Bread enthusiast. Vegetable lover. Omnivore. If the kitchen is your happy place, you're in good company. Let's hang.
How to Get A Shiny Crust on Your Brownies? + Ina Garten's Vodka Sauce, Pantry Tomato Soup & More
Friends, hello.
I recently received this comment on this Favorite Fudgy Brownie recipe:
"Have been making these brownies for several years. Family favorite! The last several times I’ve made them I’m not getting the shiny, flaky crust. Looks a bit dull with some small holes. Don’t feel like I’m doing anything differently…any ideas? Thank you."
I have always thought the secret to the success of these brownies lay in using all cocoa powder (as opposed to chocolate) and cold eggs. But I made them recently, and while they were delicious, the crust lacked that desirable sheen as well as that crackly, paper-thin crust.
Now, I did use a different brand of cocoa because I was out of Hershey's, which I swear by for these brownies, but I'm wondering if my pan is also to blame? For years I used a cheap black metal pan (that I believe I picked up at a grocery store), but most recently I used an 8-inch USA Pan, which I love for many things, but maybe not brownies.
Any ideas? Please share here:
| Best Ever Fudgy Brownies |
The Best Canned Tomatoes?
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In Friday's pizza newsletter, I wrote about a brand of canned tomatoes beloved by pizza chefs near and far. They're hard to find and sold by the #10 can, which is the equivalent of three and a half 28-ounce cans. I found them locally at a place called By George and made a quadruple batch of my favorite cooked tomato sauce recipe, which required just a fraction more work and yielded three quarts of sauce. Find that recipe here:
| Large-Batch Tomato Sauce |
In next week's Friday newsletter, I'm making tomato pie:
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This is not a pizza I make often, but I love its simplicity. Sign up here, if you'd like the recipe.
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10 Favorite Recipes to Make with Canned Tomatoes
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Farro Risotto with Kale and Feta
Spicy Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Kale
One-Pot Sherry Vinegar Chicken
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Leblebi (North African Chickpea Stew)
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The New Basics Puttanesca Sauce
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Thank You
Thank you to all who have already pre-ordered my new cookbook, Pizza Night. You've likely heard this before, but pre-orders are so important — they signal to bookshops and other retailers that there's excitement about this book, which in turn encourages them to stock their shelves with it.
If you are new here, Pizza Night will be published on April 16th and includes 52 pizza and 52 salad recipes, one combination for every week of the year, as well as five simple desserts.
| Pre-Order Pizza Night |
5 Free Resources Available to You
- 8-Video Chopping Tutorial
- 5 Secrets to Foolproof Bread Baking 🍞🍞 (email course)
- Sourdough Demystified 🍞🍞 (email course)
- Pizza School 🍕🍕 (email course)
- Pizza Every Friday: A Friday Newsletter for Pizza Enthusiasts
Hi. I'm Ali.
Bread enthusiast. Vegetable lover. Omnivore. If the kitchen is your happy place, you're in good company. Let's hang.
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