Five quick facts below to make your mouth water.
1. The first time that a the name ‘brownie’ appeared in a recipe book was in the 1896 version of the Boston Cooking School Cook Book by Fannie Meritt Farmer. This brownie was in reference to tiny cake like versions, not a true brownie like you would find today.
2. It was pretty quiet in the world of brownies after that – it took almost 11 years for a real brownie recipe to appear, also in the Boston Cooking School Cook Book, which was the first time a brownie was we know it today was published. I’m not sure if it had colour pictures in, or referred to using organic or fair-trade chocolate, but it was certainly a groundbreaking recipe.
3. One of the most popular stories about the origin of the brownie is told in the Encyclopedia or American Food and Drink, which reports that a housewife in Bangor, Maine forgot to add baking powder to her brownie, and therefore her batch didn’t’ rise properly. Ever the impeccable host, she carried on and sliced her now invented brownie and served it unashamedly, claiming her new invention
4. Chocolate brownies are one of the few foods where there is a strong divide between the way a brownie should be prepared. Half of the world loves a cake like brownie, whilst the other half would die without a beautiful fudge brownie to devour.
5. I personally love chocolate fudge brownies, infinitely more than cake versions.
So there you go, just a few facts on Chocolate Brownies for you. Now go and eat some!