Stumptown Sisters' Test Kitchen: Brownies... The Portable Treat

It appears that summer is finally upon is, and so is my desire to go on a good long hike. One where you feel like you could hike forever into the increasingly beautiful scenery, where the trees have been towering over the trail for hundreds of years, where the birds are chirping, where you just want to see what's around the next bend, and the next... until you turn around to start heading back to the trailhead and you discover that you might have overestimated your strength and stamina just a wee bit, and then it hits you with a sinking realization that your legs have turned to spaghetti, and with a big sigh (that you try, perhaps unsuccessfully, to keep from your hiking partners) you come to the understanding that it is going to feel like an eternity before you come stumbling off the trail and can collapse into your car. You might even experience a moment of panic where you wonder if you are ever going to make it back to your car alive. But then you snap yourself out of it, and remember that you are a Girl Scout and a foodie at heart, and even if you had to spend the night huddled by the side of the trail, which you've never actually had to do, you've got a jacket and plenty of snacks! Hmm... does it sound like I'm speaking from experience?

Yes, my sister and I have done our fair share of hikes, and not always in fair weather. We have hiked in the blistering sun, in the snow, in mist, drizzle, sprinkles, showers, torrential downpours, thunder storms and any other euphemisms you can come up with for wet, rainy conditions. (Oregonians are especially good at coming up with these colorful descriptions of wet weather. I guess you have to get creative when most days between October and May... okay, okay, October and July, consist mainly of the wet stuff!)

A few years ago, Heather and I went to Montana for a couple of weeks in the middle of summer. We stayed in our favorite town of Bozeman, and as soon as we got our campsite set up, we started mapping out all the outdoor activities we wanted to do over the ensuing days. We didn't have any time to waste - our list was too long, and our vacation was too short, so we had to get the party started, as they say. High on the to-do list was a lengthy hike (approximately 24 miles round trip) up to a lake, just outside of town. In hindsight, it might have been a good idea to take a few extra minutes and check into the weather forecast for the week. But alas, youthful impatience and exuberant optimism won out, and as we discovered too late, the day we chose to do this particular hike the temperature was in the upper 90's. And while we usually liked to pick trails that ran alongside a stream or a small river, this trail was as dusty and dry as they come, with only the distant promise of a lake once we reached the summit. (Picture a couple of cowgirls, riding down a dusty trail, on a hot summer day, with a cloud of dirt in their wake, and that would be us... only without the horses, which as it turns out, would have come in very handy.)

We started out with smiles and ample energy, and lots of conversation. But as the sun reached higher in the sky, and the temperature continued to climb, the sweat started to pour, and the chatter dwindled. The hike was losing its charm by the minute. It didn't help that the horse flies were relentless, and we had neglected to bring any bug spray. (Oh, where were my Girl Scout instincts then?!) We started to develop chafing and chapping, and in our sun-induced delirium, started talking about inventing underwear infused with Gold Bond powder to help with chapping in some specific areas... which I will not mention further.

Most sane people would have thrown in the towel, admitted defeat, and headed back to the car to eat their picnic lunch in air-conditioned comfort. But not the Wonder Twins - we were going to make it to that damn lake if it killed us! And make it we did, complete with battle scars to prove our accomplishment. And I'll tell you what, that lake was not worth the sweat equity we put in to reach it. It was... well, ordinary to say the least. There was hardly any shade to speak of, and by this point we were pretty darn miserable. In fact, it was completely disappointing. And while we sat there eating the food we had carried on our backs up the mountain, those horrible, nasty flies continued to bite us. (So, after describing this lovely hike to all of you, if there are any interested parties, just email me and I would be happy to send you directions to the trailhead - ha-ha.)

In case you're left wondering if I've ever been on any relaxing, peaceful, inspiring hikes, I have. My favorite local hike is the Eagle Creek trail off of Highway 84 (exit 41) - it has everything you need for a perfect hiking experience, water, trees, breath-taking cliffs, and beautiful bridges... and no horse flies or other biting creatures. But there is one thing I have noticed when it comes to hiking, something all hikes have in common, whether they are awe-inspiring or just ho-hum... the food you eat along the way. I don't mean that the food is anything special. In fact, it's usually quite the opposite, things like PB&J sandwiches, fruit, some trail mix, maybe some Oreo cookies. But somehow it doesn't matter what it is, after a long hike it always seems like the best food you've ever eaten in your life. A PB&J sandwich feels like a gourmet delicacy. Well, okay, that might be stretching it just a bit, but you have to admit, if you've ever gone hiking you know just what I'm talking about.

Which brings me to the recipe I want to share with you today. A recipe for cream-cheese swirled brownies that make the perfect portable treat to take along on a hike, or a picnic, or a bike ride, or wherever your summer activities take you. These brownies really are delicious. You won't need to work up a sweat just to appreciate them, though that would probably make them even better. This recipe is actually a combination of two different recipes, one from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts and the other from a recipe that my mother had. The brownie has a cake-like texture, not the dense fudgy kind that some recipes make, which in my opinion makes it a little easier to transport!

Cream Cheese Swirled Brownies

Brownie:

5 oz. unsweetened chocolate (like the Baker's chocolate bars in the baking aisle)
1 1/2 sticks (6 oz) butter
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift the flour first, then measure out a cup)

Cream Cheese mixture:

8 oz. cream cheese (regular, not low-fat)
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Butter and line a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 in jelly-roll pan with aluminum foil. (Maida Heatter has a good trick for doing this. Flip the pan upside down and then center a piece of foil about 18 to 19 in long over the pan, shiny side down. Fold down the sides and corners to shape the foil to the pan. Then take the foil off, flip the pan back over, and then carefully press the now-molded foil into place.) Then butter the foil.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat (or in a double boiler). Whisk to blend. Once thoroughly melted and mixed, remove from the heat and set aside.
Beat the eggs and salt in a stand mixer until slightly fluffy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat on medium-high speed for 10 minutes or so until the mixture forms a "ribbon" when the beater is raised.
Add the almond and vanilla extracts to the cooled chocolate mixture. Then on the lowest mixing speed add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, beating only enough to blend. You will probably need to stop here and scrape down the bowl as well.
Still using the lowest speed, add the flour, beating just enough to blend. Pour into the prepared pan and use a rubber spatula to spread smooth.
Combine the cream cheese, the egg, the sugar and salt and beat well, until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Spoon or pour the cream cheese mixture onto the wet brownie mixture in two parallel lines running the longest direction of the pan.Then take a butter knife and run the knife in a z-pattern back and forth across the pan in the shortest direction. This will make a neat swirl pattern in your brownies. Don't over swirl them, as this will make the pattern look messy.
Put the pan in the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 400 degrees. Bake for approximately 22 minutes. The cream cheese mixture may look like it's not done, but will firm up as the brownies cool.
Remove from the oven. Let cool for about five minutes on a baking rack, then cover pan with baking rack and flip over. Remove the pan and foil from the brownies. Then cover the brownies with another rack or large cookie sheet (even a lightweight cutting board would work) and flip back over so that they are right side up. Cool completely before cutting into squares.