The Perfect Brownie

Our delicious chocolate brownies from Impromptu Gourmet

When it comes to food, everyone has an opinion. And there's no more polarizing food than the almighty Brownie. There are too many opinions to mention them all, but they include full size or bite size, nuts or no nuts, frosted or not frosted, flavored or purist, and the most hotly debated: cakey versus fudgey. So the Perfect Brownie really has to satisfy all different perspectives, while at the same time not sacrificing the integrity of what it truly is. In this quest over the past 12 years I've tasted brownies from more than 100 different sources.

I had begun to think it impossible to find a brownie that would appeal everyone, in other words "The Perfect Brownie". That is until now...

Here it is, coming from a new kid on the gourmet food scene, Whimsy & Spice. I tried the Espresso with Dulce de Leche brownie yesterday and within one bit decided that this is the best brownie I've ever tasted. It really met each polarizing quality in the middle, the perfect mix of cakey and fudgey, not too big and not too small, with a delicate balance of flavors that did not overpower the important basic chocolate taste.

The best part is that all this comes at a reasonable price, $8.00 for 4 brownies. Other notables were the seasonal Pumpkin Ginger Sandwich Cookie, as well as the biscotti. I don't think you can't go wrong with anything from this company, and their adorable Gift Boxes make an ideal gift at just $22.00.

Welcome to The Inside Dish!

Eating for a living is hard work! You may find that hard to believe, but it’s true. There are some days that I open newly arrived samples with a sense of dread—am I really in the mood to test garlic peanut butter today? I’ve had stuffed quail for breakfast and French toast for dinner, all in the name of finding the best of the best. And while you would think that more expensive foods would be of higher quality, that’s not always the case. In my test kitchen, we have our share of surprises, laughter, disappointment, and utter shock on some of the foods that we encounter.

My main focus is Mackenzie Limited, a gourmet-food catalog that seeks out “the world’s finest foods.” Over the past 12 years, we’ve tested thousands of different products (13,000 or so by the last count), selecting only a dozen or so for each new issue of the catalog. For a multitude of reasons, many interesting, unique, high-quality product just don’t make the cut. And while I’ve always been extremely proud of the foods we select, it’s the ones we don’t that I always want to talk about. Now I can.

So what can you expect? Anything related to good food. One day I may discuss the best bagels in New York (H&H, and soon I'll tell you how to order them online!), while the next day I talk about Thanksgiving or other entertaining ideas. I’ll do some features on budget gourmet finds. There will be recipes. And links to great sites where you can buy gifts or treat yourself to amazing mail order finds that I guarantee you'd never find on your own. You'll even read about my favorite picks from Trader Joe’s, some of which come from the very same suppliers that supply the fancy catalogs (and at 1/3 the price).

So welcome to my blog. And bon appétit!