Coconut & Sea Salt Brownies

Dear Devon,

A few months ago, Melissa Clark had a recipe in the Times for brownies made with olive oil, sea salt, and shredded coconut. I bookmarked the recipe, and ran to the store to buy some shredded coconut, but it wasn’t until last week that I got around to making the brownies.

I thought I knew how to bake the perfect brownies: Moist, dense, fudgy squares with a crunchy crust. But Ms. Clark’s recipe gave me something to think about. She substitutes olive oil for butter, runs a layer of coconut through the brownie, and dusts the top with sea salt for extra flavor. Her tweaking of a classic recipe and play with unusual ingredients grabbed my interest right away.


I’ve only started to experiment with olive oil as a baking ingredient very recently. The wide variety of good and reasonably priced Spanish olive oil, plus my lack of an eggbeater, has made me reconsider recipes in which I always used butter. It’s broadened my repertoire. I’ve found that olive oil gives a nice fruitiness to cakes and baked goods, and renders a moist crumb that is sometimes lacking in butter-laden recipes.

Following Melissa Clark’s advice, I sprinkled the top of my brownies with good quality sea salt from Mallorca. This topping gave the brownies an unusual character and flavor, a bit peppery, and even buttery. Since buying a box of sea salt, my palette has felt the sparkle of salt. It’s become indispensible on my kitchen table, topping everything from fresh salads to pastas primavera. If I keep discovering new gastronomic delights, I’ll have to throw out all my clothes to make room for them in my suitcase.


Coconut & Sea Salt Brownies
(adapted from Melissa Clark NY Times 2/4/2011)

½ cup plus 2 tbsp water, boiling
1/3 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
2 oz chocolate, coarsely chopped (70% or higher)
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tsp hazelnut oil
1 cup sugar
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, sifted
¾ tsp salt
2 ½ oz chocolate, chopped
1 cup shredded coconut
1 tbsp fleur de sel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan. Set aside.

Sift cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl. Pour in boiling water and whisk until cocoa is dissolved. Add 2 oz chopped chocolate. Stir until chocolate is melted. Add olive oil and hazelnut oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, until the yolks disappear. Gradually add sugar. The mixture will look curdled and at first the olive oil will not mix into the chocolate, but keep working. With steady whisking, the batter will come together into a smooth chocolatey-mixture. Using a rubber spatula, fold in flour and table salt. Fold in 2 ½ oz chopped chocolate.

Pour batter into the oiled pan. Sprinkle with sea salt and shredded coconut. It is easiest to start with the sea salt. It’s amazing how easily the sea salt hides in the finely shredded coconut.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes. The toothpick test doesn’t work here, so be sure your oven is at the right temperature. I also like to turn on the broiler for just a bit, to get the coconut nicely toasted.

Cool on a wire rack. Cut into nicely sized squares.

Favorite Brownies

Dear Michelle,

I have a long history with these brownies. They are the first thing I remember baking that I made of my own initiative, by myself, and for the first time. This must have happened some time in high school, because I remember making them for my 16th birthday when my parents invited some of my friends over for dinner. I thought I'd impress them with some awesome brownies, but unfortunately I forgot to add sugar! Since the chocolate used here is unsweetened, they were NOT good at all. I recently made them for the welcome bags we left for out-of-town guests at the wedding, and I did remember the sugar this time.


This recipe is from my mother's copy of The Joy of Cooking (I'm pretty sure the 1963 edition), which was the cookbook I felt most comfortable with through high school and college. I use my edition ('97) all the time; it is probably my most-referenced cookbook. The brownie recipe is pretty much the same, as far as the amounts go, but the instructions have been streamlined a little. At some point I decided to see how much chocolate I could add, and have increased the amount they use by 50%, from 4 oz to 6 oz. Any more than that, and something bad happens. I don't remember what, but considering how much I love chocolate, it was probably a textural problem instead of a too-much-chocolate problem.


These brownies are the best I've ever had; they are rich, chocolaty, with a slight crust on top and a very tender, but not quite gooey center. I might try making them with a little less sugar next time, but that's because I like the taste of sweet less and less, and tend to prefer my desserts richer instead. These never last long; if you want to save them for something, do not leave the pan out on the stove to cool! Best to make them when no one is around. Oh, and be prepared to lick the mixing bowl; I dare you to stop yourself.


Recipe scanned from my photocopy of my mother's book:

I Call It Brownie Cake

Dear Devon,

A lukewarm response to my much praised and loved brownies encouraged me to rethink this American dessert. Some people can't get excited about brownies. I won't name names, but they exist, and I know such a person. They feel that there are so many wonderful desserts out there, why make brownies? I suppose, some of us are too spoiled by on-demand sweet potato pies and regular batches of biscotti to take much notice of a freshly baked, chocolate laden brownie.

Making the perfect brownie has been something of an obsession for me. In high school, I once made the mistake of making a batch of dry and tasteless bronwies. I have never been able to live this down. In certain circles, the story still haunts me. But, taking this critique in stride, I have, ten years later, developed an amazingly fudgy, dense, and absolutely sensational brownie recipe. Unfortunately, there are some who, while admitting admiration for my brownies, feel that it can be difficult to get excited about them.

Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: From My Home to Yours has several fantastic brownie recipes. I absolutely love this cookbook and will probably make everything in the book within my lifetime, if not in the next two years. My favorite brownie is the first recipe listed. The brownies are unusual in their thickness. These are not the 2 inch behemoths you find in gourmet bakeries. But at 3/4 of an inch in thickness, my brownies pack an intense chocolate flavor. I played with the recipe adding a bit more chocolate and a tablespoon of espresso to boost the flavors. The brownies come out dark and moist with a crisp and crackled surface.

While wrestling with the challenge to make a more exciting brownie, I decided to bake my way through Dorie's brownie recipes. The result was an amazing range of brownie production. The proportions of ingredients, that is, fat to flour and chocolate, varied noticeably, as did the final brownie. In the end, I was inspired by these recipes to produce a brownie that combined the bold chocolate flavor of a brownie with the light, airy texture of a moist cake.

I liked the idea of making a flourless chocolate cake with a touch of flour. I often think of flourless chocolate cakes as brownies on steroids. To maintain the intense chocolatiness of brownies, I opted for 10 oz of chocolate, combining semi-sweet and bittersweet. I like the complexity of flavor produced by mixing the two chocolates. To ensure richness and moistness, I upped the butter by half and increased the flour two-fold. I added the zest from the clementine and half a vanilla bean. The zest did not have a huge effect. The fruit wasn't ripe, but I imagine orange zest would work very nicely. The last piece of seasoning was salt. I used big crystals of kosher salt, liberally sprinkled into the flour. It makes for an unexpected bit of savory in an otherwise sweet dessert.

What came out of the oven was lovely. My brownie cake embodied the essence and flavor of brownie: the intense chocolate, the wonderful crackly crust, and the moistness and texture of a cake. Gone was the dense and powerful fudge brownie. Instead a lovely chocolate cake emerged with the spirit of a brownie.


Brownie Cake

6 oz of butter

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 oz bitter sweet chocolate
1 tbsp espresso

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1/2 vanilla bean
1 tbsp citrus zest (orange probably works best)

3/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 13 x 9 inch pan.

Melt butter and chocolate in the top bowl of a double boiler. Add espresso. Watch the melting chocolate and butter vigilantly, occasionally stirring the contents to promote even melting and prevent the butter and chocolate from scorching. In a large work bowl, measure out the sugar and scrape the seeds from half a vanilla bean. Add zest. Whisk together to mix. Add the melted chocolate and butter mixture directly to the sugar, whisking vigorously. Add the eggs, one at a time, thoroughly mixing in each egg. Don't be alarmed if the mixture looks curdled, just keep blending. The chocolate mixture will get thick and dense. Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Pour batter into the buttered pan. Bake in the oven for approximately 45 minutes, until the center is set. I use the toothpick test. Cool slightly before serving. Brownie cake is nice with a big scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream, a tall glass of milk, or as a midnight snack.

P.S. Happy New Year! Been spending the holiday traveling up and down the California coast. I have lots of pictures to share.

xxx