blondies

photo courtesy Stacey Cloud Chester

on one hand, blondies are very simple -- just like brownies, except the chocolate is concentrated in the chips, rather than incorporated into the batter. on the other hand, they're richer and more complex than brownies: because the batter is made with brown sugar, they're almost butterscotch-y in flavor. I used 2/3 semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/3 chopped bittersweet chocolate (both Ghiradelli), because it's what I had on hand, and the sweet batter called out for a more intense chocolate. you can use light brown sugar, dark brown sugar or a combination - - the more dark brown sugar, the more butterscotch-y the flavor. this recipe makes a nice big batch.

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
• 2-1/2 cups light or dark brown sugar, packed
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 scant teaspoon kosher salt (kosher salt is tastier and less bitter than table salt. if you don't have any on hand, use 1/2 teaspoon table salt)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped or broken up into approximately 1/2" pieces
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

preheat the oven to 350 °F. butter and flour an 9 x 13 inch baking pan. in a large bowl, stir the eggs and sugar together (you do not want to incorporate extra air here; these are best when dense and just barely leavened), then the vanilla and salt. pour in the melted butter and whisk to combine thoroughly (do not overbeat).  sift the flour and baking powder directly over the bowl, all at once. again, gently whisk it all together until just combined -- i.e., no streaks of flour unincorporated; batter is thick and homogenous. stir in the chopped bittersweet chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips. using a flexible spatula or spoon, scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly and smothing the top out a bit. bake for 25 minutes. test center for doneness and continue to bake, checking every 5 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. cool on a rack, cut into small squares and eat!

brown sugar ice cream

this is a bare-bones recipe, but it’s so good I want to get at least the basic recipe up.

8 egg yolks
1 cup white sugar (I actually used Mexican sugar for this part, which is an extremely light brown and coarse sugar, but I don’t know that it made any difference; white sugar works just as well)
1 cup dark brown sugar
6 cups heavy cream (you can use up to 1/3 milk, but I like my ice cream on the insanely rich side)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Mexican vanilla
1-2 teaspoons Kahlua (optional)

beat the egg yolks with the white sugar until the mixture is lemon-yellow in color and forms ribbons, then beat in the brown sugar, cream and salt (use the smaller amount of salt to start). cook it in a very heavy pot (I like a Le Creuset dutch oven) over very low heat (or use a bain marie), stirring constantly, ever-vigilant, until the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon nicely. it won’t be super-thick; it should come out more the consistency of a finished veloute (yeah, I'll find those accents aigu one of these days). add the vanilla and optional Kahlua, then taste to see if it wants more salt. pour it out into a suitable container and refrigerate it for at least several hours, preferably overnight. after that, freeze as usual -- I like my little Cuisinart ice cream freezer for this, but this recipe needs to be adjusted, because it makes too much to freeze in one batch. next time, I’ll try to use 3/4 to 2/3 the amount and will update when I get it right.

this comes out just gorgeous, a dense gelato-like texture with a dark cream color, and goes beautifully with fresh fruit, chocolate cake, or all by itself. one scoop will be plenty for most people, since it’s so rich.