The History of Brownie Day: It turns out that there's quite a bit of history baked inside that hot, fudgy little brownie. National Brownie Day is celebrated on December 8^th of every year in the United States of America. The USA is probably the only country that has a food dedicated to each day of the year. What do people do on the Brownie Day? Eat brownies, obviously. A brownie usually refers to a chocolate brownie because of its 'brown' color. It is a flat, square slab of a rich, gooey chocolate cake. Brownie is a typical American dessert which is usually served with either ice cream or other flavored creams. The origin of the brownie might be American but it is popular throughout the world for its flavor and simplicity of the recipe.

The exact origins of the brownie are quite ambiguous. However the first ever recorded recipes of the brownie appeared in the 1904 edition of the Home Cookery book and the Service Club Cook Book. The 1904 recipes of the brownies were not exactly brownies in the modern sense of the word, because they were mildly flavored and were more cake-like. While the word 'brownie' first appeared in the 1896 version of 'The Boston Cooking School Cook Book' by Fannie Merritt, it was first used in reference to the molasses cakes baked individually in tin molds and were not related to the modern day brownie.

Interestingly, the first modern brownie made its public appearance in 1893 at the Colombian Exposition in Chicago. Apparently Bertha Palmer of the Palmer House Hotel was visiting the exposition at that time. She had requested a chef to prepare a dessert for the ladies who were visiting the exposition along with her. She wanted it to be smaller than a cake so it could be eaten out of lunch boxes. The original Palmer House Hotel brownie was served with apricot glaze and walnuts and to this day it is served the very same way.

Maria Willet Howard's brownie recipe was published in Lowney' Cook Book in 1907. The recipe had an extra egg and an extra slab of chocolate. This brownie would probably be the predecessor of all modern brownies, because it was fudgier.

The Brownie Day is tomorrow. Maybe you should already baking a few brownies and have a few friends over. What is a brownie without friends after all, right?

Image Courtesy: therepressedpastrychef.blogspot.com