Chocolate Makes the World go Round
Image Courtesy of Quinn's Blog
There is no pun intended in the title, if you're worrying about your weight. Apart from love, I think chocolate is the best thing ever created. When you’re down and out, chocolate is there to lift your spirits. When you’re happy, chocolate is there to celebrate with you. And unlike love, it does not disappoint; unless you’ve had a really bad piece of chocolate, but then I wouldn’t even consider that chocolate. It comes in many forms - chocolate bar, chocolate cake, chocolate tart, chocolate mousse, liqueur chocolate, truffles, chocolate cookies, brownies, chocolate ice cream, hot chocolate, chocolate macaroons… sometimes even sneakily incorporated into that “healthy” dessert which masquerades as ‘weight watchers’.
“Sinful! Indulgent! Terrifyingly detrimental towards your health!” is what some of you might say. For those of you out there who share my love-hate relationship with chocolate, mentally chastising yourself, as you bite into that smooth velvety bit of indulgence… fret no more! Be comforted by the benefits of chocolate, which by far outweighs whatever damage it does to your expanding waistline.
5 Reasons why Chocolate is Good for you
1) A piece of chocolate a day keeps the doctor away
Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, lowers high blood pressure. A German study found that eating a small sliver of dark chocolate can lower blood pressure without increasing weight or other health risks.
2) For brains that are fried and overused
A study showed that chocolate can boost your memory, attention span, reaction time and problem solving skills by increasing blood flow to the brain! Rejoice all you students out there, we can now eat chocolate in peace and ace our exams!
3) Chocolate has Antioxidents!
It was published in a new medical journal “Lancelot” that eating chocolate can prevent cancer and heart diseases. Apparently dark chocolate has 4 times as much Antioxidents compared to tea. So ditch the green tea and start gobbling chocolate!
4) Bye Bye dentists!
I hate visiting the dentist, the whirring sound of the cleaning equipment and the flash of the sharp tools against the harsh bright light sends chills down my spine. Good news for people who have dental phobia, chocolate reduces tooth decay! Perhaps one day, we all might be using chocolate Listerine!
5) Chocolate makes you happy - Don’t deny it
Chocolate contains Phenylephylamine, the same hormone the brain triggers when you fall in love. It makes you giggle, it makes you smile… Need I say more?
So now everyone, abandon your dieting plans and start munching on chocolate. It’s good for you!
Brown Butter Brownies
To celebrate my love for chocolate, I have decided to bake Brown Butter Brownies with 3 different types of chocolate bits thrown in (Cadbury, Callebaut 70% and random chocolate chips) and a blend of 2 types of cocoa powder (Valrhona and a local brand). Need I say more? This was simply decadent. I won’t deny that it’s scarily evil, but well, chocolate does have its benefits!
These brownies have a secret ingredient in them - Brown Butter. It has a nutty aroma to it, lending the brownies a yummy caramel-like flavour, different from your usual plain brownies. All it takes, is just one additional simple step - browning your butter! This recipe was adapted from from Bon Appetit Magazine. Apparently the editors bestowed this brownie the title of “the Best Brownies they’ve ever tasted”.
It didn’t take me very long to whip up the batch of brownies and they were all in one pot! It saves time and is really quite fuss-free. My brownies came out lovely, with a pretty shiny top, and the texture was just right, rich, chewy and fudgey, beckoning for people to indulge in it. I can’t wait to spread the happiness!
Ingredients
1 ¼ stick butter (about 150g)
1 cup sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons water
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs (chilled)
½ cup all purpose flour
Chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (as much you want) mine was about 1 cup
Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Line baking pan ( 9”x 9”) with baking paper and grease it.
Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat, until butter begins to brown (about 5 minutes), you will smell a nutty aroma and the colour of the butter will be slightly darker than it’s usual yellow. Be careful to not burn it.
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in sugar, sifted cocoa powder, vanilla extract, water and salt. Let the mixture cool. Add the eggs and whisk the mixture until ingredients are well incorporated and the mixture is shiny and smooth. Sift in plain flour and fold in chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with a few crumbs. Cool the brownies before cutting. You can get about 9 slices.
Serve warm with ice cream.