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Petites Trianons


Petites Trianons
Source: Maida Heatter's Cookies (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 119.


I thought this recipe sounded awfully familiar when I was making them and then a light bulb went off - Katharine Hepburn's Brownies.  I've made Katharine's brownies many times and they have always been wonderful. I compared the two recipes side by side and the only notable difference was that this recipe has 1 cup of flour while Katharine's only have 1/4 cup and one cup of nuts. When these were finished, however, they were not as good - very bland. It must be that the full cup of flour plays a big part in the overall taste and texture. These were also a bit dry and I probably baked them too long. Maida says 28 minutes exactly so I would take that with a grain of salt. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with these.

On the plus side, they are very easy to make with only a few ingredients -




Makes 16 squares or 12-14 bars

4 oz. unsalted butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8 inch square fan with foil and lightly spray or butter.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler over hot water. Set aside to cool slightly.

Stir in the sugar...
and the vanilla.

Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.

The book fails to mention what to do with the flour but I would assume that you add it now.

Bake 25-30 minutes. Do not overbake. They should remain moist in the center.

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then invert it out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely. Cut into small squares. They can be frozen or stored in an airtight container.

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Comments

Elizabeth said…
I have to say that the smaller amount of chocolate and the larger amount of flour is probably why I never tried these....Thanks for being such a good sport and confirming my suspicions. However, I would observe from my frequent trips to France (our daughter is installed there permanently with her own family) that, overall, in baked goods, the French seem less appreciative of the more intense American chocolate sensibility (yours and mine, I presume), and this was probably even truer in the period during which Maida would have collected this recipe. BTW...when my daughter has made a deep dark chocolate American cake or brownies, all her colleagues/friends are swooning all over the place.....Go figure!
December 25, 2019 at 8:04 AM
Phillip Oliver said…
Very interesting Elizabeth, thank you very much!
December 28, 2019 at 3:49 PM
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