THE PERFECT BROWNIE

A while back, I bought a promising looking cookbook called Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. The book is a collection of greatest hits from a bakery in Red Hook, Brooklyn, (I place I never went to or even knew about while we lived in Brooklyn. So sad!) The authors claimed that their brownie was the best (Martha and Oprah both agreed), which caught my interest. At first I was skeptical; my husband and I are firm believers that no version of homemade can surpass the simple magnificence of the boxed brownie, but I decided to try it out.
We no longer doubt. These brownies are almost painfully good. Dense, rich and fudgey, while also just cakey enough to count as a brownie and not a candy bar, these will no doubt enter heavy rotation in our dessert repertoire. I recommend this book wholeheartedly; I've made a few other things from it, and they've all been dangerously, fatteningly wonderful.

THE BAKED BROWNIE
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
1 cups (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9 by 13 inch glass or light-colored metal baking pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.
Put the chocolate, butter, and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.
Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until completely combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.
Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownie cool completely then serve!