The Brownie Chronicles

Stage 1: the ingredient ratio

What makes the perfect brownie? I guess that’s a deeply personal question, because brownies can take all manner of forms and still nominate themselves for the role. From the fudgy, just-set type that, when chilled before cutting, offers a formidable chew, to that with a more cakey interior; if it’s stout, chocolatey and slab-like, I guess it’s a brownie.

I like mine to fulfil the former description: incredibly chewy with sharp, neat edges and a satin, crepe-thin, snakeskin on the top (I’d call it a crust, but it should be so thin and almost non-existent, that to do so would be misleading).

Now, I’ve had what I’ve considered to be a pretty fine brownie recipe for a few years, but as someone who longs for order and prefers all recipes to be easily reduced to memorable ratios (like the 1:1:1:1 poundcake ration, or the 2:2:1:1 muffin batter ratio), my current brownie ingredient quantities are a little too scattered for my comfort. Can this be remedied?

Currently, my recipe is:

• 200g unsalted butter

• 200g 70% dark chocolate

• 3 large eggs (170-175g)

• 1 egg yolk (approx. 20g)

• 265g caster sugar

• 150g plain flour

• 1 tsp salt

So for my first test in this journey of gooey unearthing, I want to see whether a simpler ratio of ingredients will improve my brownie recipe, and at the same time satisfy my desire for recipe simplicity.

Figuring out the ratio

For this, I’m happy to keep my butter and chocolate quantities the same, as they are round numbers. Adding together my eggs and egg yolk, the result isn’t far from 200, so if the egg weight is also rounded up to (about) 200g, that gives equal parts butter, chocolate, and egg (and all at a divisible number).

The sugar is a little more problematic. If I’m sticking to the nearest 50g, then I’ll need to round it down to 250g. But will that be enough sugar? Of course I need to consider keeping the brownie sweet, but sugar also has another important role in baking: moisture. Sugar is hygroscopic, which means it attracts and absorbs moisture (that’s why a good cookie is so chewy and gooey), so altering the amount in a recipe can affect the texture. Rounding it up to 300g is an option, but let’s see if that makes it too sweet. Perhaps I’ll take the 50g extra (maybe even a third of the sugar in total) as a brown sugar option, so see if the added depth of flavour that brings will combat a saccharine sickliness. And a good dark chocolate, lower in its own sugar, could help balance it all out.

The flour weight is currently a doddle to work into a ratio, but I wonder, looking at other brownie recipes from some of my favourite food writers (Dan Lepard, Nigella, Stella Parks), whether I can get away with less flour. We shall see at a later time if necessary, because the rule of recipe testing is to only change one thing at a time, so that it’s obvious to what any textural or flavour changes can be attributed. So, for the first round of testing, I simply want to play with the sugar quantity.