Bob (this one) wrote:
> My radio co-host's wife is a chocolate and raspberry freak, so I
> made a brownie torte for her birthday.
>
> From-scratch (couldn't duplicate it) Wing-It brownie with way too
> much chocolate in it - total of 1 1/2 pounds.

What kind of chocolate do you use?

> I had rehydrated 1/2 cup dried raspberries in 1/2 water and 1/2
> tawny port - the right amount for the liquid in the recipe - 1/4
> cup.

Could I use Orange Juice instead of the Port? And what recipe? I
didn't see one with your post. (

> We went to my sister's over the weekend and brought the remnants of
> the brownie. She decided that since everybody liked it and it was
> a small thing, that she'd like more. Didn't have ingredients or a
> good mixer (KitchenAid is in the shop) and I didn't feel like doing
> it anyway. Sent one of the nieces to get a good mix and some dried
> raspberries. Came back with a perfectly acceptable Duncan Hines
> mix. Did the 9 X 13 version and it was plenty good enough. All
> gone...

> Pastorio

I assume that was a Brownie Mix, but you called your "from scratch"
masterpiece a Brownie Torte, so it may not be. Which mix did you use,
there are so many different ones. Did you put raspberries into it,
too? Do you use oil or butter when you use a mix? If you use butter,
how much? Thank you for replying to this.

I bake mostly "from scratch", but as I frequently bake for a bridge
club, (free of charge ), of course), I sometimes resort to mixes.
For the chocolate cake ones I use unsalted butter instead of oil,
Orange Juice instead of water and I add sour cream, pudding mix and
either nuts or canned sour cherries, plus chocolate chips. As there
are an average of 80 players at every bridge game, using a mix is a
convenience.

Today I will bring them three pans of Blueberry Buckle. From scratch,
of course. I didn't have enough berries, so I added a couple of cups
of diced fresh apricots. I hope it will be good.