Warm Brownie Cups

There are two things that made me very happy this week.
First, I'm back to my regular swimming activity after more than two months absent.
Last Friday morning, I started with 1600m long breaststroke, 500m less than my normal distance. Not bad at all! The whole day, I felt so good about it.
Second, I'm back to my regular baking recipe trials.

Actually, I bake about 2-3 times a week regularly, but not trying a new recipe. Just baking muffins, or brownies or simple cake for my family using the recipes that I have tried before.
I remember back in 2006-2007, almost every week I tried at least one new baking recipe. I miss those days.

So ... here I tried another type of brownies! *again?* :)
Brownie is a treat that never disappointing. It is a wickedly tempting treat. Sometime, even it comes out from the oven without perfect result (not fail), but it never left more than 2 days.

I took the recipe from one of my 'very thick' recipe book that I own for more than 5 years; The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook. This recipe was published on Martha Stewart Living Magazine Okt/Nov 1992; it was 18 years ago! Luckily, I was not too late to find this recipe, at least no more than 20 years :o

What is so special of this type of brownies?
It's the texture. It has 'pudding' texture. It also is very soft (especially when we serve it warm) and gooey. We need to bake it in individual custard cups or ramekins.
Delicious, of course!
So, to produce this soft texture, one of the requirement is 'beating the eggs until foamy and light', not 'just mix' like regular brownies. The combination of the foamy beaten eggs, two type of chocolates and using 'au bain marie'/waterbath baking method, give this brownies lovely texture, resulting in its smooth and rich flavour.

My children really love this brownies, ... 2 days after I tried this recipe, I baked one more time.
Yup, one cup is never enough!

Warm Brownie Cups

Ingredients
Makes 5.
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions :
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place a baking pan half full of water in oven.
2. Bring a saucepan of water to barely simmering. Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Place over water and stir until almost melted. Remove bowl from heat and let cool, stirring occasionally.
3. Sift together twice all the dry ingredients except sugar. Set aside.
4. Beat eggs and vanilla until foamy and light. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Stir in chocolate-butter mixture. Fold in dry ingredients. Pour into five 8-ounce custard cups, filling each nearly to rim. Place in baking pan; water should come halfway up sides of cups.
5.Bake for 30 minutes or until brownies have risen to just above the rim and tops are cracked. They should be firm to the touch. Let cool for 5 minutes, then serve dusted with confectioners' sugar.

note :
Oven temperature : 350 F ~ 180 C