Coumont was one of the first chefs to introduce world-class bread and pastries to New York when he opened Le Pain Quotidien. Brownie lovers have beaten a path to his door ever since; served with ice cream and the nuns' caramel sauce, these brownies are a true taste of heaven.
8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons pastry flour or 2 tablespoons cake flour plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 1 ½ tablespoons superfine sugar
4 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, beaten
walnut halves (optional)
vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream
Mississippi Abbey Trappistine Creamy Caramel Sauce
In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a large bowl. Let cool slightly. Meanwhile, sift the flour into the sugar and stir to combine. Whisk into the eggs. Fold the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture with a spatula. Set aside and let rest for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 275-degrees. Stir the walnuts into the batter, if using. Divide the batter among 12 to 15 paper-lined muffin tin holes and bake in the center of the oven until the edges are firm and the tops have formed a thin wrinkled crust, about 40- minutes. Cool the brownies in the tins on a rack.
Serve slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and drizzle with caramel sauce (available at trappistine.com. As the butter and chocolate content of these brownies is very high, they keep perfectly for a week if stored in a metal tin at room temperature of for up to 2 months in the freezer in an air-tight bag.
