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A Brownie that sizzled – There are some surprises, we are better off without them

30 August 2015 No Comment

brownie with ice cream recipe

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~ Churchill

I don’t really like surprises, not the bad and big ones anyway. Whether in life or in my kitchen at home, I expect things to happen just the way they always have.

Hmm..if only wishes were horses…

The fact of the matter is that nothing is ever certain and life gives you strange surprise when you least expect from it.

Back then, I was too vulnerable to react to such unexpected surprises in life. I am probably a little more casual and fun-loving now, I don’t sulk or get disheartened easily but try to figure out ways to come out of such situations unhurt.

As they say “It’s not the surprise that matters, it’s how you react to it.”

As far as cooking adventures are concerned, I am fortunate to have had a very few failures, it was my self-taught baking skills which gave me jitters.

A cookie harder than a rock, sunken cake, flat bread and the gooey brownie was all that could come out of my oven.

I was just a teenager then and mom never missed a chance to encourage me by saying “It tastes good, so what if it looks different….moreover you don’t have proper baking tins and a good oven to bake dear”

Don’t let your mistakes define you, let them refine you…try to figure out what went wrong and improve it next time. Always remember that the best way to learn anything in life is to fail and then keep trying till you master the technique.” Mom would lovingly advice me.

Well, I still don’t follow any recipe to the letter and often keep tweaking and switching ingredients, which implies that baking hazards are imminent in my kitchen.

And here is one such awful incident that happened last year when I was in Udaipur at my mom’s place, my food-fix story which makes me laugh whenever I bake a chocolate cake.

It was Diwali eve and mom wanted to invite a few of my relatives and friends for dinner at home, most of whom I was meeting after ages.

She asked me to plan a menu and gave the responsibility to take care of the dessert.

I planned a semi-Indian meal and a rich chocolate cake for dessert to be served with chocolate sauce and homemade vanilla ice cream.

Do you have the recipe with you and are you sure you can bake a cake in this indigenous oven with whatever ingredients I have in my pantry” my mom showed her concerned.

Mom, I would have baked countless cakes, I don’t need a recipe for simple bakes. Don’t you worry” I responded with a sign of overconfidence in my tone.

The Brownie that sizzled

I made the batter, poured it into the only baking dish that mom possess and placed the baking dish in her old fashioned oven.

The kitchen was bursting with rich chocolaty flavor after thirty minutes and I happily switched off the oven just in time (her oven has no timer).

Beta doesn’t this chocolate cake look a little different” asked my mom who was standing next to me waiting to see the cake.

Sin of all sins, I realized that the bottle of baking powder lay unopened near the oven..oh no..I forgot to add leavening agent in my batter.

Err…yes, mom this is a brownie, it is dense because of extra bits of chocolate chunks in it.” I regained my composure quickly and tried to convince her.

The Brownie that sizzled

Well, I didn’t give up and started to think of various options to present the cake while humming a hindi song and arrange the dinning table for the guests. And I nailed the idea just in time.

I had a fun time talking and reliving the memories of our olden days with my relatives an friends. My baby potato pops, pan fried cornmeal Harsha and pasta were the crowd puller recipes that evening.

It was dessert time, I quietly went in the kitchen and could see my worried mom hurriedly running behind me to check if I needed any help.

I handed her a large tray, neatly arranged with cute little glass bowls filled with slices of brownie in it. I pulled out the ice cream box from the refrigerator and took a glass jar filled with hot chocolate sauce and asked her to follow me.

The Brownie that sizzled

I placed a large scoop of vanilla ice cream  over the chocolate brownie in each bowl and asked mom to serve it to the guests.

And before they could start digging into the dessert, I drizzled a thin stream of hot chocolate sauce over the ice cream. The sizzle, smoke, bubbling sauce and the melting ice cream created a wonderful gastronomic treat.

Your daughter is an amazing cook and even better baker, the brownie is the yummiest I have ever tasted”! one of the guests acknowledged, scooping out a big chunk of sizzling brownie from her bowl.

I looked at mom and smiled. I could see a relaxed and beaming mother enjoying the showers of praise for her daughter from all sides.

That sizzling brownie was one brilliant idea…a perfect surprise dessert for the guests. You made me proud” mom told me while arranging the bed for us that night.

Brownie..ahem..surprise..err…well, there are some surprises, we are better off without them 😉

 

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