There is so much history to a bite of a brownie for me, and it is so fun for me to share it.
My mom used to joke that my brownies were “Sean Penn Brownies” because he apparently made special requests for them when they appeared on the menus at film society events (or so I’m told). Those brownies were made with Scharffen Berger chocolate, the genius of John Scharffen Berger and Dr. Robert Steinberg. The latter was my first mentor in baking.
Just after leaving Chicago to move to California, I returned to Chicago’s Chopping Block to sit in on a lecture and tasting by Dr. Robert Steinberg. I instantly fell in love with his Scharffen Berger brand of chocolate. (In fact, the first Cherry Dark Chocolate and Almond granola bars had their semisweet chocolate shaved in them.) It was still the early days of the chocolatier and I could call up for a box and have it delivered to SF or pick it up from the factory. Steinberg’s style brownies before the 18 Rabbits days were my go-to brownies – fudgy with high cacao content chocolate. When I mixed them in the stainless steel bowl, the batter would pull from the sides signifying I had reached the perfect gooey texture.
I ran into Dr. Robert Steinberg at many places around the city, for we shared a love of baked goods. He laughed at me for saying his full name when I met him and told me to just call him “Robert”. The last time that I saw Robert was at Tartine just a couple of weeks before he passed away from cancer. My first chocolate lesson will forever be emblazoned as one of my first pivotal culinary experiences.
Another mentor solidified my quest to find the best ingredients for whatever I create and that is Michael Recchiuti. In 2003, before I even had a baking business, I brought him my dessert creations to his Ferry Building store that was under construction. I told him Brian from Scharffen Berger sent me. He ate my chocolate cake and swooned which filled me with delight knowing that if he likes my cake, then I must have what it takes to start a baking business.
The brownies from today’s recipe are adapted from his book Chocolate Obsession. What I bake is often a result of what happens to be in the pantry and this time it was unsweetened Guittard chocolate. I changed the AP (all-purpose) flour for Spelt flour, reduced the sugar by 1 ounce, and topped them with Fillmore Farms walnuts.
There is rarely a recipe that I don’t edit on the fly and brownies are no exception. They are one of the easiest sweets to make substitutions for the flour, chocolate and sugar.
Line an 8” square pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
5 oz. 100% unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped or broken up
5 oz unsalted butter, cut into 1” pieces
2/3 cup spelt flout
½ teaspoon sea salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of organic cane sugar
½ cup of walnuts (optional)
Add 3 oz broken up chocolate and pieces of butter to a stainless steel bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until melted. Pull off the stove. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, salt and remaining chocolate together. In another bowl, whisk eggs, vanilla and sugar together. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Add chocolate mixture and beat by hand with a spatula rapidly for 60 strokes.
Pour mixture into pan. Lift off table and set down again to settle any bubbles. Place walnuts on top of batter. Bake for 30 minutes and set to cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into 25 squares.
Enjoy!
