By ShowMeStepByStepPublished Updated
Based on a video by Cakes by MK.
Fudgy or cakey is not a matter of taste, it is a matter of technique. The same ingredients produce either one depending on how much air you put in, how long you mix at the end, and when you take the tray out.
This version comes from Cakes by MK, who went through a long stretch of testing to work out the shiny crinkle top specifically. Three things produce it, and none of them are obvious.
That thin, glossy, papery layer is dissolved sugar rising to the surface and setting as the brownie bakes. You get it by doing two things.
Melt some of the sugar into the hot butter and cocoa mixture rather than adding all of it dry. And whip the eggs with the remaining sugar for a full three minutes until pale and creamy, which dissolves the crystals and carries air to the top.
Skip either and the brownies still taste good. They just come out matte.
The butter, oil, cocoa and brown sugar go into the microwave together and come out genuinely hot to the touch, not just melted.
Heat is what unlocks cocoa powder. Stirred into a cold batter it stays flat and slightly chalky; heated in fat it turns deep and properly chocolatey. That is the same reason there is a teaspoon of coffee powder in here - it is not there to taste of coffee, it is there to make the chocolate taste more like chocolate.
Butter brings flavour, oil brings the fudgy texture that stays soft once it cools. All butter gives you a firmer brownie straight from the fridge. The combination keeps it dense and yielding.
Once the flour goes in, fold gently and stop the moment it disappears. Every extra pass develops gluten, and gluten is exactly what turns a fudgy brownie into a cakey one.
The same caution applies when the chocolate mixture goes into the whipped eggs. You spent three minutes putting air in there. Stirring hard takes it straight back out.
This is the single biggest lever. 22 minutes for properly fudgy, 25 for something closer to a set cake, and the difference between the two really is that narrow.
A toothpick should come out dirty, with moist crumb clinging to it. If it comes out clean they are already overbaked, and they carry on cooking in the hot tin after you pull them.
An hour in the tin, no shortcuts. Warm brownies have not set and will tear rather than slice.
Line the tin with baking paper so you can lift the whole slab out in one piece, then cut on a board with a long knife, wiping it between cuts.
Use 50% dark or semi-sweet, chopped into large chunks rather than chips. There is a lot of sugar in this recipe and dark chocolate is what stops it tipping into sickly. The chunks also stay as pockets rather than melting away into the crumb.
If this one worked out, these run on the same ideas:
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Grease an 8 inch square tin, then line it with baking paper leaving an overhang on two sides.
The overhang is how you get the slab out in one piece later. Trying to lift fudgy brownies out of a bare tin is how they end up in fragments.
Heat the oven to 160C fan, which is about 320F fan or 350F conventional.
Cut three quarters of a cup of 50% dark chocolate into large chunks. Semi-sweet chips work as a substitute.
Dark rather than milk. This recipe carries a cup and a half of sugar in total, and the bitterness is what keeps the finished brownie from being cloying.
Tip
Large chunks stay as distinct pockets of melted chocolate. Small chips disappear into the batter.
Into the same bowl as the chopped chocolate, sift three quarters of a cup of all-purpose flour with half a teaspoon of salt, then mix so the chunks are coated.
Set the bowl aside. Combining the dry ingredients with the chocolate now means one addition later rather than two, which is fewer chances to over-mix.
In a microwave-safe bowl combine half a cup of butter, a quarter cup of vegetable oil, two thirds of a cup of cocoa powder, half a cup of packed brown sugar, a teaspoon of coffee powder and a teaspoon of vanilla.
Give it a rough mix - it will not come together properly yet - then microwave in 20 second bursts, stirring between each, until everything is melted and the mixture is hot to the touch.
Hot matters. That heat blooms the cocoa and melts the brown sugar, and the melted sugar is part of what gives you the crinkle top. Set it aside to cool.
Tip
The coffee powder does not make them taste of coffee. It deepens the chocolate.
In another bowl, beat one cup of white granulated sugar with two large eggs on medium high speed for a full three minutes, until the mixture is pale, thick and creamy.
Three minutes is not an approximation. This is where the air comes from that makes the brownies fudgy rather than heavy, and it is the other half of the crinkle top.
Pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the whipped eggs and fold it through gently with a spatula. Gently is the operative word - stirring hard undoes the three minutes you just spent.
Then add the flour and chocolate chunks and fold again until just combined. Stop the moment you cannot see dry flour.
Tip
Over-mixing at this stage is the number one cause of cakey brownies. Under-mix rather than over-mix.
Pour the batter into the lined tin, then shake the tin gently from side to side to spread it into the corners.
Give it a few light bangs on the counter to bring up any large air bubbles.
Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. Twenty-two gives you a properly fudgy brownie; twenty-five moves it towards cakey.
The top should be shiny and crinkled. Poke a toothpick in and it should come out dirty, with moist crumb stuck to it. A clean toothpick means you have gone too far.
Tip
They keep cooking in the hot tin after they come out, so pull them while they still look slightly underdone.
Leave them in the tin for about an hour to firm up. There is no way to rush this - a warm brownie has not set and will fall apart.
Run a thin knife around the edges to release them, then lift the whole slab out using the baking paper overhang.
Cut the slab into squares with a long sharp knife, wiping the blade between cuts so the edges stay clean.
Use a board rather than cutting on the paper, which slides around under the knife.
Tip
They keep four days in an airtight container and freeze well for up to three months.
Keep going
How to Make Royal Icing
How to Make Brownies
How to Make Brownies
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Question 1 of 5
Why line the tin with an overhang of baking paper?
Quick reference
5 questions, answers, and one-line explanations. Tap to expand.
1.Why line the tin with an overhang of baking paper?
Answer: It lets you lift the slab out whole
Without it, fudgy brownies come out of the tin in fragments.
2.Why dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate?
Answer: The bitterness offsets all that sugar
There is a cup and a half of sugar in here and the bitterness balances it.
3.How long do you whip the eggs and sugar together?
Answer: A full three minutes
That is where the air comes from that makes them fudgy rather than heavy.
4.What is the teaspoon of coffee powder there for?
Answer: It deepens the chocolate flavor
It deepens the chocolate without tasting of coffee.
5.What should the toothpick look like when they are done?
Answer: Dirty with moist crumb on it
A clean toothpick means you have gone too far.
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