I followed brownie recipes from three celebrity chefs: Gordon Ramsay, Rachael Ray, and Guy Fieri.
Guy Fieri's brownies had a unique and tasty spicy flavor, but I wish they'd had less of a kick.
I loved Gordon Ramsay's dark-chocolate-loaded brownies the most.
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Most celebrity chefs have a signature dish - but how do they fare when whipping up a classic dessert?
I decided to put signature brownie recipes from Gordon Ramsay, Guy Fieri, and Rachael Ray to the test and compare them based on taste, cooking process, and texture.
Read on to see how these celebrity-chef recipes stacked up.
I started with Ramsay's recipe.
If you've ever seen "Hell's Kitchen," you know Ramsay can be pretty intimidating in the kitchen. But much to my surprise and delight, the Michelin-starred chef's brownie recipe (found on his website) was pretty straightforward and somewhat simple.
For this recipe, I had to first melt dark-chocolate bars and butter in a double-broiler, which was a slow process since I kept the heat low to avoid burning the chocolate.
After the chocolate and butter were thoroughly melted and combined into a creamy mixture, I simply added in the remaining ingredients.
My batter didn't end up being entirely smooth as it was supposed to be, but it still slid right out of the bowl into the baking dish with ease.
I found the baking process to be incredibly fun.
Much to my delight, the recipe recommended pulling the brownies out of the oven after 20 minutes of baking, then "vigorously" throwing shards of a dark-chocolate bar on top of them to break the crust that started forming on top.
I'd never had a brownie recipe tell me to do something like this before, but I had fun doing it.
After somewhat violently throwing in these sharp, chocolate pieces onto them, the brownies went back into the oven for 20 more minutes.
And when I took the brownies out, I noticed that the chocolate shards had melted into bubbly, gooey pools that I couldn't wait to dive into.
The pools of dark chocolate added to the flavor and presentation.
I thought these were soft, slightly chewy, and pretty fudgy.
I loved the dark-chocolate flavor and preferred that they were sweet without being too sweet. The melty, bubbled-up chocolate on top sealed the deal for me, too.
As one can assume, the amount of dark chocolate in this recipe makes for some seriously rich and not-too-sweet brownies. My partner even thought they were a smidge too bitter and not sweet enough.
Because of this, I'd probably suggest pairing these brownies with a light, fluffy cream and fresh berries.
Next, I followed Ray's recipe, which had the fewest ingredients.
Of all of the celebrity-chef brownie recipes I tested, the one I found on Ray's website was the simplest to follow.
I wasn't too surprised since seeing as the queen of the easy, 30-minute meal.
The recipe required just six ingredients that were all mixed together in one bowl, making it a great option if you want to put homemade dessert on the table quickly, or if you just hate washing dishes.
The brownies took much longer than expected to cook.
Maybe my oven's temperature settings were off or my batter was too thick, but these brownies took way longer to cook than what the recipe suggested.
After 30 minutes in the oven, I checked their doneness with a metal skewer, and it came out covered in thick, wet batter.
They spent a total of 50 minutes in the oven before my skewer finally came out clean.
This recipe resulted in a classic, delicious brownie.
Even though they took a bit long to bake, these brownies ended up having a delicious classic flavor and they were a lovely shade of dark brown.
The middle was chewy and dense, whereas the top and edges were quite crunchy. I enjoyed the contrasting textures and these brownies reminded me of ones I'd eaten as a kid.
Finally, I worked on Fieri's complex brownie recipe.
In a complete contrast to Ray's quick, easy, and basic brownie recipe, Fieri's recipe (found on the Food Network website) calls for a lengthy list of ingredients that sounded both slightly strange and delicious to me.
First of all, I needed some rhubarb. Since I was making this in the winter and rhubarb is a spring vegetable, I had to scour my local farmers' market just to snag some.
Additionally, this recipe required dark rum and three different kinds of chocolate.
I felt like I was working in chaos while trying to get these mixed up and ready for the oven.
First, I had to get the rhubarb compote going on the stove, which was easy enough.
From there, I carefully melted the chocolate in the microwave, but I had to stop it often to make sure the chocolate wasn't burning while also monitoring the compote to make sure it didn't get too hot.
In between these tasks, I sifted together most of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and chile powder).
Then, I creamed the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer, carefully added the eggs one at a time, and stirred in vanilla and dark rum.
By this point, my chocolate was nice and melty, but the rhubarb compote looked stringy. I took a stick blender to it to ensure it was smooth, then added the compote to the chocolate.
After that, I poured this mixture into the wet ingredients and gave it a few stirs until it was all combined. Then I added even more ingredients.
After all of this work, I was ready for a trip to Flavortown.
The recipe resulted in a unique and spicy creation.
These brownies looked thick and chocolaty and smelled delicious thanks to the three types of chocolate, the compote, the cinnamon, and the chile powder.
They were very crumbly upon cutting and fell apart easily while I transferred them to a plate. The edges were also crisp and had a nice chocolate flavor.
I like spicy food, but I think these had too much of a kick for me and I wish I'd added less chile powder than what the recipe called for.
Ultimately, I was a bit let down by the fact that I couldn't really taste the rhubarb compote that I worked so hard on.
Overall, I really fell in love with Ramsay's dark-chocolate-loaded brownies.
As far as brownies go, Ramsay's hit home for me.
The dark chocolate gave them just enough oomph to set them apart whereas the other ingredients helped them retain that delightful homemade taste.
That said, if you want a classic, crowd-pleasing brownie that's easy to make, I suggest following Ray's recipe.
And if you're looking for a really unique creation that'll impress any culinary pro, I suggest following Fieri's recipe, though I'd personally add less chile powder next time.
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