Cloves and Cream: Salted Fudge Brownies

There are books everywhere. The one puny book self was full ages ago. Now they're stacked along the walls. Under chairs. On the couch. They're everywhere. Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion. Re-Enchantment. Funeral Customs. The Culture of the Copy. On the Origin of Stories. These all add up to a thesis ... eventually. After writing, reading, writing, and more reading for hours on end your brain kind of goes numb. Aside from a excess caffine, not much jolts your brain back into action like sugar.

With Ray hunkered down in the living room knee deep in papers, laptops, cords, pens and the like I escaped to the kitchen and tested out a new recipe: salted fudge brownies. These rich, chewy guys are, no joke, the best brownies I've ever had. These are it. I'm not sure how much they actually helped the writing process, but now, along with our mountain of books we have a happy pile of brownies.

Salted Fudge Brownies, makes about 16
adapted from Food & Wine
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate (I recommend Scharffenberger), finely chopped
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa (I like Droste)
2 c. sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch square metal cake pan with foil, draping the foil over the edges. Lightly butter the foil.

In a large saucepan (or better yet double boiler), melt the butter with the unsweetened chocolate over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Whisking the dry ingredients together (cocoa, sugar, flour, & espresso powder) & thoroughly incorporate them into the chocolate/butter mixture. Add the eggs & vanilla. Pour the batter into the prepared pan & smooth the surface. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the batter. Using a butter knife, swirl the salt into the batter. Smooth the surface again if necessary.

Bake the fudge brownies in the center of the oven for about 35 minutes, until the edge is set but the center is still a bit soft & a toothpick inserted into the center comes out coated with a little of the batter. Let the brownies cool at room temperature in the pan for 1 hour, then refrigerate just until they are firm, about 1 hour. Lift the brownies from the pan and peel off the foil. Cut the brownies into 16 squares. Serve at room temperature. They're also quite good chilled - it intensifies the fudge-y texture.