Oh, Lola. You have led me astray. Your contribution to Estella's cookbook sounded so enticing, so delicious, so... perfect. I had so many plans for your bars. People would compliment their greatness at family functions, friendly get-togethers, office parties. Your bars seemed like the answer to all of my mint chocolate prayers. I learned far too late that you, my dear Lola, could not cook. Bless your soul and may you rest in peace, but you could never cook.
Dale Purviance was the younger brother of my grandpa, Fred. He married Lola Riley and they lived happily on their farm. Dale was an electrician and Lola was a homemaker. They never had any children and Lola's hobbies included gardening and canning. My family visited their farm only once, but I can still recall their kindness and candy-filled home. The first time I ever tasted a Fireball was in their lovely kitchen. I have a feeling that Dale needed to keep around a lot of candy to keep himself sustained and mask some of the flavors of Lola's biggest transgressions in the kitchen.
I will revisit this recipe in time, but I'm still reeling from the disappointment. I have some ideas on how to improve the recipe. The bars really had a delicious flavor to them, they just had a very bad texture. Bad as in inedible.
This recipe called for chocolate squares which I had never used before. They were fairly easy to find at the grocery store, and they added a great chocolate flavor to the brownie portion of these bars. In fact, the brownie portion (or first layer) of these bars was the best part. It was also the most successful.
I've never made brownies from "scratch" before, and I was surprised at how easy it was. You'll want to melt the chocolate with some margarine in a bowl that will rest on top of a pan of boiling water. Once the chocolate and margarine have melted and been mixed together, you'll remove the bowl from the boiling water (very carefully) and add the flour.
The flavorings and eggs will get added to this mix as well. Once you've mixed everything together, the mixture is transferred to an 8 inch square pan that has been sprayed and then coated with flour. Be careful when transferring the batter from the bowl to the pan, we wouldn't want any fingers blistered beyond all recognition. The brownies will then go into a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
When the brownies come out they should look like a thinner version of what you're used to. This is totally fine as they are delicious, and that means you just get to eat more of them for less guilt.
This is where it all started to take a pretty rapid turn for the worse. The proportions and the recipe for the filling must have been way off, because the mixture I came up with was a crumbly, minty, powdered sugar mess. I thought if I poured it over the warm brownie it would melt. No dice. Still in denial, I managed to convince myself that the filling would melt once the chocolate frosting part was poured over the top. Instead, it just made some of the mint powdered sugar crumbles solidify and become hard as little sugary pebbles. Plus, the frosting portion of the recipe was also a disaster. I had to add at least twice the margarine that was called for just to get the frosting to be pourable.
I should have just thrown the whole thing in the garbage; pan and all. I cut off a piece of this disappointment bar, and tasted it. It had a great taste, very minty and chocolatey, but the texture was far from something that could be considered a success. I even managed to have Brad and my parents try my (Lola's) massive failure, and the consensus was: great flavor, horrific texture.
Some day I will come back to this recipe, and spruce it up a bit. For now, I'm moving on. After the coffee cake and this latest fiasco, I decided to take a brief hiatus from Estella's book. I need to regain my confidence before returning to the beautiful but challenging world of heirloom baking.
Up next: Citrus Berry Muffins
Note: This is the recipe as it appears in the book. Do not make it as directed unless you are looking for disappointment bars in an 8 inch pan.
Chocolate Mint Bars
2 squares chocolate (semi-sweet)
1/2 c. oleo (margarine)
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. mint flavoring (peppermint)
2 eggs, beaten until foamy
1/2 c. sifted flour
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Melt chocolate and oleo over hot water. Remove and combine with eggs, sugar, flavoring, and flour. Mix well.
Bake in a greased and floured 8 inch square pan for 20 minutes.
Cool and spread with:
2 c. powdered sugar
2 T. soft margarine
3/4 tsp. mint flavoring
Cream and spread over 1st layer. Let stand until firm.
Melt over hot water:
6 oz. package chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
1 T. oleo
Stir until blended. Spread over white layer. Let stand until firm. Cut in squares.
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