Fudgy Brownies and Russian Tea Cakes

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Been a while since I fired up the oven to make heavenly sweets so while I was driving home today, thought of making some baked goodies for the office (lucky lucky...). August is also the best time to make people taste these in time for Holiday orders! *wink wink*

Here are the recipes. Enjoy eating and trying them out yourself!

FUDGIEST BROWNIES EVER 
a cross between a moist chocolate cake and chewy choco fudge. nuts are optional but gives it a different crunch. keeps in the fridge and freezes well (if there is anything left after baking...) - let stand by room temp for 30 minutes before eating.

 Ingredients:

1 cup butter
650 grams semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (depending on how sweet you want your brownies)
6 large eggs
2 cups packed brown sugar (you may opt to reduce to 1 1/2 cups is using semi-sweet chocolate)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or 1/8 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup roasted cashew nuts (walnuts, pecans or macadamia nuts can be substituted)
*recipe can be divided in half for a 6x6 inch pan

Procedure:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F and line two (2) - 6x6 inch brownie pans with parchment.

2. In a double boiler (heat-proof bowl over a sauce pan with an inch of simmering water), melt butter and chocolate until smooth.

3. From here it is about mixing everything in! :)

Use the folding technique with a spatula (over and under motion as opposed to stirring) as the brownie batter will be very thick and heavy. Mixture is ready when there are no more traces of flour in it.

 4. Place in the brownie pans and bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted at the center has a few moist crumbs. A clean toothpick means the brownies will get too dry as it still cooks using residual heat while cooling.

5. Place on a rack and cool for at least an hour before slicing.

Tip: Wipe off knife aftr every slice to get clean cuts. Makes 16 large brownies or 36 bite-sized pieces

RUSSIAN TEA CAKES 
these are actually cookies which resemble snowballs after the dusting of powdered sugar at the end. originally, these are made with pistachios, pecans or walnuts. i tried to mix it up a little by using local cashews and adding Mediterranean flare by using black sesame seeds and rose water.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
2 cups flour
1/2 cup confectioner's / powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or 1/8 teaspoon vanilla powder
2 tablespoons rose water (available at Rustan's or any Indian Food Store; plain water may be substituted)
1 cup chopped cashew nuts
1/2 cup black sesame seeds (which are naturally black and are not just toasted white sesame seeds; good color contrast when you bite in the cookie and has a deeper sesame flavor)
* additional 1/2 cup confectioner's / powdered sugar for dusting

Procedure:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Cream together butter, sugar, rose water and vanilla using a wire whisk.

3. Switch to a spatula and combine all dry ingredients until mixture forms into a dough.

4. Shape into 1 inch balls and put on a cookie sheet, an inch apart.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden on top.

6. While still hot, roll generously in powdered sugar and store in air-tight containers to maintain crispness.

Would say these were quite a success! Actually felt (and smelled) like Christmas last night at the house! Watch out for more test kitchen recipes and let's see if I will be able to sell some of these. :)