When you see a product on the internet, but it doesn’t sell where you live… what do we do? That’s right, he does! And that’s how I got to this Brownie de Bergamot (or Tangerine or Tangerine).
I found out about this sweet because of instagram (follow me there on Instagram/pratofundo), it is a product that is a bit of a partnership between the network of Zaffari supermarkets and a confectionery in Porto Alegre (formerlyCharlie BrownieNow is Charlie Candies or Charlie and Grandma Mila).
I was very curious about the flavor and how it would look in the format of brownie. But that problem, right? Where I live there isn’t one. So, I decided to make a flavor-inspired version.
And yes, for me, it is brownie same and nothing blondie. Most explanations say that blondies no chocolate and such (there is a more historical explanation, but the summary of the opera has a twist: original-historical brownies were not chocolate, for example).
If we go for the simplest explanation: yes it is a browniebecause it will chocolate branco. And yes, white chocolate is chocolate. Before I say anything, I propose a challenge: Eat a chocolate without cocoa butter and then we’ll talk.
Brownie formulation
The recipe for the product, obviously, I don’t know. So, I created my own formula! As I wanted a certain specific texture, I used as a base the brigadeiro brownie that uses condensed milk in the dough which leaves more fudge or for us who are Brazilian: it reminds us of brigadeiro’s tug-of-war.
The biggest obstacle to any brownie recipe is the amount of water (moisture) in preparation, the vast majority don’t have that much water. And as bergamot (or tangerine or tangerine) has a lot of it, that would change a lot proportion of all ingredientss. Not to mention the flavor is milder than lemon, for example.
But nothing like doing the good old thing reduction: boil the liquid to concentrate the flavors and reduce the amount of water in total. And to give it even more of a citrus flavor, I used the zest in reduction to help extract the maximum flavor.
Therefore, in the recipe there is a quite a large amount of bergamot (or tangerine or tangerine) to make the juice and remove the zest.
Other than that, the dough is super easy to make… and it was success! It worked quite well, the citrus flavor is very present and It wasn’t sickly sweet. The additional sourness balanced all the sugar present very well. And the syrup helps even more with this.
That naughty reminder: even though the recipe worked and everything, I only did it once. As these are famous internet recipes, I don’t invest so much time adjusting them.
Bergamot Brownie (Tangerine or Tangerine)
Makes: 16 pieces (5 x 5 cm)
Brownie mass
- 630 g bergamot (about 6 units; tangerine or tangerine)
- 170 g chocolate branco (melted)
- 395 g condensed milk (8% fat)
- 100 g vegetable oil
- 200 g wheat flour
- 1 g refined salt
Sugar syrup
- 125 g impalpable icing sugar
- 65 g bergamot juice (concentrate; see recipe)
1 cup: 250mL | 1 tablespoon: 15mL.
Brownie mass
- Wash the bergamots (tangerines or tangerines) well and remove the zest from the fruit skin. Then, squeeze to get the juice. The total juice should be about 260g.
- Mix the zest, juice and heat over low heat to reduce the juice by half. In other words, from 260g it should reach 130g. But as the zest weighs almost 10g, remove it from the heat when it reaches 140g.
- Divide the reduced juice into two portions: 1) 65g which is concentrated bergamot juice for the syrup; 2) 65g + 10g of zest. All the zest should remain in the second portion.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC and line a 20 x 20 x 5 cm square pan with non-stick paper (or baking paper) and grease the sides without paper with oil. Reserve.
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave every 15 seconds, stirring constantly. Or in the water bath.
- Mix condensed milk, oil and 2 bergamot juice with a spatula until very uniform, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add melted white chocolate and mix well.
- Add flour, salt and stir to combine well.
- Transfer to prepared pan.
- Bake at 180℃ for 40-45 minutes. The longer it bakes, the firmer the brownie will be. When testing the toothpick after 40 minutes, it came out still dirty with dough. If your oven tends to be hotter, you may need to lower the temperature, the brownie will take on color easily, but it won’t be cooked yet.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 60 minutes before slicing.
Chocolate broth
- Mix the concentrated bergamot juice 1 into the powdered sugar little by little. Add 1 tablespoon at a time and mix. I used about 3 tablespoons of the juice in total (45g).
- Spread over the cooled brownie and let the syrup dry, it will be hard.
- Cut into 5 x 5 cm squares, serve at room temperature or heat for 15 seconds in the microwave.
Portion: 100g | Calories: 290kcal (15%) | Carbohydrates: 43g (14%) | Protein: 4g (8%) | Fat: 12g (18%) | Saturated fat: 4g (25%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monosaturated Fat: 6g | Trans fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 11mg (4%) | Sodium: 66mg (3%) | Potassium: 208mg (6%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 32g (36%) | Vitamin A: 348IU (7%) | Vitamin B2: 0mg (12%) | Vitamin C: 12mg (15%) | Calcium: 109mg (11%) | Ferro: 1mg (6%)
