I. Nature of Business
History
A sweet chocolate dessert that has a history of different stories of origin but all pointing to being created around the mid 1800's. Brownies may have derived from chocolate cakes, becoming a denser and shorter version. Typically, a brownie is approximately 1 inch in height and since it is quite dense, it has a chewy texture that provides a very sweet flavor. There are a wide variety of different types of brownies made, all very similar in consistency and flavor.
The first known recipe for brownies was published in the 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catalogue. The origin of the Brownie is thought to be American. It is classified as a bar cookie and is thought to derive its name from the brown color of the cookie. Folklore has its origin coming from a careless cook that forgot to put baking powder in the chocolate cake batter recipe. Since this time there are almost as many brownie recipes as there are cooks.
The classic brownie consists of just a few ingredients: butter, sugar, chocolate, eggs, and flour. Fudgy Brownies (which purists often claim are the only real brownies) have a minimum of flour?about half a cup?and no leavening such as baking powder at all. Melting the butter rather than creaming it with sugar yields a denser, fudgier outcome. Unsweetened chocolate is the standard, with a full cup of sugar required to balance its bitterness. Either granulated or brown sugar may be used; substitute one for the other in equal proportions. The deeper the color of the sugar, though, the more pronounced the molasses flavor. It's all a matter of personal taste.
Cake-like Brownies are really ? well, little cakes! They contain less butter and more flour than fudgy brownies, as well as a bit of baking powder to mak ...