A Brief History of Brownies
September 22, 2011
The brownie, one of the most loved baked treat, was believed to be "invented" in America. Some references imply that brownies were originally made in New England at the beginning of the 20th century. Albeit the facts that it is basically cake-like and baked in a cake pan, brownies are considered as bar cookies rather than a cake.
Brownies can either be "cake-style" or "fudge-style”. Cake-style is that with the consistency of a cake, only richer and denser. On the other hand, fudge-style is more like, er, fudge than cake. It is the richer, denser, and creamier version of the brownie. What determines the style of brownie is the ratio of flour to chocolate and/or cocoa.
I hate to state the obvious but it’s apparent brownie derived its name from its dark brown color. But just like almost any food, the origin of the "brownie" is covered in myth. One of the legends told is that a chef added melted chocolate to biscuits by mistake. Another one states that a cook was baking a cake but didn't have enough flour and baked it anyway, thus, making a brownie.
The most famous legend, however, says a housewife in Bangor, Maine, who was making a chocolate cake, failed to add baking powder. When the cake didn't rise, she just cut it and served pieces of the flat cake.
Several tales indicate that the first known published recipe appeared in the Sears, Roebuck Catalogue in 1897, but that was a recipe for a molasses candy only called brownies. Nowadays, brownies are baked with either cocoa or melted chocolate or a combination of both.
Although the first few brownie recipes were published and modification to it started in the beginning of the 20th century, it wasn’t until the 1920s that brownies became a darling in the department of baked chocolate treats, and it never ceased.
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