How to Be a Better Baker — Charger Press

Baking is one of the most rewarding things one can do. Whether that is project baking, like making a loaf of sourdough or making brownies from a box, it is always assuring to know that a pile of ingredients can be turned into something marvelous. As Julie Powell once said, “I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say ‘nothing’ I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It’s such a comfort.” However, many view this task as daunting, when in reality it can be very simple if done correctly. One just must have a bit of creativity and joy to make something great. Let’s review some steps you can take to bake better.

Blood Orange Olive Oil Brownies

Ingredients:

¾ cup of olive oil (I used blood orange infused olive oil) (Olive oil in baking allows for a richer, softer, and more moist brownie. It doesn’t dry out like butter, so you’re left behind with the fat that you will want in a baked good.)
1-½ cups of all-purpose flour (To measure flour, spoon flour into a measuring cup and level it off with a flat edge such as a knife. This ensures that the flour isn’t packed down)
⅓ cup of unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder (Use dutch processed cocoa powder for a darker, richer, more flavorful brownie; it can be found in most grocery stores)
½ teaspoon of salt (For salt, use salts like kosher or fine sea salt. These are saltier and cut through the richness of the oil. To get a proper pinch of salt, scoop in with your fingers rather than pinching it. This should be about ½ a teaspoon)
4 oz of semisweet chocolate (For this, use bakers chocolate for a better result. Chop it with a serrated knife to get even flaked of chocolate that melt quicker without burning)
2 cups sugar (In recipes such as brownies or cookies, you can use any ratio of brown sugar to white sugar that you’d like if it calls for just white sugar. The addition of brown sugar adds moisture and more flavor due to the natural molasses in the sugar)
4 eggs, beaten (Crack the eggs on a flat surface. This ensures that you don’t get any shell in the batter. It is also a good way to get a nice, even crack all around the circumference of the egg. If an eggshell does fall in, scoop it out with a larger eggshell)

Method:

To begin, before starting anything in the kitchen, one must remember to do ‘mise en place,’ a french technique meaning ‘setting everything up.’ You want to measure out any ingredients you will be using at the moment, so you can move more quickly about the kitchen when everything is cooking. This also includes greasing any pans you will use in the oven, preheating the oven, and anything else the recipe says to do in advance. For this recipe, the utensils you’ll need are: a 9x13 inch baking pan, greased and lined with parchment paper (overhang the parchment paper so that you can life it out once the brownies cool), a medium sized bowl, a whisk, and a medium sized saucepan.

First, preheat the oven to 350℉. Add the oil to the saucepan and add the chopped chocolate. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is completely melted. Once it is fully incorporated, remove it from the heat to cool. Add sugar and mix until completely combined. While the mixture is cooling, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in the bowl, and set this aside. Once the chocolate mixture is cool, add the eggs and mix to combine. Add in the flour and mix until no lumps remain, but make sure not to overmix (this creates a tough brownie). Transfer to the greased and lined baking dish and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the brownies cool in the pan for at least one hour. This way, when you lift them out of the pan with the overhang you created earlier, they stay intact. Cut into bars and serve with any toppings you like such as powdered sugar, orange zest, ice cream, or whipped cream. Bon appetit.