Brownie Cakes

Baking in a slow cooker sounds odd until you taste the results. These fudgy brownie cakes steam inside wide-mouth canning jars in a crockery cooker, emerging incredibly moist with a dense, almost pudding-like crumb that an oven can’t replicate. The moist heat of the slow cooker prevents the edges from drying out while the center cooks through evenly.

The batter starts on the stove: margarine, water, and cocoa powder melted together, then mixed with the dry ingredients, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. Buttermilk and baking soda work together here, creating a tender crumb with just enough lift. Chopped walnuts add crunch throughout.

Each jar gets sealed tightly with greased foil before going into the cooker. After about 3 hours on high, the cakes spring back when touched and unmold cleanly from the jars. Serve them warm with a scoop of ice cream and you’ve got a dessert that stops the conversation.

Chef Tips

• Use straight-sided wide-mouth jars only. Curved jars trap the cake and it won’t unmold.
• Line the jar bottoms with waxed paper and grease the sides well. Skipping this guarantees the cakes stick.
• Check at the 2¾ hour mark. A long toothpick inserted near the center should come out clean.
• Cool in the jars for 10 minutes before unmolding. Too soon and they fall apart; too long and they stick.

Variations

• Add a tablespoon of espresso powder to the cocoa mixture for a mocha brownie cake.
• Skip the walnuts and fold in chocolate chips for gooey pockets of melted chocolate.
• Serve with caramel sauce instead of ice cream for a richer dessert.