's down on this page. I love cats! They totally make my day.
I'm loving your brownie pics (chocolate is my downfall). I've not been able to get brownie mixes to turn out so well and I think it's due to the eggs. I've tried Ener-G, soy flour, flax, etc. I'm going to give the yogurt a try and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the tip.
Badassedness noted and appreciated!
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