a cookie, a brownie, and my valentine

After celebrating our first anniversary in January, and our first Valentine's together this February (I was in India last year), we had a festive start of the year again.  My hubby is usually the one planning surprises, and the only surprises I’ve given him are cooking his favorites ever since I moved here after marriage.  This Valentine's, I cooked a simple dinner at home – just Moussaka & Cacik, because I was busy preparing the dessert and a surprise.

So right after dinner, I surprised him by placing four fortune cookies in front and told him to choose two; the rest two would be mine.  I made the fortune cookies myself at home earlier that day.  Since I was attempting them for the first time, only four turned out good out of the eight that I had intended to make!  Anyway, so I had put slips of paper in the fortune cookie, one was "promise me you'll love me forever" ... another was "I'll make one of your wishes come true today" ... and the remaining two – well, I cannot write here!  *wink*

It was not only romantic, but also fun.  And then, I brought out the brownies baked that morning.  Since I’m not an expert at frosting and piping, I put simple cocoa-coffee glaze over it, topped with some strawberries and wrote "Happy Valentine's Sweetheart" with Cream Cheese icing.  And we cut it together like we would a cake, warmed it and ate with ice cream.

I didn't cook an elaborate meal, he didn’t bring me any diamond ring, I didn't decorate the house with hearts and balloons, and neither of us gave each other greeting card or roses.  But we had our first perfect Valentine's together.

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The eggless brownie was made from Tarla Dalal’s recipe "Sizzling Brownies" and is quite similar to the eggless chocolate cake recipe by Shobha Indani I’ve posted earlier.  The reason I tried Tarla Dalal’s recipe was to understand how same ingredients with different proportions and similar procedure of preparation, in comparison to Shobha Indani’s recipe, made a difference.

Calls for:
Shobha Indani –
Tarla Dalal –
All-Purpose Flour (maida)
1 ¾ cup
1 cup
Cocoa Powder
¼ cup
¼ cup
Salt
1 tsp
Fresh Thick Curd (dahi)
16 Tbsp
6 Tbsp
Powdered Sugar
1 cup
¾ cup
Baking Powder
½ tsp
½ tsp
Baking Soda (soda bi-carb)
1 tsp
½ tsp
Oil or Melted Butter
8 Tbsp
5 Tbsp
Vanilla Extract or Essence
1 tsp
½ tsp
Chopped Walnuts (akhrot)
½ cup
½ cup
Milk
as required
5 Tbsp
Pan:
9” round
8 x 8” square
Bake:
10 mins @400oF then 20-30 mins @300oF
20-25 mins @350oF
Serves:
8 – 10
6 – 8


Verdict:  It was soft and nice, and I would probably call it Eggless Cakey Brownies or almost eggless chocolate-walnut cake.  Quantity of cocoa was more and liquid was lesser in the brownie batter compared to the cake batter (left column), hence giving it a cakey-brownie taste & texture.  Good and simple enough to make another time, but still on the lookout for a better, authentic, eggless brownie recipe.



How was your Valentine's?  Any favorite memory?


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22 comments:

  1. that was so sweet.. making fortune cookies ..fab idea.. The brownie looks perfect too.. Looking forward to you sharing the fortune cookie recipe too :)
    Belated happy first anniversary :)

    Ongoing Event : I'm The Star

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Rasi! :)
      Fortune cookie recipes still under testing stage :D

      Delete
  2. Thats a perfect way to celebrate dear... Beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very romantic and the brownie looks awesome, you have decorated it so well..

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  4. Wow, first time here! Love your presentation. That's really sweet of you to have prepared cakey-brownie and the fortune cookies.
    I had baked a dark chocolate cake for my husband and made him play treasure hunt! We had so much fun doing it, it took him almost 45 minutes to find his treasure, which he was in love with after seeing it. Later we had a romantic candle light dinner at home! This was three years back and can never forget it:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sweet. Definitely made a memory to cherish, for you :)
      Thanks for sharing, Deepti!
      I personally love the treasure hunt idea too.
      And welcome to Spusht :)

      Delete
  5. I love that brownie. Nice celebrations out there.
    http://lavanyasrecipes.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. fortune cookies are a great idea... Good to see comparison between two recipes. I too like to try out similar recipes to see what difference does it make.
    I guess you don't need to be an expert in piping and frosting to make a beautiful cake. Yours just looks perfect. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Anisha. There are times when I cook 3 dishes from 3 different recipes & ask my husband for votes :)
      And thanks a bunch for the compliment on my (average!) piping :D

      Delete
  7. Love it. looks so yummy. I am sure your husband appreciated it a lot.

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  8. I loved reading that write-up; it was so much fun. We can understand what your other slips would have read. :P
    Your cake looks so well frosted, though you are not agreeing to it. Your hubby is a lucky man, indeed. :)
    I'm bookmarking this, and will try out soon. I have posted an Eggless Brownie recipe with Pepsi/Coke, but after trying yours, I'll decide which one is better. Thanks for sharing, dear. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha with that (:P) face you made even I can understand what ran through your mind ;)
      My mom used to bake with those sodas too, but cakes. Will check out your brownie.
      And thanks for your lovely comment, Anjali :)

      Delete
  9. Fortune Cookies is a cool idea..Will try them out sometime myself..
    The Brownie looks tempting..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. YouTube videos were quite helpful for me, Jyoti.
      Enjoy making fortune cookies!

      Delete
  10. This truly truly romantic !!! beautiful baked brownie and wonderful frosting n beauifully wrtitten!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww ... thank you so much Kalpana!! :) :)

      Delete
  11. oh wow! loved reading it... the brownie with ice cream is totally making my mouth water.. so cute & romantic the idea of fortune cookies is im copying it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks!
      Haha, go ahead. But on one condition: you HAVE to tell us what you write on the slips of paper! *wink*

      Delete
  12. I am a self confessed chocoholic and I love that brownie, Yumm!!! and that fortune cookie idea is lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  13. First time here, nice blog. Brownie looks awesome,

    ReplyDelete

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