Nick Malgieri of the Institute of Culinary Education
From One Sweet Cookie: Celebrated Chefs Share Favorite Recipes
by Tracey Zabar
Image © Ellen Silverman
Every week, David cooks and I bake for Sunday dinner. I often make one of the brownies from One Sweet Cookie - Cheesecake Brownies from Nicole Kaplan, Maida Heatter's Palm Beach Brownies (with or without chocolate covered mints), or my own blondies, which we call Chumleys. These Milk Chocolate Brownies, from my friend and baking teacher, Nick Malgieri, are often requested by the children--Ben & Marki, Danny, Michael, and Willie. They are yummy by themselves, but you can also serve them with whipped cream, ice cream, and berries.
Master baker Malgieri has been my teacher for several years. He keeps me laughing with stories of his great-aunts Philomena, Elvira, and Nicoletta, and the trouble they were always getting into. This recipe for delicate, lightly caramelized brownies is a variation on one he learned in culinary school almost forty years ago. When he tried to scale down the recipe to make a smaller batch, he added only half the required flour. Here is the result of that lucky accident.
Buy the book: One Sweet Cookie: Celebrated Chefs Share Favorite Recipes
Makes about 24 brownies
Ingredients
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
5 ounces milk chocolate, cut into ¼ inch pieces
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut into ½ inch pieces
4 large eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
Preparation
Set a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350°F. Line a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan with a piece of buttered parchment or aluminum foil.
Fill a medium saucepan with water, bring to a boil, and turn off the heat. Combine the butter, milk chocolate, and unsweetened chocolate in a heatproof bowl, and set over the pan of water. Stir occasionally until the mixture is melted and smooth.
Whisk the eggs together in a large bowl, and then whisk in the salt, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the chocolate mixture, then sift over and gently fold in the flour.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the top has formed a shiny crust and the batter is moderately firm. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Wrap the pan in plastic wrap, and keep at room temperature or refrigerated until the next day to make cutting easier.
To cut the brownies, remove the plastic wrap, unmold onto a cutting board, remove the parchment or foil, and cover with another cutting board. Turn right side up and trim away the edges. Cut the brownies into 2-inch squares.
