Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies

David Lebovitz is another pastry chef / author / blogger that I really like.  His sense of humour is hilarious, while his acerbic wit and remarks make his stories a pleasurable read.  When I was looking for an almost last minute dessert to bring to E's Christmas party, I decided instantly on this Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies  recipe which I had earlier bookmarked in Lebovitz's latest book, Ready for Dessert.  In case you are wondering who Robert is, this brownie recipe had come to Lebovitz via the late Robert Steinberg, co-founder of the Scharffen Berger chocolates.

I quote from Lebovitz "I have a blanket mistrust of any recipe with a superlative in the title. “The Ultimate” or “The World’s Finest” always makes me raise an eyebrow. But how else can I describe these brownies? I’ve made a lot of brownies in my life, and these really are the best."  I felt a little ashamed after reading this as I had in my earlier brownie post, personally decreed Ottolenghi's brownies as the ultimate brownie.  Perhaps I had used the wrong choice of word, perhaps not, as this Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies is equally as good and scrumptious.  Possibly the world's finest.  Oops, wrong choice of words again.

Anyway, although I've baked brownies before, it was quite daring of me to use E's guests as my guineas for this recipe.  For this purpose, I decided to throw in some homemade vanilla ice cream as good measure, in case the brownies flopped.  But guess what, they didn't.  I am quite sure that E and her guests had enjoyed the brownies as much as I did.

You will need:
85 g unsalted or salted butter, cut into pieces
225 g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 175 deg C.  Line a 8-inch square baking tin with two pieces of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each side.  Lightly grease the parchment paper with butter or cooking spray, set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.   Add the chocolate and with a spatula, stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.

Whisk in the sugar until well combined.

Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla.

Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift in the flour.  Whisk batter vigorously for 1 full minute, until batter loses its graininess and becomes smooth and glossy, and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan.

Add the chopped nuts and with the wooden spoon, stir to combine.

Pour batter into prepared baking tin and bake for about 30 minutes, until the centre feels almost set.  Do not over-bake.