from label to batter: reverse-engineering a supermarket brownie

recreating my favourite brownie at home

i have an embarrassing confession to make

my favourite brownie in the world is not homemade

it’s not even from a local cafe, from my grandma, or a box mix

it’s the youfoodz choc brownie bite - a tiny packaged square of dense, fudgy brownie-like substance

youfoodz brownie under the microscope

the ingredients for the youfoodz brownie are: Mud Cake Mix (45%) [Sugar, Tapioca Starch, Potato Starch, Rice Flour, Cocoa Powder (4%), Modified Tapioca Starch (1412), Raising Agents (450, 500), Emulsifier (471, 481), Iodised Salt, Vegetable Gum (415), Natural Flavour], Dark Chocolate (22%) [Sugar, Vegetable Fat, Cocoa Powder, Emulsifiers (322 (Contains Soybean), 492), Salt, Natural Flavours], Egg, Butter [Pasteurised Cream (Contains Milk), Water], Dusting Sugar.

from this, several key pieces of information emerge:

• sugar is the main ingredient, providing bulk and tenderizing the brownie

• this is a gluten-free mix, with a blend of starches (tapioca, potato, rice) and leavening agents (450, 500) that can be substituted with supermarket gluten-free self-raising flour

• emulsifiers (471, 481) can be replaced by the natural emulsification properties of egg yolks

• dark chocolate, eggs, and butter make up the remaining substance of the brownie

we can back-calculate and estimate the percentages of each ingredient based off the ingredients list and nutrition label:

• cocoa powder is 4% of 45% which gives 1.8% of the total recipe

• sugar and starches make up the remaining 94% of the 45% mud cake mix - assume the sugar is 55% of the mud cake mix, which gives 24.75% total sugar and 18.45% gluten-free self-raising flour

• dark chocolate is declared at 22%

• we have a running total of 45% + 22% = 67% which leaves 33% of the weight to be from eggs and butter

• the nutrition label tell us the brownie has 17g of saturated fats per 100g - which can only be from butter (as vegetable fats in the chocolate are unsaturated, assuming it is not coconut or palm oil). butter is generally 16% water so we can estimate that the butter is 19% of the total brownie

• the remaining weight (14%) must be from eggs

we can then scale these percentages to use one egg (50g), for simplicity, and we get a recipe to replicate the texture and flavour of this tiny chocolate brick

there are many, many brownie recipes but i think this is my favourite one (for now!)

fresh out the oven, still gooey

they’re super rich and dense, and equally irresistible when warm and gooey from the oven, and when chilled out of the fridge (ice-cream sandwich anyone?)

after a few hours in the fridge

i hope you try them!

yields 10

ingredients

brownie

67g butter

78g dark chocolate, chopped

88g caster sugar

1 egg

65g gluten-free self-raising flour

6g cocoa powder

method

preheat the oven to 180°C

line a square tin with baking paper

add the butter (67g) and chocolate (78g) to a saucepan

melt together over low heat

set aside to cool slightly (as to not cook the egg!)

add the sugar (88g) and egg (1) and whisk together

sift in the flour (65g) and cocoa powder (6g)

fold together until just combined

spread the batter in the prepared tin

bake for 20-22 minutes, until the edges are set but the centre is still fudgy

let cool completely before slicing