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Jane Freiman's Brownies

Jane Freiman's Brownies 
Source: Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies (Random House, 1995 ed.), pg. 75.

These are very good brownies. I think they are best with ice cream. They are very fragile. The instructions to freeze them is a must and it requires some dexterity and patience to flip them out of the pan. Even after freezing, I had one to break as I was cutting them. 

The recipe calls for walnuts but I used pecans.

I was not familiar with Jane Freiman but found out she is a New York restaurant critic and food writer. In her introduction, Maida says that she is a friend and the author of "Dinner Party: The New Entertaining". The book was published in 1990.


1/4 cup sifted unbleached flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (broken into small pieces)
5 oz. walnuts (1 1/4 cup) (in medium-sized pieces)
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup sour cream
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 inch pan with foil. Butter the foil and sprinkle it with dry bread crumbs.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. 

Beat the eggs, vanilla and sour cream slightly.

In a quart (or larger) saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir until melted. Stir in the chocolate.

Transfer to a mixing bowl. Stir in the egg mixture, then the sifted dry ingredients. Add the nuts.




Transfer to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.




Stand at room temperature until cooled. Carefully invert from the pan when cooled and peel off the foil. Flip it again so that the cake is right side up. Freeze for at least one hour or refrigerate for several hours. Cut into squares as soon as you remove it from the freezer.

They can be wrapped individually or stored in an airtight container. They can also be kept frozen and served immediately after coming out of the freezer as they do not get too hard.

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