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Know What to Look For
The best chocolate in the world can only take you so far. Some recipes just aren't meant to result in fudgy brownies; so, even if you follow the directions exactly, you could be let down with a finished product that's delicious—but too cakey for your taste. Here's what to keep an eye out for, says Christy Jordan, author of the new Southern desserts cookbook, Sweetness: high quantities of butter (at least a stick; Jordan actually uses a stick and a half for an 8x8 pan of brownies) and a high chocolate-to-flour ratio (at least six ounces chopped chocolate to a half-cup of flour). The first recipe in this roundup pretty much hits the nail on the head.