Fudgy Brownies!


 I  found an interesting brownie recipe on cookiemadness.net, but its originally from Gourmet magazine.  They were really good, but very very very dense...I usually dont have that much trouble finishing one brownie, but these were actually somewhat challenging because they are so rich. However, this is a really easy recipe to make really impressive brownies:  
Deep Dark Chocolate Brownies with 1:1 Ganache frosting
16 oz unsalted butter
8 oz bittersweet/dark chocolate, chopped
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 large eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 AP flour
1. melt butter & chocolate in a pan over low heat, mix in 1 cup sugar, then remove from heat, transfer to a large bowl, and allow to cool before proceeding
2. mix in remaining 1 cup sugar and the vanilla extract
3. combine all the eggs in a separate small bowl, then break up eggs with a fork, then gradually add the eggs
4. mix in flour and salt, until incorporated well
5. bake at 350* F, for about 30 min if using a 13x9" pan
6. remove from oven and immediately place in the refrigerator to cool completely (putting them in the refrigerator expedites the cooling processes and keeps the brownies very "fudgy")
7. make sure the brownies and very cold before attempting to cut them, this helps acheive those clean cut brownies you see in bakeries - come bakeries even place the brownies (in the pan) in the freezer to get really cold before cutting them


On Saturday I went to Hello Cupcake! in dupont circle because I have actually never been there since they opened and also because I wanted to see and taste the cupcakes. We got a carrot cake, gluten-free carrot cake, and a vanilla-gorilla cupcake. For $3.00 a cupcake, they were ok - I've definitely had better carrot cake; the gluten-free carrot cake cupcake was actually better than the regular one, but the cupcakes were generally kinda dry. All of the cupcakes were iced with creme cheese frosting, which was actually much better in comparison to the cupcakes - maybe thats why there was a disproportionate amount of frosting. The amount of frosting was ridiculous, it made for an awkward eating experience. The only way bryan and I could eat the cupcakes was to use a knife & fork, which i think defeats the whole idea of a cupcake - I might as well have just had a slice of cake). Anyhow, I think the cupcakes were really expensive, but then again the price probably takes into account the fact that Hello Cupcake! is located in the heart of Dupont Circle. Just goes to show that location is everything when it comes to having a bakeshop - the location is often more important than the quality of the product. So will I go back to Hello Cupcake! ??? Probably, but there are other bakeries that I would rather get a cupcake.


(gluten-free carrot cake cupcake on the left, and vanilla-gorilla on the right)


Halloween...

Given that I felt awful on Halloween, Bryan and I didn't get dressed up to go out anywhere - I'm such a wet blanket! I did dress up Lilly in a pumpkin outfit - she looked so cute! I feel kinda guilty for being one of those people who dress up their dogs - but in my defense, it was actually my  mom who buys Lilly clothes.  Lilly probably had the most fun on Halloween out of all of us - all three times trick-o-treaters rang the doorbell, Lilly ran to the door to bark up a storm at the little kids.  


After realizing that I bought $15 worth of halloween candy for no apparent reason, Bryan and I ended up going to Pho Hot for dinner - for old times sake.  Pho is a vietnamese noodle soup thats perfect for cold nights or whenever you have a cold.  We used to go there a lot more often a couple years ago, but the past few times we haven't been exactly thrilled with the food.  Honestly, instead of trying to enjoy the dinner, I was thinking more about how painful it was to just sit down and eat; my hands were so swollen and it hurt just to grip the spoon to eat the soup - it was so embarrassing to keep dropping the spoon and having to keep trying to pick it back up.  I ended up just giving up on eating my dinner - oh well.  

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