Tuesday, February 09, 2010

TWD—Rick Katz’s Brownies For Julia AND French Silk Pie Throwdown!

Oh my goodness!!!  This week has been super crazy-busy as we’re trying to get our house on the market-ASAP.  Kevin and I flew to Utah for a quick house hunting trip in the middle of it all.  My amazing mother is here helping and doing what seems like most of the work and she watched the boys for three days while we were gone.  I have not had a moment to breathe, let alone bake and especially visit all my favorite blogs.  It’s killing me! ;)  I miss you all!  Haven’t baked a thing since last week’s TWD or barely visited any blogs.  Sigh.

But today (Monday) we planned to have a French Silk Pie Throwdown with some friends and I wasn’t about to cancel/change that.  I needed a break and baking is just what I needed.  So in between kids and some dejunking and cleaning and lunching with Mom (she had not left my house for 6 days!), I HAD to make a French Silk Pie, so in between crust and silk, I threw together Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia.  And as I was hurrying through the recipe, I, of course ;), messed up.  But only a little bit.

I didn’t read ahead.  So I melted the butter with the chocolate, added a cup of sugar, then whisked together the other cup of sugar with the eggs.  THEN, the next thing is where I didn’t read ahead.  I whisked all the chocolate mixture in with the sugar/egg mixture.  I didn’t realize I was supposed to whip the eggs until they doubled in volume.  So I just went ahead, folded in the flour and baked these brownies that had 2 sticks of butter and 2 cups of sugar, not to mention the 4 eggs!!! in the small 9x9 inch square pan called for in the recipe.  These are not light brownies!  I was very tempted to baked this in a 9x13 inch pan, it was really a lot of batter.  But since I was in a hurry, I just threw it in the smaller pan and baked it for about 35 minutes.  Since I wasn’t too sure how these would turn out, I left out the extra chopped bittersweet chocolate.

These brownies, though I have no idea if they turned out the way they were supposed to, are a great, dense, fudgy brownie.  They were well received by everyone who ate them.  I assume by not whipping the eggs, they weren’t as light/airy as they were supposed to be. 

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These did not finish baking until about 3:30 p.m.  I took them right out of the oven and put them outside on the deck where they chilled in the 20-something degree air until about 6 o’clock.  They were almost frozen by then, but were perfectly chilled.  I thought they were too rich (I know, I can’t believe I just said that about chocolate!).  But they are a good brownie.  On that note, I will probably never make them again, because that’s about double the amount of BUTTER, SUGAR and EGGS in still-my-favorite brownie (my adapted Tribute to Katharine-Hepburn Brownies) in pretty much the same size pan!  Holy cow, I just can’t do that.  I am really glad I made the time to get this week’s TWD recipe made, which was chosen by Tanya of Chocolatechic (I love her honest and honestly delicious blog!).  Tanya has the recipe on her blog.  Thanks for picking brownies for my crazy week!

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Dorie says these brownies are fragile.  With my mistakes, these are not at all fragile—dense and very fudgy!

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I wanted to tell you quickly about the French Silk Pie throwdown we had with some friends.  Oh, a couple months ago, our friend, Bob and I were talking and he told me all he wanted for his birthday (which was Feb. 5) was Dan’s (another friend) French Silk Pie, which he made a few years ago and we all tasted.  Bob thought it was the most wonderful pie he’d ever had.  Dan was not with Bob and I during this conversation, but I told Bob that “oh yeah, I could make a better pie than Dan.”  So right then, I told Bob that Dan and I would have a throwdown and Bob would be the judge and pick whose pie is better.  (Then we later let Dan in on it and he was game.)  We decided this sometime back in December.  Oh, did I mention I had never made a French Silk Pie before?  Nope.  But I was certain I could and that mine would be better than Dan’s. 

During the month of January, I tried a few different recipes.  I don’t have time to tell you about the different recipes, and if you’d like my final recipe, let me know and I’ll send it to you.  We all met up tonight, Dan brought his pie and I had mine.  They were similar in looks, except Dan tried to suck-up to the judge by putting chocolate candy bars all over the top of his. ;)  But Bob did not know whose pie was whose.

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Dan’s pie (B)

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My pie (A)

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The judge is ready to go!

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Dan’s pie was thicker than mine, it was darker, and more chocolaty.  I was a little worried that would win over the judge.  I know him too well.  He loves chocolate.  Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are one of his main food groups.   But I had hope.  My pie was lighter, creamier, and silkier. 

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That is some serious pie tasting there!

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There were a lot of people waiting and watching and WAITING to eat pie.  It was a close one.  And here is where I have to graciously tell you that Bob chose this pie.

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What?  You can’t see what he wrote?  Okay, okay, he chose B—Dan’s pie!  Sigh.  I lost.  Sort of.  This was fun.  Over the last few weeks, it was fun to test pies and have our neighbors over to get their opinions.  Bob chose the more chocolaty pie.  I knew as soon as I cut into them and saw that Dan’s looked more chocolaty that that was the one Bob would pick.  Oh well.  It really was fun.  Now Dan and I have decided we must have more throwdowns!  And who knew—his pie had 3 ounces of unsweetened chocolate and mine only had 2.  (There were a few other slight differences, but Bob went for the more chocolaty one.  (Others in the group begged to differ on mine being better because it was silkier, but Dan won fair and square.)  Thanks for coming over for pie Bob (Happy Birthday), Tes, Berghouts, and Tippie/Heidners!  We’ll do it again soon!

37 comments:

mike said...

Whipped eggs, no whipped eggs... these look big, dense and wonderful! And during house hunting to boot! Glad that you have help around the house. And that French Silk pie is probably hands down better than what I could make - it looks fantastic and judging by the "judge" - it probably was! Good luck on the house Katrina!

chocolatechic said...

They look wonderful.

I used semi-sweet instead of bittersweet, and it was really good that way.

Kayte said...

Guys loved these brownies and I have made them three times already...mostly b/c I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong to get that crunchy top, but who cares, that's the part they liked the most so I hope I keep failing. LOL. Yours look wonderful! Have to giggle at that silk pie judge, he looks like he is having way way way too much fun with his assignment. They both look great, and I have to think they were both winners!

vibi said...

I'm sorry you lost... I'm sure your pie was exquisite!

Nevertheless, you had very good brownies to cheer you up! And they are perfecto!

♥peachkins♥ said...

both pie looks wonderful..

Unknown said...

Katrina--your brownies look delish, but can we please talk about that PIE!?!? Holy toledo! Looks heavenly! Great job and good luck with the house/move!

Jennifer Lee said...

I would LOVE to have both pie recipes. They sound wonderful and I have just the special someone to eat them.

jenniferlee(dot)hsu(at)gmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

These brownies were super rich and fudgy and those aren't typically things I like, but these won me over :) Yours look terrific - great job!

I bet both French Silk pies were delicious - sorry the judge didn't pick yours.

Amanda said...

Gotta LOVE seeing a Jayhawks shirt as I scroll through my RSS feed! The pie looks yummy! French silk is one of my favorites.

Tia said...

awesome job! mmmm fudgy brownies. they do look good though, but WOW your pie is so yummy looking too... chocolate overload!

Megan said...

Never mind the brownies, I want the pie recipe!

So now I know where you've been over the past few days - I was just about to start worrying about you!

Cindy said...

The pies look yummy! I baked my brownies in muffin tins so I could have more 'edges'! I love trying new recipes!

Mimi said...

Good luck with the house buying/selling. Moving is such a lot of work! What's your time frame for moving?
The brownies look great and so does that pie. Bob looks like a smart man so he probably thinks the looser will what a second chance to win him over, and he'll get another pie. Clever strategy.
Mimi

Bella Baker said...

Ha...awwww, I'm sorry you lost the pie throwdown! But those brownies!! Holy amazingness!! They look incredible! Sounds like your mistake was a great mistake!

Flourchild said...

And how do you not weigh 400 pounds with all these yummy treats you bake!
Love the brownies and the pie contest made me smile!;)
So are we going to be neighbors?

Leslie said...

When I looked at your brownies, I thought "These are the best looking ones yet" so I laughed when you said you made them wrong. They sure look great! Sorry you didn't win the throw down, but it sounds like you had a lot of fun doing it.

DessertObsessed said...

what fun! i would enjoy either pie! or both! especially both :)

Soy*Baby said...

Your brownies look yummy and so do those pies. Sounds like you are having quite the week. Good luck with everything.

Hindy said...

Wow. Yours are some of the best-looking brownies today. Dense and rich. I can practically taste them. Beautiful!

Bunny said...

Ok the brownies are a winner in my book! They look delicious!! OMG girl you are super busy! I love the idea of a throw down!! Thanks for sharing yours with us, what a great idea!

Amanda said...

Wow your brownies were actually sliced! LOL Mine oozed heehee They look great though!

I can't believe you are moving. Now you'll be close to so many food bloggers, seems like a ton of them live in Utah!

French Silk Pie mmmmmmm. I have that one on my blog that I just love, tastes JUST like Baker's Square :) Looks like it was a lot of fun.

I haven't been able to visit any blogs lately :( I am workin so many hours that I have to squeeze posts in by force!

Amanda said...

Wow your brownies were actually sliced! LOL Mine oozed heehee They look great though!

I can't believe you are moving. Now you'll be close to so many food bloggers, seems like a ton of them live in Utah!

French Silk Pie mmmmmmm. I have that one on my blog that I just love, tastes JUST like Baker's Square :) Looks like it was a lot of fun.

I haven't been able to visit any blogs lately :( I am workin so many hours that I have to squeeze posts in by force!

TeaLady said...

Fudgey brownies are the best. Like fudge. And yours look perfect.

spike. said...

the brownies look great and the pie contest sounds so fun!

Good luck with house hunting!

Eliana said...

Oh what fun. Now I want to participate in a throwdown!

Anonymous said...

Your brownies look great! Now, I'm craving French silk pie. What a great "throwdown" idea!

Megan said...

I'd really have to try both pies to really believe you didn't win. Your crust looks flakier, the filling is "silk"ier,Something smells a little fishy... I would really have to try both pies to declare the true winner. ;)
Sounds like a fun throw-down!

Maria said...

We like watching ThrowDown on FN. Looks like a fun time:)

Pamela said...

Fun throw-down! Your brownies look perfect, by the way!

Nancy said...

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!
How fun to have a pie throwdown! And those brownies look fabulous!!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Those brownies are enticing and the pies look wonderful - what are you trying to do to my waistline?

Good luck with the house hunting and move!

Anonymous said...

Too bad you didn't win the throwdown, but how fun for the birthday boy to judge a pie contest!

Your brownies look fantastic, even if you didn't follow the directions. But I agree that these are TOO full of bad-for-you ingredients.

Susan said...

Your brownies look fabulous and I would love to have your French Silk Pie recipe!

Kerstin said...

I love that you had your own Throwdown - how fun! Wish I could have been a judge - yum :)

Jacque said...

Mmm, I think yours look pretty darn good.... and French Silk Pie, I've never been able to master it. Good show!

AmyRuth said...

Well Katrina it all looks terribly yummy and I wish I had a spoon. he he
So good to have a cheerleader on board to help you when the going gets busy. YAY MOM. There is nothing like it.
Great post
AmyRuth

Kaitlin said...

Wow, the pies look out of this world!