Let's see if I can figure out how to post a poll with this thread. At home there is continuing discussion as to how to top a brownie. I am a huge fan of frosting, my wife is a fan of nothing and my daughter goes with powdered sugar.
Leave it alone (nothing). Unless you have Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream and a caramel topping.
Let me see if I can add ice cream! That's better than nothing or powdered sugar... Nope - can't edit it.
A brownie is technically not supposed to have anything on top, the frosting was an added 'feature' later (personally my theory is to compensate for sub-par brownies, frosting hides the disappointment). A proper brownie needs NOTHING! It isn't a cake! :rofl Oh, and corner piece as well..
As a dessert chef I can say this with some authority. Brownies are soft decadent pan cakes, not pancakes, that are flavored with chocolate and or cocoa. They need no topping.
Sorry, I agree with the wife. I like my brownies unadulterated, straight from the oven, warm, and toppingless. Now the real question, nuts or no nuts?
Frosting.....blah! I thought you had good taste, S~S. No nuts, no chocolate chips or sauce. Just good, chewy, warm brownie goodness. Edge pieces for me cause they're extra chewy.
The original brownie was a dense sweet cake that probably weighed over a pound. Here is the recipe from a well respected baking book Notice the ingredients. Simple and uncomplicated. The brownie was originally developed in the UK where sweets are more savory. Whereas in America, sweets are well sweet. Edit: read the first paragraph about the Fannie Farmer cookbook containing no chocolate. From what I understand the brownie was a contest and was probably made in a kitchen that had very little stock. Chocolate in the 1800s was expensive and considered a luxury not often found outside a chocolatier and definitely not used for baking. That is what cocoa powder is used for. Cocoa and cocoa butter combined with milk make chocolate, which takes a master to make correctly.
Seriously look this up. In Kentucky where I call home, there is a Licking Valley Chapter of the Girl Scouts or Brownies. I can't remember which. Personally I think they should relocate.
Forget toppings. A brownie should be thick, heavy, and fudgey. If you do it right, theres no need to top it. Now I need to go to the gym just because I thought about brownies.
Now that I think about it a cake brownie, rolled in cocoa powder and coated with a dark chocolate ganache, stuffed with buttercream, French not Italian. Yum. Yum, Yum. Make that butter cream with real farm butter fresh from the churn and the ganache with the cream from the same dairy. Serve with ice cold fresh churned burbon ice cream. DROOL!!!
