Have Your (Cup)Cake and Eat It!
When I started Fair Cake, I had no idea about running a business. All I knew was that this was going to be a 'good' business. I had been hooked on the American blogs about cupcakes for a good few months when I decided that I could start my very own cupcake company in London. Little did I know how difficult the next few months were going to be...
I had decided that the ‘good' part of the business would start from no compromises on the ingredients front. I did not want to sell anything that I would not buy myself. I wanted to use only Fairtrade certified coffee and chocolate. I did not want to use battery hen eggs. I did not want to use non-recyclable packaging. There were a lot of things to consider! Finally, after a lot of research, some wonderful people on the other end of phone lines and a lot of patience, I sourced all my ingredients. I am now the proud owner of a tiny company that does not compromise on ingredients, ever.
After all the ingredients came the recipes themselves. It is one thing when your cakes are light, moist and your friends smile while eating them. It's quite another when people avoid eye contact at all costs while chewing for a long time. The recipes needed work. After merging several recipes, tweaking the quantities endlessly and much tasting, my signature light fluffy cupcake was born. I cannot possibly reveal this recipe, that is my first Fair Cake secret, but I can reveal how I make brownies.
The original recipe was given to me by Rachel of the Lighthouse Bakery School. I have since tweaked it because it is impossible to find unsweetened chocolate in the UK. If anyone knows of any sources of Fairtrade unsweetened chocolate blocks, please do tell me! This brownie recipe is apparently from Katherine Hepburn's family recipe book. Although if you were to do a search on ‘Katherine Hepburn's brownies', almost 600 recipes come up on Google. Believe at your own risk!
Dense Dark Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients
360g caster sugar
4 oz (blocks) of unsweetened chocolate (substitute with 4 tbsp cocoa mixed in 4 tbsp warm butter)
200g unsalted butter
4 large free range eggs
90g of cake flour (substitute with 75g plain flour mixed with 15g of corn flour)
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g of chopped nuts (optional)
Method
If using unsweetened chocolate, melt the chocolate with butter. If using substitutes, melt butter and mix in cocoa powder. In a large bowl, add the butter and chocolate mix, eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla. Mix without whipping. Whipping causes the cake to be light and fluffy, whereas you want the brownies to be dense and moist. Mix in the nuts. Line a brownie tin or a square cake tin (8" x 8") with parchment paper. Smooth the mix on the top. Bake for 40 minutes at 180C (170C in a fan oven). Check after approximately 30 minutes by inserting a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out with tiny bits of the mixture, your brownies are done. If it comes out completely clean, you have over baked! These brownies are best served a couple of days after they are baked. Wrap up nicely in parchment paper before storing in an air tight container for up to five days.
By Shikhita Singh
14 Sep 08
