Buffetting : Peanut Butter-ish Brownies

Weee! It's my birthday today!! Happy birthday to me!!! Anyway, this post ain't about the birthday, will post some updates on it after this post~

I've always fancied baking because they are much more easier and manageable compared to convention cooking with fire and oil. So, I've decided to try out baking homemade brownies from some guide by this lady from The Joy of Baking.

And the whole thing turned out great.

So lets get to the cooking part.

For the base:
125 grams of unsweetened choc. In my case I used some ciplak brand, so its still sweet.
125 grams of butter, unsalted.
1 cup of white sugar.
3/4 cup of plain flour,
2 eggs.
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
1/4 tablespoon of salt* seriously optional*

So, making the base was totally easy. *PS: Decided to make them all into passive to suit my lab report practice XD*
0- Preheat the oven at 165 degrees celcius.
1- The choc and butter was melted with a double boiler. Those without double boiler can always heat a bowl under a pot of water for same effect.

2- Once melted, the mixture was removed from heat and sugar with added and stirred till dissolved.

3- Upon dissolving, 2 eggs were added and stirred, one at a time.
4- As the mixture thickens, the vanilla extract was added, along with the flour.

5-*Optional* Diced cashew nuts was added into the mixture
6- The mixture was stirred till it stiffens, and was transferred into a 20cm square pan.

7- The mixture was then baked under the temperature of 165 degrees celcius for 30 minutes.

I think the cashew nut baked in the oven totally flooded the whole dining room with a blissful scent of bakery. Seriously, I thought I was role-playing as a pastry chef or something XD

Once done, let the baked base left for cool, and proceed to the Ganache( Frosting )

The ingredients used for the frosting was simple:
125 grams of semi sweetened choc
1 tablespoon of butter
80ml of whipping cream
*optional* 1/4 cup of granulated white sugar. If you don't fancy sweet, skip it.

Cooking was also simple:
1- The choc and butter was heated using a double boiler till melted.
2- The whipping cream was then added, and the mixture was stirred till even.
3- Granulated sugar was added and dissolved.
4- Once a smooth mixture is attained, the frosting was added to the brownies.
5- The frosting was spread evenly using a spoon.

To allow the frosting to freeze even rapidly, the brownies was placed into the ice compartment of the refrigerator.

Upon then, cut them into pieces and serve!

I totally have a pastry chef lying dormant in me. The feedbacks were okay, some said nice, some said it should have been more bitter.

It's the first time, so hopefully the baking goes better later on. Btw, the brownies really do smell like peanut butter after a while. I wonder if the nuts and butter had some chemical romance to produce this baby?

Bleh, so wait for the next post on the birthday food then!

*Sheesh august is all about food, I think I gained like super weighs*