Brownie Pudding

Best. Dessert. Ever.  If you have been to The New Theatre Restaurant, it tastes exactly like their Chocolate Cobbler.  I could not stop thinking about this dessert for about 24 hours.  I told just about everyone at work about it the next day, including all my kids.  It is a good thing I halved the recipe because it was completely gone in two days.  If you love rich chocolate, you must make this.  And you must serve it warm with ice cream.  The second day I tried to be a little healthier (like that matters when you are eating the best dessert ever??) and ate it with frozen light cool whip which was good, but not as good as the ice cream.  The recipe says that it will appear very under-baked because it is between a brownie and a pudding.  So do not be alarmed that it is not done - it is extremely gooey.  The second day it firmed up slightly.  Derrick actually liked it better the second day, but I thought it was the best right out of the oven.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
4 large eggs at room temperature
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup good cocoa powder (I used a little extra)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
vanilla ice cream

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Butter or spray a 2-quart (9x12x2 inch) oval baking dish or a 9x13 baking dish.  You will need a slightly bigger dish to place this dish in while you cook it with a water bath.  For example you can place a 9x13 inside a 15x17.

Melt the 2 sticks of butter and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow.  Meanwhile, combine the cocoa powder and flour and set aside.

When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla and the cocoa powder/flour mixture.  Mix only until combined.  With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.

Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan.  Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour.  A cake tester or toothpick inserted 2 inches from the side will come out 3/4 clean.  This was hard for me to tell - the toothpick was not very clean but I assumed that it had to be ok if it was in the oven that long!
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.  You basically have to scoop it out of the pan with a spoon rather than cutting it like brownies.

I halved the recipe and used an 8x8 pan in a 13x9 water bath pan.  I baked it for 43 minutes in the convection oven.