While on the subject of perfection...

Brownies.  I know there are theories about who invented them, what cooking mishap they resulted from...noise noise blah blah CHOCOLATE. 

When you want a chocolate hit...when your day sucked...when you want to pamper a friend (and sometimes that friend is yourself)...Brownies are the answer.  I've been known for my brownies for a long time - I make a mean brownie.  There are two schools of thought regarding brownies - cakey (wrong) and chewy (right).  I feel like I finally perfected my recipe with this recipe, and am thankful to all the other bakers whose ideas I took a little of here and there.  These might not be perfect for you, but they sure are for me. 

I tend to weigh the ingredients that are listed as weights, and use cup measures for those that call for cups.  I'm quirky that way.

Ingredients:

• 300 g (10.5 ounces) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 150 grams (5.5 ounces) unsalted butter
• 175 grams (6 ounces) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
• 100 grams (3.5 ounces) white chocolate chips or chunks
• 100 grams (3.5 ounces) milk chocolate chunks

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160 C (320F) and grease and line an 8-inch pan with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl resting over a pot of barely simmering water, melt chocolate and butter, stirring gently. (Don't be tempted to do this in the microwave...the chocolate and butter melt in different times and it is worth taking this one slowly) Remove from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla.
3. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Stir in flour and salt. Fold in white and milk chocolate chips.
4. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a tester inserted in the centre of the brownies comes out clean. Cool before slicing.
Again, a nice big glass of milk is a good companion for these.  Happy baking!