The History of the Chocolate Brownie

Have you ever found yourself wondering where chocolate brownies came from?  Well, here at Simply Brownies we have and we've done a little bit of research and thought we'd share our findings!

There is much mystery surrounding the beginnings of the chocolate brownies we know and love today, including the following suggestions:

- A chef mistakenly added melted chocolate to a batch of cookies

- A cook baking a chocolate cake didn't have enough flour, resulting in a dense cake.

- A housewife in Bangor, Maine forgot to add baking powder to her chocolate cake, but rather than throw the cake out, she cut and served it in flat pieces and found it delicious!

However there appears to be no doubt that they are an American creation and most likely originated in New England around the turn of the 20th Century.

Most of our research points us to 1893 and the Columbian Exhibition which that year was held at the Palmer House Hotel.  It seems that Bertha Palmer (the owner of the hotel - her husband gifted her with the hotel as a wedding present!) requested of her chef a dessert for the ladies attending the fair which was to be smaller than a slice of cake and easily eaten from lunch boxes.  The creation she was presented with was very similar to the brownies we know and love today, but featured an apricot glaze and contained walnuts.  This version of the brownie is still being served to this day in the hotel's Lockwood Restaurant to the same recipe, click here for a link to food.com which details the recipe.

Following the Columbian Exhibition, several brownie recipes cropped up around the beginning of the 20th Century, the first in the 1986 version of the Boston Cooking School Cook Book though these were made with molasses (a dark sugar syrup similar to black treacle) and nothing like the brownies we enjoy today.  

Following this there was a recipe printed in the Boston Globe on 2nd April 1905 for "Bangor Brownies", these had no baking powder and were probably similar to those made by the housewife who almost threw out her chocolate cake.

Then Fannie Merritt Farmer (one of America's most famour cookery authors) published a copy of the Boston Cooking School Cook Book in 1906, those these were a rather mild, more cake-like version of the brownie and it wasn't until her protégé Maria Willett Howard published a recipe for Lowney's Brownies in Lowney's Cook Book in 1907 with an extra egg and more chocolate that something which more resembled the brownies of today was born.

Chocolate brownies became increasingly popular in the 1920s when chocolate was more readily available and eventually made their way around the world.

Today, there are still several different recipes for chocolate brownies (our own remains a closely guarded secret and only available from our website!) but it's the melted chocolate and butter which give a brownie it's fudgy texture and the high sugar content which gives them that delicious crispy topping....mmm....

We're so proud of how we pack our brownies!

Ever wondered how we pack our chocolate brownies?  Most of the chocolate brownies we deliver are sent as gifts and so we need to make sure they're beautifully packaged.  Even if you're ordering some brownies for yourself, they're a gift, so we make sure that they're wrapped as one!

We start by baking our brownies.  All our chocolate brownies are baked from scratch and to order in my own kitchen at home in Wiltshire.  We use Belgian chocolate with a minimum of 72% cocoa solids (which our sources tell us is now a superfood - beating blueberries and cranberries for the it's health-boosting antioxidants), fair trade golden caster sugar, real butter and eggs from the Happy Egg Company - happy eggs mean happy brownies!

We offer 4 regular flavours and often a monthly special, which in February is cherry chocolate - they're delicious, we promise!

Once they've cooled completely we wrap 12 squares (each around 5cm square) in food grade cellophane wrap to keep them fresh.  Each batch is identified by the label we attach directly to the cellophane so if you're sending some brownies to a friend they'll know exactly what they're getting.

These are then wrapped in pink tissue paper and snuggled into one of our sturdy, yet still pretty cardboard boxes, ready for posting.

We also send one of our greetings cards with the order, so you can add a personal message to your friend or loved one, wishing them a Happy Birthday, or Get Well Soon, Congratulations or I love you...or even "Just because"...sometimes you don't need a reason to tell someone you love them, and a batch of chocolate brownies will certainly perk up someone's day!

Delivery Information

Our chocolate browies our posted via First Class Royal Mail.  All orders received before 12noon Monday-Thursday will be baked that evening and posted the following working day.  Where an order is received on a Friday or over the weekend, the brownies will be baked on a Monday and posted on a Tuesday.  Once your order has been posted the delivery date is out of our hands, however Royal Mail aim to deliver first class parcels within 1-2 days.

Once your brownies arrive at their destination, it's up to you how you eat them - but we think they're delicious just as they are!

For more information on the brownies we have to offer visit our website www.simplybrownies.co.uk or if you have any questions, email us sales@simplybrownies.co.uk

Chocolate Brownies with Strawberries, Mascarpone and Champagne

What better way to end a perfect Valentine's Day dinner than with some of our delicious home made Chocolate Brownies - don't forget, as well as being delicious, chocolate is an aphrodisiac too!

Recipe

Heat some chocolate brownies (as many as you think you can eat!) gently in a warm oven, about 140°C (fan 130°C) for 10-15 minutes, just enough to heat them through.

To prepare your topping wash and slice some fresh strawberries and place them in a bowl.  Dust with 1-2 tablespoons of icing sugar, a litte chopped fresh mint and a drizzle of champagne (if you have any left over!)

In a separate bowl mix a small tub of mascarpone with 1-2 tablespoons of sieved icing sugar and half a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Now you're ready to plate up - place a brownie in the centre of your plate and top with a generous dollop of mascarpone, tumble over some of your strawberries.

Finally dust with a little icing sugar and top with a sprig of fresh mint....Enjoy with your Valentine!

Monthly Special

Our limited offer for February is cherry chocolate brownies - perfect for your Valentine.  For an added hit of chocolate we use Belgian chocolate with a minimum of 85% cocoa solids and pack these brownies full of natural glace cherries.  Finally, for a little added luxury, they're topped with a generous drizzle of Green & Black's Milk Chocolate.

A box of 12 cost just £15.95 for delivery within 1-3 working days from receipt of order.

February Delivery

As usual all our prices include postage and packaging costs for delivery in 1-3 working days from receipt of order.  However, if you'd like your order delivered to that special someone on Valentine's day, choose delivery on 14th February as you add your selection to your basket.  We'll then hold your order until Friday 11th February when we'll send it via Royal Mail's Special Next Day delivery service to arrive at your chosen address on Valentine's Day.

For more details of the scrumptious flavours we have on offer go to www.simplybrownies.co.uk or email sales@simplybrownies.co.uk

Still not sure?...See what our customers had to say about their chocolate brownies in our comments book...

Simply Brownies Update

Well!  Everything seems to be coming along nicely!  My wonderful boyfriend is working hard on getting the website ready and we're planning a photo shoot this weekend - which will mean lots of brownie baking!

I've decided to keep it simple initially on the brownie flavours, just 4 to start off with, and possibly a monthly special.  We'll see how that goes and take it from there.

I discovered some 94% cocoa solids chocolate in Tesco last week and am very excited to try that out, I suspect it will be delicious!  The thing with brownies, is that they have such a high sugar content (this is what makes them so deliciously fudgey...and very naughty!) that only chocolate with a very high cocoa content is strong enough.  I usually use Green & Blacks Organic 72% chocolate, so this new stuff should be a great chocolate hit!

I tried out some blondies last week, I got the recipe from Sainsburys and although delicious, I always thought blondies were made with white chocolate rather than dark, and did think that these came out a bit "cakey", rather than fudgey.  Having said that, they really were yummy!  I might do some research into new blondie recipes though, when I have the time!

So, we're still on track for "going live" on 1st January 2011, just in time to combat those post-Christmas blues - what could be better than a chocolate brownie to cheer you up! 

Again, I'd like to ask anyone who's been lucky enough to receive a box of brownies as a birthday present this year, to go to my website and leave some feedback, as any suggestions are always very welcome!

With that in mind, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me by email: sales@simplybrownies.co.uk

www.simplybrownies.co.uk

Vanilla Cranberry Blondies

In the beginning...

Simply Brownies is the name of my business, and chocolate brownies is the game!

I will be baking truly deliciously gooey and fudgey chocolate brownies from the comfort of my own Wiltshire kitchen and selling them online.

The idea is that they will be an alternative to sending the bog-standard flowers or chocolates to say "Happy Birthday", "Congratulations", "Get Well Soon" (who wouldn't get better at the thought of eating a box of brownies?!), "I love you", "I'm Sorry"...

There are plenty of companies who offer cupcakes and the like via the internet, but their aren't that many brownie retailers.

I've been working on perfecting my top-secret brownie recipe over the last few months, and am just about there with the basic brownie, but I want to offer alternative flavours, like orange, chilli, perhaps even mint!  If you have any flavour suggestions, please let me know and I'll get experimenting!

Initially I'll be working on this part-time, but with any luck it will be big and I'll be able to afford to devote more time to it.

Anyway, watch this space for updates on when brownies will be available online,the website is in the construction stages and I'm hoping to be up and running by the end of the year!