Its another Tasty Tuesday, and “How Sweet It Is!” Chocolate lovers, this one is for you!Today I am sharing with you my husband Troy’s all time favorite brownie, “The Beacon Hill Brownie”. When we were newly married, I was learning to cook, and I wanted to try a recipe using Baker’s Chocolate, (found in the baking aisle, it looks like a giant candy bar!) So I purchased a bar of the Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate, and inside was the recipe for Beacon Hill Brownies on a card. I made them, and it was like chocolate brownies on steroids! We had never tasted such a rich flavor before, and the density of the brownies was off the grid! I make these maybe once a year, for something like the Superbowl, and they are really in a class of their own! (A weight class of their own, too! That pan is heavy!)

But before we begin, I want to thank my dear sweet friend Maribeth Schmidt, who savors every aspect of food photography and takes it to a whole new level! She makes the dishes I prepare look absolutely beautiful! Its so much fun working with her! Her mind sees the most lovely settings and presentations, and I so appreciate her talent! If you would like to see more of her work, or for an inquiry, you can visit her at Maribeth Schmidt Photography. 

This is one of those recipes that throws in an extra step or two, but I promise you its not hard. Anyone can do it, and its really kind of fun to try some new things! So if you like a deep rich chocolate brownie, I hope you will give this a go!

And now, lets begin!

Ingredients

• 1 pkg Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups unsifted flour
• 2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375° Melt the chocolate in the butter in a saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly.

Once melted completely, remove from burner to cool slightly.

In large bowl, add sugar, vanilla and eggs and beat for 10 minutes. Yep… 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes of beating the sugar mixture, you can blend in the chocolate mixture on low speed.

Now start adding in the flour, beating just to blend.

You can see its pretty thick here. Now stir in the nuts (use a good strong spoon)

Spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Look how thick it is… almost like fudge. The smell is pretty intoxicating of deep dark chocolate at this point. Spread it evenly.

Place in 375° oven for about 35 – 40 min (don’t over bake)

Let cool and cut into squares to serve! 

The pan feels so heavy!

They are great as a stand alone. But they also play nice with a few extras.

But why stop there… we’ve gone this far, lets knock it out of the park!

Good heavens! Don’t wait too long! Grab a fork before it melts!

Baker’s Chocolate has a sweet rich history as the oldest chocolate company in the US. It actually dates back to a chance meeting of two men on the Neponset River in Massachusetts. In 1765, Irishman John Hannon was looking to bring his rare skills in grinding and making chocolate he acquired in Europe to this country, but he had no funding for his dream. The story goes this man desperately wanted his dream to come true. Dr. Henry Baker (a physician) met him, and wanted to make a name for himself. So they combined their skills and resources, and used a mill powered by the very river they met along, and the Baker Chocolate Company was formed. In 1779, John Hannon left on a ship for the West Indies (it has been said to research beans for the chocolate company). He never returned, and his wife sold his share of the business to Dr. Baker.

Notice the insignia of the lady carrying a tray on the chocolate bar. This became the Baker’s Chocolate Company insignia, called “La Belle Chocolatiere”. It is inspired by a painting from the 1740’s of a Viennese young lady “Anna” serving chocolate which hangs in a museum in Dresden, Germany.  The story goes that a prince of the Austrian empire saw the painting and fell in love with the young maiden and married her! How sweet is that! Pour some more coffee! Lets savor that story!

But I do love the fact that Dr. Baker was willing to invest in the dream of that young man! And it brought the first chocolate company to the US! And impacted lives and advanced industry… but it started with a relationship where one man put the wind to the sails for another man’s dream! And both were blessed by it!

So what dream do you have? The year is young, and just waiting for your great ideas to come to fruition! Or do you know someone who has a great idea that you could help fan the flames of their dreams? Oh how sweet when we help each other take the steps to make dreams a reality! And imagine the impact these things can have on the world! At the very beginning, the adrenaline when you actually begin to make your dream a reality, and then the affects it has on the world, like the ripple effect, some not even seen for decades, but surely as sweet! Lets put more coffee on, share a brownie and just dream about what could be!

I’ll be back Friday for another Fashion Friday!

Take care, my friend! Have a fantastic week!

Love Always,

Amy

We may never truly know the reach of an act of kindness or the mark that it leaves on a life. ~Topaz