Autumn

And so we come at last to late October. The rain makes a soft
pat-pat-pat on dark garden clay, falling slowly on purple asters
and tickseed unfurling late in the season
(final pennants of bright before the long dark days).
In the backyard a cluster of roses droops, half-hidden
in the gloaming.

Last week, the trees were on fire. Down the street,
up the highway, and into the corners of my mind.
They flew banners of gold and russet and a hundred shades
of red. They quaked and shook with every
errant gust. Intimations of immortality?
I think not. Merely presentiments of night.

Rocky Road cocoa brownies

A treat for my nephew. It's a grey day and he is coming out with his parents for Sunday lunch. I ran out of chocolate chips so I had to scour the Web for a cocoa powder-based brownie recipe. I think I may be making these again, perhaps adding the toppings in the last five minutes so that they would keep their shape more.

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown.

Ingredients
4 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
8 ounces melted butter
1 1/4 cups cocoa
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Toppings:
2 cups of mini marshmallows
½ cup chopped walnuts
¾ cup chocolate chips


Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add the white and brown sugar and give it a stir. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into individual cupcake liners and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the chocolate chips, marshmallows and nuts. Pop back in and bake for 5 minutes more. Test for doneness using a toothpick. Remove to a rack to cool completely.

Notes
Alton's original recipe specifies an 8-inch pan for baking, but I’ve always liked individual portions. It’s like having a cake all to yourself.

When I made these I sprinkled the toppings before the initial baking period. They came out fabulous, but next time I’ll add the toppings only in the last 5 minutes for a nicer presentation. The photo above shows how they looked before baking; below are the baked goodies:

For H

HBHB