Brownie Cake

When I decided to remake the Banana Cream Brownie Squares, I knew I’d make the brownies from scratch rather than from a box. A quick search on eatyourbooks.com showed that both Food Matters and James Beard’s American Cookery had brownie recipes.

First was the James Beard recipe. It was the size I needed (roughly 9×13) and used simple ingredients, but had white sugar and flour. I also knew I’d omit the nuts because some of my sisters hate nuts.

Then I looked at the Mark Bittman (Food Matters) recipe. I liked that it used prunes and whole wheat pastry flour, but it was only 8×8 size. Also I wasn’t sure I could get away with using prunes. And the actual title was “Brownie Cake.”

Just for fun, I checked out the Joy of Cooking. They had a 9×13 version that used 2 whole cups of white sugar. Yikes! Although they also had a “reduced fat” version that called for corn syrup :-/

Then it occurred to me that I could probably just double the Bittman recipe and bake it in my slightly-larger-than-9×13 pan. And so what if the bottom layer was more cakelike than brownielike? Heh heh. Prunes it is!

For Printable Recipe Click Here: Brownie Cake

8 Tbsp butter, softened
3 cups pitted prunes
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Put prunes and 4 C water in a medium saucepan. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil; simmer 15 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add half the chopped chocolate, until chocolate is melted.

3. Meanwhile, stir together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

4. When prune/chocolate mixture is ready, puree in a food processor. Add eggs, butter, and vanilla and process until smooth & creamy. Add it to the flour mixture and stir until moistened. Stir in remaining chocolate.

5. Bake for 45 minutes or until the middle is set. Store at room temperature for a day or two.

Servings: 16

The Verdict: Before using it in the banana cream brownie squares, I cut a small corner out to taste. The brownie did seem fruity, but it was difficult to tell it was prune (er, dried plums). So I decided to proceed. In the final dessert it ended up being a bit too thick and fudgy. You couldn’t really tell it was plums, it was just sweet. And dense. So I could have not doubled it and made it in the 9×13 and been fine.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/16 of a recipe (3.4 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.
Amount Per Serving
Calories 313.44
Calories From Fat (42%) 132.53
% Daily Value
Total Fat 15.43g 24%
Saturated Fat 9.11g 46%
Cholesterol 68.14mg 23%
Sodium 266.58mg 11%
Potassium 474.65mg 14%
Total Carbohydrates 46.57g 16%
Fiber 6.88g 28%
Sugar 19.12g
Protein 6.84g 14%

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