Which brownie delights you, fudgy or cakey?

In the imaginary Hall of Fame for food debates, the permanent exhibits include the Chili Debate (beans, no beans), the Barbecue Debate (pork vs. beef, Texas-style sauce vs. all that other weenie stuff) and, of course, the Brownie Debate (rich, moist fudgy vs. stupid, useless cakey).

Not that I’m biased or anything, but there is cake and there are brownies.

"Cakey brownies" is an oxymoron. Cake is made with leavening, so that it rises and is light, airy and dry. Brownies — real brownies — are made with chocolate, butter, sugar, flour and not a grain of leavening, resulting in something so dense, moist, rich and gooey that it provides a cardiac-jolting hit of deep, dark chocolate.

This debate is sure to be revived with this month’s publication of chocolate expert Alice Medrich’s new cookbook, "Bittersweet," in which she devotes an entire chapter to the vexing question: Just how many kinds of lovely dark chocolate can you cram into a brownie?

Fudgy or cakey, brownies are quintessentially American, even more so than the overexposed apple pie. The name "brownie" first appeared in the 1896 Fannie Farmer cookbook, says cookbook author and baking historian Nancy Baggett, but it referred to dark brown molasses cookies. (Molasses! What were they thinking?)

For 10 harrowing years this unfortunate situation continued until about 1906, when a Boston chocolate maker published recipes for brownies made from chocolate. Millions cheered.

Europeans have nothing similar, which is why famous European chefs such as pastry whiz Pierre Herme of France and the wildly innovative Ferran Adria of Spain have embraced the dense, chocolaty squares, said pastry chef Steve Klc of Washington. Despite thousands of years of European culture, "their own dessert traditions didn’t have the equivalent of a brownie," said a mystified Klc, who considers a darkly intense, fudgy brownie eaten out of hand one of the wonders of a sugary world.

In the cakey vs. fudgy debate, Klc cautiously allows as how cakey brownies have a legitimate place in "composed desserts" — in other words, as a platform heaped high with ice cream and stuff. Otherwise, give him fudgy any day.

Still, cake mix boxes and cookbooks assume that someone, somewhere out there must like cakey brownies because the directions often include that cryptic line, "For those who want a cakier brownie … ."

Cookbook author Maida Heatter, the acknowledged queen of all browniedom, the woman who once tossed 50 of her famous fudgy brownies to a clamoring, black-tie crowd at a James Beard Foundation awards banquet, thinks there’s really no contest.

"No one I know likes cakey brownies, although I keep seeing things in cookbooks that say, ‘If you like cakey brownies.’ I don’t know why, though."

Neither does Greg Patent, author of "Baking in America."

"If you want cakey, eat chocolate cake. Brownies should be dense and moist and fudgy."

Some less-discerning souls may think the difference is just a matter of baking time — hence, the directions in some cookbooks to "bake 5 more minutes" to get a cakier result.

Not hardly, said Washington pastry chef David Guas of DC Coast, Ten Penh and Ceiba. Baking five minutes more just gets you an overbaked brownie with those rock-hard edges that no one wants to eat. Cakey brownies are produced, he said, by adding more flour and more eggs and maybe a little leavening — you know, like a cake.

Are there real differences between fudgy brownies and cakey ones? That’s like asking if there are differences between bittersweet and milk chocolate, Medrich said.

Medrich, who lives in Berkeley, Calif., has helped push Americans’ taste in chocolate to a new, more sophisticated level.

Through her pastry shop, Cocolat, in the mid-’70s, and her subsequent cookbooks, she has applied herself to cracking the mysteries of chocolate the way James Watson and Francis Crick took on DNA. She endlessly tests recipes, taking voluminous notes on oven temperature, mixing methods, types of chocolates, even the warmth or coolness of the ingredients.

In her upcoming book, she reveals new techniques for achieving what can only be described as sensuously fudgy brownies made with a choice of cocoa, unsweetened chocolate, semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate.

"I definitely like a dense, gooey brownie," she said.

What about cakey brownies? A silent "Why bother?" hangs in the air, and then she answers, tersely, "Add more flour."

Medrich says Americans two generations ago liked much-sweeter brownies, made with less chocolate and more sugar to give them an old-fashioned chewiness.

"Our tastes have definitely grown up," she said, as Americans have discovered sophisticated European chocolates and developed a taste for darker, more bittersweet chocolate instead of the sweeter milk chocolate.

Her most recent "brownie binges" have focused on producing a glossy, crackled-top crust that delicately shatters as your teeth bite into the soft, meltingly rich interior.

Her new brownie-baking techniques include letting the chocolate and butter mixture get really hot — 150 degrees — and then adding cold eggs, right out of the refrigerator, along with the sugar, to make a batter.

"I’ve also found that refrigerating the brownie batter for several hours or overnight before baking it really improves the texture. It even improves mix brownies," she said.

All of this is in addition to what she calls "the Steve Ritual," named for Steve Klein, the husband of Medrich’s assistant.

The Steve Ritual — discovered accidentally during a college mishap — calls for baking the brownies for a shorter time at a higher temperature, then taking the hot pan from the oven and cooling it quickly either by placing it into a shallow pan of ice water or by shoving it into the refrigerator.

The shock from the cold gives the brownies a glossy, crisp shell and a denser, softer interior.

(Another Steve — the Washington pastry chef Klc — says he also uses the Steve technique for making a brownielike cake with a liquid center. The cake is briefly baked in an aluminum pan at a super-high heat, then chilled so that a hard shell forms over the liquid center.)

In addition to debating fudginess and cakiness, brownie aficionados also like to tackle weighty issues such as nuts or no nuts and icing or no icing.

Klc’s rant on icing seems to sum up most expert opinions: "Icing is nothing more than a lame attempt to moisten up poor, dry, forlorn examples of the form."

As for nuts, the consensus seems to be: If you like them, fine. As Medrich said, "I could go either way. They add a wonderful little relief and texture if using really intense chocolate."

Walnuts are a favorite.

This is the classic fudgy brownie that pastry chefs, cookbook authors and home cooks have relied on for years. They’re crusty on top with a dense, rich, gooey interior.

The ingredient proportions were spelled out in "The Fannie Farmer Baking Book" by Marion Cunningham, but the revised directions are adapted from Alice Medrich’s "Bittersweet."

Chewy fudge brownies

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil or baking parchment, leaving some to overhang two opposite sides.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat the chocolate and butter, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger quickly after dipping it in to test.

Remove from heat and stir in the sugar, salt and vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the cold eggs, one at a time, stirring well to incorporate each. Stir in the flour and beat with a wooden spoon or spatula until the batter is smooth and glossy and beginning to come away from the sides of the pan, 1 to 2 minutes. If desired, stir in nuts. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the brownies just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. The top will look dry, but a toothpick inserted in the center will come out wet with chocolate.

Immediately place pan in refrigerator, or place in larger pan filled 3/4-inch deep with ice water. When completely chilled, lift up the ends of the foil or parchment liner and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares.

Store in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.

Makes 16 brownies. Per brownie: 173 calories, 2 gm protein, 20 gm carbohydrates, 11 gm fat, 43 mg cholesterol, 6 gm saturated fat, 46 mg sodium, 1 gm dietary fiber.

Brownies made from unsweetened cocoa have the softest center and a chewy, candylike top crust because all the fat in the recipe comes from the butter and all of the sugar is granulated sugar rather than the finely milled sugar used in chocolate.

The resulting brownies are inky dark, glossy on top, with an intensely cocoa-chocolate flavor. For the best flavor, use the best quality cocoa possible. From "Bittersweet" by Alice Medrich.

Best cocoa brownies

Position the oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, allowing some to overhang on 2 opposite sides.

In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the butter, sugar, cocoa and salt. Place the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Heat the ingredients, stirring frequently, until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is warm, not hot.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in the vanilla. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition. When the batter looks thick, shiny and well blended, add the flour and stir until all the flour is incorporated, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake the brownies until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil overhang and transfer the block of brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Note: Any unsweetened natural or Dutch-process powder works well here. Natural cocoa produces brownies with more flavor complexity and lots of tart, fruity notes. Dutch-process cocoa results in a darker brownie with a mellower, old-fashioned chocolate pudding flavor, pleasantly reminiscent of childhood.

Makes 16 brownies. Per brownie: 175 calories, 4 gm protein, 20 gm carbohydrates, 10 gm fat, 47 mg cholesterol, 5 gm saturated fat, 50 mg sodium, trace dietary fiber.

The secret ingredient in these brownies is corn syrup, which is a pastry chef’s trick for keeping brownies moist longer.

Once they’re baked and cooled, if you keep them refrigerated in an airtight container, they will still taste wonderfully fudgy even four or five days later. If they last that long. From "The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion."

Brownies with a secret

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch pan.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat the chocolate and butter, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat; set aside to cool for a few minutes.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs, vanilla, salt, sugar and corn syrup until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir the flour into the chocolate and butter mixture. Gently fold the chocolate batter into the egg mixture and stir just until combined. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake the brownies for 35 minutes, until the top is crisp but a toothpick inserted in the center comes out coated with chocolate. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for several hours before cutting them into squares.

Makes 24 brownies. Per brownie: 221 calories, 3 gm protein, 30 gm carbohydrates, 11 gm fat, 61 mg cholesterol, 6 gm saturated fat, 69 mg sodium, 1 gm dietary fiber.

Fudgy fanatics can skip this recipe, obviously. This produces a moist, cakey brownie that rises a little higher than its fudgy brothers, thanks to the baking powder. From "The Fannie Farmer Baking Book" by Marion Cunningham.

Cakelike brownies