Deliciose - Your Great-Grandma's Brownie Recipe (and that's a very good thing!!) -- Step-By-Step Photos and Commentary

Years Ago ...

A woman tasted chocolate for the first time.  And instantly fell in love.  

I do not know if she first tasted the creamy goodness in solid, bar-like form ... Or if, perhaps, she drank it as a warm liquid.  Was it sweet or almost bitter?

Whatever it was, it was magic.  Of that I have no doubt.

See, I love chocolate.  Like, looove chocolate.  The taste of it brings me delightful feelings happiness as well as the occasional bout of guilt.  My husband doesn't understand it (at all), but hey, add it to the list!  You know, that  "Rebecca-These-are-the-Reasons-I-Don't-Get-You" list ...

I love chocolate in many forms, however like most Americans the beloved *brownie* holds a special spot in my heart.  But I tend to think of it as a simple dessert ... one that is loved by all (or most), but would not score that high on the SAT, if you catch my drift.

And as I searched for the first recipe with which to begin this blog, I did not expect to choose anything resembling a brownie ... I never thought I'd start off with a vintage chocolate dessert.  But I stumbled upon this recipe, tried it out and ...

Fell in awesome, unquestioning love.  And I began to re-think everything I thought about brownies before!

And I shall forever more make this recipe when called on to bring brownies to a work party or a holiday function.  I will really love telling people they were made from a recipe over 100 years old!

And guess what!  The husband LOVED it too!  :)


So ... it's called Deliciose.  It's delicious.  Vintage, too.  And it has a made up French sounding name? (As far as I can tell it's made up - "delicious" in French is "délicieux"/"délicieuse")  Could I possibly love it any more??


For your info, the book I found the recipe in is called Victorian Sweets (link) and it's an adorable book.

CLICK HERE for my printable PDF version of the recipe.

Here's how to make it:

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

• Assemble your ingredients/bake ware/tools.

•  Melt 2 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate.  You could probably do this in the microwave but I wanted to stick to the vintage feel of the recipe.  BUT I forgot to get unsweetened chocolate, so this was made with bittersweet baking chocolate.

• Stir frequently until it's melted and totally smooth.

• Line the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch pan with waxed paper.  Butter and flour the pan.  My pan is actually 9 x 9, and the brownies definitely suffered for it - they were a little thinner than I would have liked.  And, instead of using just flour to make the parchment paper even more non-stick, I added cocoa powder as well.  Next time, however, I will probably just spray the glass pan with non-stick spray (the horror!).  It seemed like the recipe had more than enough butter anyway.

  

• In a large bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract until everything is well combined.

• Add in the melted chocolate.  Stir until well combined.

 (before)

(after)

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•  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones.

 

• And mix until combined.

 

• Next (of course), pour the mixture into your prepared pan.

 

• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  I wound up having to up the temperature to 350 degrees after the first 25 minutes, since the batter was still raw.  I wound up baking it another 5 - 7 minutes.  Timing for me, as you can see, was way off of what the recipe said.  Since I believe this recipe is worth it, I am going to re-work this and see if I can determine exact timing.  A new and improved recipe is forthcoming.

•   The delicious Deliciose is finished baking once a toothpick (or knife, in my case) comes out clean and the inside no longer looks raw.  Top with whichever toppings you like (keep plain, as my husband preferred!)

 

And that's it!  Once you get it properly baked, you can expect to taste ... okay, not going to talk about how unbelievable it is once again (or did I just do it again?!)  Anyways, I hope your efforts are slightly easier than mine, and that you adore your final product.  As much as I obviously did mine :)

 

One last thought ...

I happen to own The Joy of Cooking (link), a gift for my bridal shower from one of my oldest friends.  They have a basic brownie recipe, a variation of which dates back to the 1931 edition.  It calls for a 13 x 9 pan, so we can estimate about a double batch of my Deliciose.  To the left, I will list what the JoC recipe calls for, and after the arrow, what I see as the differences to the recipe found on this blog:

• 4 ounces chocolate  ---> same level of chocolatey goodness!
• 1/2 cup butter ---> Deliciose has more butter, 2/3 cups (D) to their 1/2 cup in the larger recipe
• 4 eggs ---> Deliciose does not rise as much, it has half the eggs, 2 (D) to their 4 in the larger recipe
• 2 cups sugar ---> same 2 cups of sugar, however Deliciose divides it into white and brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla ---> Deliciose contains twice the amount of vanilla, 2 tsp (D) to their 1 in the larger recipe

So, I think we can see right away the differences between a "traditional" brownie and a Deliciose: expect a more, brown sugary, more vanilla-y, and more buttery brownie with the Deliciose.  I definitely agree -- it's almost as if it has caramel added to the recipe!

Again -- AMAZING!


Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments below.  Or, feel free to reach me by email at fourscorerebecca@gmail.com.

Until next time,

Rebecca