Blueberry Cherry Double Chocolate Brownie...and a kitchen disaster!

I have been out of action for a while, yes. And I had narrowed down upon a sinfully good gooey chocolatey brownie to mark my return. But this is certainly not how I envisaged it would go. Should I tell you the tragic climax right at the beginning or should I lure you into reading till the end? Okay, let me stick to the latter.

I had been pretty busy the whole of last week working for the Food Festival that I had organised along with a couple of friends. One of them basically supports this NGO for which she holds fundraising events from time to time. This time around I also chipped in. Made five items and spent an entire week running around to get things done and then cooking my heart out. Not surprisingly, no blog post during the entire stretch. I was lagging behind in my dessert a week challenge and decided that my next blog post after the brief hiatus had to be of a genre I had never posted before. So I selected brownies. Not just brownies, blueberry cherry double chocolate brownies. Are you salivating? Yes, I too was salivating when I hit the kitchen with the agenda...whipping, beating, mixing, melting, scooping with vengeance. And once the batter was inside the oven waiting with bated breath  for those neverending 35 minutes to pass before I could savour the rich brown melt-in-your-mouth goodness.

Everything happened as per plan. Everything. And then, just as I placed my brownie tray on the wire rack and tried to fish out my camera (because of course, a food blogger HAS to take photographs to be taken seriously, right?), one of the three tiny legs of the wire slipped from the kitchen ledge, and the tray was going...going...gone! My brownie, still fresh from the oven, was face down on the kitchen floor...broken, muddy and shapeless. My darling tray was dead...with its glass splinters scattered all across the kitchen and adjoining dining room.

See this. 5 seconds later this glass baking tray was history. :(

It was 2 at night and to make matters worse, I couldn't find the broom to dispose off the wastes. Armed with my oven gloves, I gathered the pieces of glass from all corners of the room, tumbled them in a waste bag and silently prayed that that no tiny piece remained that might pierce my folks the next morning.

Now was the turn of taking care of the brownie, about which I had completely forgotten. I took it out of the parchment very meticulously and then tried to get rid of the tiny particles of glass that might be still attached to it. Having done that I proceeded to cut it in squares. But having hit the floor in a very soft stage, it had lost its shape and wouldn't stand firm. So after a lot of hard work, this is what I finally got.

I tasted it a bit, not sure whether I was still in the mood to savour its taste, and too skeptic about a glass particle getting stuck in my throat. But no. The chocolate...well, double chocolate, the blueberries (jam, in my case) and the cherries...all had kept their words. So even though I had to part with my baking tray, my brownies, despite being smashed on the face, made sure that I went to sleep with a smile on my face. :)

Recipe slightly adapted from I am Baker

Makes 12 pieces

Ingredients:

Butter: 100 gm
Blueberry jam: 3 tbsp (substitute 100gm of fresh blueberries in case you have them)
Cherry: 100 gm
Eggs: 2
Caster Sugar: 200 gm
Vanilla: 2tsp
Flour: 150 gm
Cocoa powder: 50 gm
Chocolate chips: 50 gm
Baking powder: 3/4 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. In a deep bottomed saucepan heat the butter, blueberry jam and cherry on low flame till all the butter melts. Take off heat and cool.

2. In a bowl whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla till fluffy.

3. Now add a tbsp of the butter mixture to the eggs and mix to prevent scrambling in the next stage. Add the egg mixture into the butter mixture and beat till everything is incorporated.

4. Add the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips and mix until just combined.

5. In the meanwhile preheat oven to 180 degree C/350 degree F and line a square baking tray with a buttered parchment sheet.

6. Scrape the batter into the tray and bake for 30-35 minuets till skewer comes out clean. Do not overbake as it will harden once cooled. 

7. Additional advice: Take your tray out safely. Place the wire rack bang in the middle off the table so that it can't fall off from any edge. Allow the brownie to cool for 30 minutes till hard. Cut into squares and enjoy glass-free chocolate attack!

PS: Well, now that you know the story behind my shapeless blueberry cherry brownies, I hope you'd forgive me for these completely unworthy photographs, will you? :( Someday, when I make these again, I'll have proper square brownies without a trace of glass particle. Promise!