Pseudo Bake-Off

At some point in the last week C. mentioned the possibility of her making brownies (that is grammatically incorrect isn't it?). I very much liked this idea. Then two days ago there were no brownies and all I wanted was brownies. Well, not all I wanted but you know, all I wanted to eat. Then we got into a discussion about what kind of brownies she was going to make. She suggested brownies from a box and I, snob that I am, frowned at this idea. Somehow this evolved into a plan: she would make brownies from a box, I would make brownies from scratch and then T. would judge them for quality and goodness. Last night this kind of happened minus ultimate judgment. My brownies used semi-sweet chocolate and were chock full o' butter, hazelnuts, sugar and flour. C. used, well shoot I don't know what she used. C. you'll have to fill us in on the brand. T. tried both then guessed that my brownies were the box ones and C.'s were the homemade ones.

Mine were: cakey and nutty. Hers were: fudgey and sweeter. I proclaimed my love of the more fudgey texture of C.'s but admitted a preference, in terms of actual taste, for my own. Basically we never really made it a real brownie-off. The two specimens were pretty much on opposite sides of the brownie spectrum. I also got some cream cheese frosting, added shredded coconut to it and will, as long as the brownies last, smear a little on top of each bite. Am I getting fat? Yes.

What kind of brownies do you like? Mark Bittman says, in How to Cook Everything, that his kids have convinced him that brownies without nuts are superior. Here I am, just getting into the addition of nuts. Different strokes for different folks, dontchaknow.