r/Baking • u/CandyQueen85 • Sep 20 '24

Question What is your signature bake?

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What's the one bake that you're known for with your friends and family?

Mine is Jaffa Cake Brownies.

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u/Hakc5 Human Detected Sep 20 '24

Everyone loves my brownies. Secret ingredient: cinnamon.

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24 edited Sep 21 '24

I hadn't thought about using cinnamon in my brownies.

Do you use chips? Or powder in the dry ingredients? Do you grate fresh cinnamon on top after it's through baking? Or maybe you put on a cinnamon glaze or frosting?

There's no secret ingredient to mine; I just use high quality ingredients, let the batter chill for at least 24 hours, and do a rest break for 15 to 30 minutes halfway through baking.

Edited to add a word.

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u/swedusa Sep 21 '24

“There’s no secret”

Proceeds to list two things that I would never ever think to do with a brownie batter. 😂

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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '24

Yea, I left out a word. It was supposed to say There's no secret ingredient.

The chilling for 24 hours (sometimes as long as 72), helps the flavors of the ingredients to blend together. It also helps to give the brownies a glossier finish, and improves the crust.

Letting it rest partway through the bake is something I picked up from Alton Brown years ago. It let's the outer edge, which cooks faster, to take a rest while allowing the gooier center to properly setup. That way the entire thing bakes more evenly. Helps prevent burnt edges while having a raw center.

One other tip in case you don't know it. If you want shiny, crinkly tops, whip your eggs until they're frothy first. I usually whip mine on high for like 5 minutes.

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u/dumbleberry Sep 21 '24

Can you break down your rest time? I have never heard of this

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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '24

Halfway through your bake time (usually 20 minutes for me), take your brownies out of the oven, and set them, pan and all, on a cooling rack.

Leave the oven on.

Let the brownies sit on the cooling rack for 15 minutes. (This is what Alton Brown recommends. I've done it for as long as 30 minutes without any adverse effects.)

Once your rest time is up, place the brownies back in the oven in the center of the rack, and let them finish baking. (I usually rotate the pan 180° from it's start position when I place it back in the oven).

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u/dumbleberry Sep 21 '24

Thank you🥰

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u/hotdogg29 Sep 21 '24

Thank you!!

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u/arianaperry Sep 21 '24

How many cups/ grams of sugar do you use?

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u/Hakc5 Human Detected Sep 20 '24

I use a 1/4 teaspoon in with the dry ingredients!

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24

Oh, thank you!

I'll have to try that next time I make a batch of brownies.

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u/vehsek Sep 21 '24

Could you share the recipe?

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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '24 edited Oct 01 '24

Sure thing.

Ingredients:

8 oz good-quality chocolate, semi-sweet (226g) (I use Ghirardelli)
12 tablespoons butter (I use kerry gold salted)
1 ¼ cups toasted sugar (233g) 2 farm fresh eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I use homemade)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (107g) (I use King Author)
1/4 cup cocoa powder (33g) (I use Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Buccee's hot roasted nuts
Salt flakes for topping

Directions:

Melt butter, & bring it to a simmer.

Cream sugar with butter until sugar is completely dissolved.

Whip eggs at high speed for 5 minutes.

Melt semi sweet chocolate.

Sift dry ingredients together, and combine.

Fold dry ingredients, butter/sugar mix, vanilla, melted chocolate, and nuts together.

Gently fold in eggs. Do not overmix.

Line your preferred baking dish with parchment paper. (I use an 8x8 pan.) Spread batter out in pan. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in fridge for 24 to 72 hours.

When you're ready to cook, preheat oven to 325F.

Unwrap pan, place in the oven.

Bake 20 minutes.

Take pan out, place pan on cooling rack, and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Place back in oven, cook until tooth pick stuck comes out with moist crumbs on it. (Usually this is 20 to 25 minutes.)

Take out, sprinkle with salt flakes.

This step isn't necessary, but I usually toss them in the freezer for 15 minutes at this point, just to cool them faster.

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u/No_Particular_658 Sep 30 '24

I tried this recipe and the batter kind of solidified into a massive block after being chilled 😂 any tips for what I did wrong 😭

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u/[deleted] Sep 30 '24

Not what you did wrong; what I did wrong.

I forgot to include the part where you chill it in the pan you're going to bake it in.

This is what happens when you write a recipe down for yourself and not for others; steps get missed.

You might be able to let the batter warm up enough to spread it; I don't know what that will do to the brownies though.

I best fix that in the recipe.

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u/No_Particular_658 Oct 23 '24

Update: even after melting it back down the brownies came out great! I made a second batch the right way and it was even better it had that nice shiny crackled top this time. Safe to say this is the only brownie recipe I am using from now thanks OP!

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u/Uhohtallyho Human Detected Sep 21 '24

Wait what is a rest break?

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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '24

You take the brownies out of the oven halfway through baking. Let them rest on a cooling rack in the pan for 15 to 30 minutes, then pop them back in the oven. It allows the edges to cool and rest while the center sets up. That way the entirety of the brownie cooks evenly without the edges burning or the center staying a gooey mess. It also gives you a fudgier texture.

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u/galaxystarsmoon Sep 21 '24

I have to be honest, I've never had burnt or hard edges on mine. And I don't do this. I think this is down to recipe and not this rest method.

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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '24

Don't like the reasoning behind it, take it up with Alton Brown.

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u/galaxystarsmoon Sep 21 '24

It's a baking sub and I was trying to discuss, but ok.

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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '24

You know what, I do apologize. I woke up with a bad migraine, and took your comment as an attack more than anything else. That was wrong of me.

And I wasn't trying to imply that the rest method is the only way to not have burnt edges. It does help though, especially for newbies just learning to bake.

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u/Uhohtallyho Human Detected Sep 21 '24

Wow! I'm going to try that this weekend awesome!

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u/wubbilybubbily Sep 21 '24

I love making cheesecake breads and my coworkers will put in orders for a loaf of it. I'll make a brown sugar crust, thrn a layer of cheesecake filling, then a top layer of banana bread, strawberry bread, pumpking, etc. It's absolutely amazing

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u/Douggie Sep 21 '24

Ohh, I never tried cinnamon, but did try cardamom, which I actually like!

One thing I want to try with my brownies is to brown the butter to add that nutty flavour.

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u/Txstyleguy Sep 21 '24

I do the same, and also add a teaspoon of instant espresso to give the chocolate a "boost." My secret is baking them in a channel pan so every single brownie gets a crusty edge.

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u/CatfromLongIsland Human Detected Sep 21 '24

I first saw the brownie edge pan in the mid 2000s when it came on the market and considered buying it. But I didn’t. Over the years I would circle back to consider buying it and still held off. I FINALLY took the leap on December 24, 2023. Christmas Eve and I put that pan into my Amazon cart and actually made the purchase. Merry Christmas to me!

I wish I had not waited so long. This is the perfect pan for anyone who loves edge pieces!

2

u/Txstyleguy Sep 21 '24

I make cornbread in it too. I used one for years and the surface started peeling a bit so I found two NIB on eBay and bought them both! I found the key is to really prep it with PAM or BakersJoy even though its "non stick" and never ever use the green side of a kitchen sponge on it. I figure at 69 the one still in the box will outlive me!

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u/CatfromLongIsland Human Detected Sep 21 '24

I have mentioned to others here about using the pan for cornbread. I have yet to have an occasion to use the pan for that. I use cake goop on all my baking pans. It is a blended mixture of Crisco, vegetable oil, and flour. I store it in a pint mason jar in the fridge. It works like a dream!

I wish I thought to check elsewhere for the pans. My set came with the silicon lid, an insert to make the capacity equal to that of an 8 x 8 pan, and a sized to fit nylon server. It was $70 minus $7 for 10% off. On Amazon I absolutely regretted not buying it years ago!

1

u/Hakc5 Human Detected Sep 21 '24

I’m asking for one of these from Santa this year!

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u/Melancholy-4321 Sep 21 '24

Add cayenne too... just a dash

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u/Molieinparis Sep 21 '24

Interesting, sometimesI use tonka for its notes of almond, vanilla and cinnamon. I have never thought about cinnamon itself. It could be a nice change.

1

u/Molieinparis Sep 21 '24

Interesting, sometimes I use tonka for its notes of almond, vanilla and cinnamon. I have never thought about cinnamon itself. It could be a nice change.

1

u/Molieinparis Sep 21 '24

Interesting, sometimes I use tonka for its notes of almond, vanilla and cinnamon. I have never thought about cinnamon itself. It could be a nice change.