Chocolate Shine

Brownies. 

The word alone brings smiles to people’s faces, evoking gooey blasts of chocolate goodness. Relatively simple to make, a great base for experimentation, and a perennial comfort food, brownies are as American as baseball and apple pie. Let’s take a dive into brownies and how Chef Becky approaches these dense squares of goodness. 

Bex Brownies

Chef Becky approaches brownies in typical fashion: make them from scratch, cut no corners, and put some elbow grease into it! There are boxed mixes and power tools, but the Chef finds that hand-whipping the batter is crucial to getting a texture that elevates brownies to the next level. Your face will turn red and you’ll burn calories, but it’s worth it. Of course, ingredient quality, as always, matters too. One of Hunterdon County’s many charms is its informal roadside egg stands featuring local organic eggs, so take advantage of this if you are in the area. 

S.T.E.M. Brownies

Making brownies provides a great opportunity for people to use what they’ve learned and stressed over in school, as science and math come into play in all phases of making brownies. As we’ve written about before, Chef Becky uses premium chocolate for the concoctions she makes with a high percentage of cacao, the bean which chocolate gets its distinctive essential taste from. The chocolate discs she uses look like miniature horseshoes. “Cooking is equal parts art and science,” the Chef muses, “but baking is brutally scientific. I prefer the metric system over the imperial system, but a tip: be able to code-switch between both.” Watch our video to see how it’s done. 

Chocolate’s Special Role in the Northeast

Hunterdon County borders Pennsylvania, where Hershey Chocolate – one of the most recognizable chocolate brands ever – was born. Hershey has its own town name in PA and was immortalized in a catchy song by Lambertville, NJ band Ween. Chef Becky makes a S’Mores Brownie, evoking camping and cookouts. She also infuses brownies with peanut butter and caramel respectively. “Working with chocolate is tricky and messy,” the Chef recounts. “And working with raw egg as well. Temperatures have to be controlled, as adding the eggs if the brownie mixture is too hot will scramble them.” This shows how egg skills transfer over to other parts of cooking and baking. 

Healthy Brownies? Bwha wha?! 

Chocolate has risen in prominence in health circles over time. Its serotonin-boosting powers are legendary, and there is a well-known Bill Cosby true story about how mad his wife got when he fed his family’s children chocolate cake for breakfast once, noting that wholesome ingredients go into the chocolate cake (or brownies): eggs! Flour! Milk! “Brownies are decadent, there’s no doubt about it,” Chef Becky opines. “But they are great at making people feel happy, nostalgic. And it’s hard to go wrong with a pan of brownies at a potluck. They are filling and comforting and can be really elevated to amazing levels.” Brownies also lend themselves to vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and endless experimentation. If you’re a skeptic about these approaches to food, try our Bex pastries! You’ll be amazed. 

Elevated Brownies

Come to Bex Cafe in historic downtown Califon! Experience how Chef Becky’s passion for desserts and pastries means an elevated experience. The Bex staff recently feasted on some leftover scones and were amazed at how good they were even post-freshness. We are kid, dog, bicyclist, walker/hiker, and biker-friendly! We also make a mean pork roll (or is it Taylor Ham?) sandwich. Come say hi; we don’t bite (usually).