Negresă (Romanian brownie)

If you're from the Western world, you will be attempted to say "but this isn't a brownie" as soon as you see the recipe for these (one of the first things that might surprise you is that they don't actually contain any chocolate). Well, it was the closest thing Romanian households could afford to make during communist and early post-communist times, and the recipe caught on in its current form. 
Sure, after the regime fell, especially in recent years, American-style brownies started stealing the scene in Romanian kitchens as well, but these cake squares right here are still associated with the childhood memories of many young people who grew up then (and in the immediate ten-year aftermath).
Anyway, to return to the recipe itself, it's lighter and less rich tasting than classic brownie recipes, and also more fluffy (leavened by a little baking powder and by beating the egg whites separately). After baking, a thick cocoa syrup is used to glaze the cake before cutting it into squares. Sometimes, it's also decorated with coconut flakes. Enjoy.

Last year: Mixed bean salad with pumpkin seed oil.
Two years ago: nothing
Three years ago: nothing
Four years ago: nothing
Five years ago: Orange and wine infused chickpea and mushroom stew (vegan).
Six years ago: New York-style pizza crust (puffy and thin) (vegan).
Seven years ago: Dukkah (Egyptian and generally Middle Eastern) (vegan).
Eight years ago: Simple chicken stock and Chicken risotto with bell pepper.




Ingredients (for a 20 X 30 cm baking dish/tray):

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 200 g butter, plus extra to butter the tray
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) milk
• 1 teaspoon rum extract / flavor

For the glaze:

• 100 g powder sugar
• 50 ml water
• 50 g butter
• 3 tablespoons cocoa, sifted
• 1 teaspoon rum extract / flavor

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Butter the baking tray.

Melt the butter with the milk over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Allow the mix to cool a bit, then mix in the egg yolks and the rum flavor.

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder, salt and cocoa. Add the butter mix to the flour and stir well until a batter forms.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the electric mixer. Carefully fold them in the cake batter. Pour the whole thing in the buttered baking tray, put it in the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until it passes the skewer test.

Take out from the oven and let it cool a bit. For the glaze, melt everything together over low heat, except for the rum flavor. Simmer the stuff for 2-3 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the rum. Pour over the cake and allow it to cool for minimum 2 hours. Cut into cake squares and it's done, dig in! :)