So now that I've got more time to indulge in my passion for baking, I decided to volunteer to bake brownies and cupcakes for a church fundraiser to benefit Cambodian kids ;-)
Thanks to my generous friends, I got myself committed to baking 16 slabs of 8" x 8" brownies. It was my first attempt to bake on such a major scale...
Three trips to Fairprice Finest, two trips to Phoon Huat, three rounds of experiments and hours upon hours of baking later, here are the final photos and recipe.
After the initial anxiety, I'm happy to report that all the brownies and cupcakes were sold out during this morning's CK4CK food fair. I'm indeed thankful to Him for the opportunity to contribute in a small way.
But proud as I am to have achieved the production target (with some help from foreign talent and a bit of child labour), I have concluded that the possibility of me converting this hobby into a business has become extremely remote.
Ingredients:
225g unsalted butter
340g fine sugar
4 eggs (or 3 large ones)
1½ tsp vanilla extract
150g unsweetened cocoa powder
225g all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
¼ cup Hershey’s chocolate syrup
¼ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Frosting:
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
160g icing sugar
1-2 tbsp milk
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 175 deg Celsius (350 deg Fahrenheit). Grease an 8” x 8” pan.
2. Warm butter in microwave for approx 60 secs until fully melted. Pour into large mixing bowl.
3. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla extract.
4. Beat in cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder. Mix in Hershey's chocolate syrup. Add walnuts if desired.
5. Spread batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Do not overcook.
To make frosting:
1. Combine butter, cocoa, honey, vanilla extract and icing sugar. Add 1-2 tbsp milk to smoothen frosting mix.
2. Frost brownies while they are still warm.
Note: I highly recommend Hershey’s cocoa powder for the frosting as you get a nice sleek chocolate frosting that’s not too dark.
