After easing people into the brownie tasteoff with "Classic Brownies" in the first round, I decided to go to the extreme of "SuperFudgy Brownies" for round two. Here's a picture of the superfudgy lineup:
Like last time, I asked tasters to try all four brownies and fill out of a ballot ranking them in order of preference and also giving each brownie a numerical score from 1-10.
Brownie A was the Really, REALLY Fudgy Brownie from In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley. The cookbook warns: "Very dense, very rich, very chocolately, these brownies are not for the faint of heart." This is a straight chocolate fudge brownie, with no chips or other mix-ins. Several tasters commented favorably on its chocolate flavor and fudginess, although others felt that that it was too plain compared to the other brownies in this group. One taster noted, "Brownie A was just really good. It was a no-frills brownie that said to me, 'I am what I am. Love me for it.' So I did." Another wrote, "For me this is the essence – one might even say the Platonic form, assuming that you can eat Platonic forms – of a brownie: somewhat crumbly but with enough chewiness so as to hold together until it’s in your month, and an admirable chocolate taste."
Brownie B was the Recchiuti Fudgy Brownie, from Recchiuti Chocolatier in San Francisco. I have made this brownie countless times over the years since it was featured in the Los Angeles Times Culinary SOS column in 2004. This is a very fudgy brownie that also contains semisweet chocolate chunks. I was a little surprised that a significant number of tasters said they liked the fact that this brownie had a slightly salty taste; I have never thought of this brownie as being salty. Others commented, "just pure, unadulterated chocolate," "this brownie just had it all going on," "almost like eating a chocolate bar but it is soooo much better because of the baked good consistency," and " it had a character in addition to fudginess, which I absolutely loved."
Brownie C was the Midnight Brownie that Lisa Yockelson contributed to The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle. (This brownie is cut into thirds because I forgot to save a regular-sized slice for the picture; for the tasteoff, I've been cutting the brownies into extra-small slices so that tasters won't get brownie overload.) This superfudgy brownie contains chunks of Milky Way Midnight Bars. Several tasters commented that the base brownie seemed to have the least amount of flavor in this group. Many complained about the small amount of Milky Way in their sample, although I think this might be a particular hazard that results from serving very small slices.
Brownie D was Lisa Yockelson's Cappuccino Cream Cheese Fudge Cake from Baking by Flavor. Although Yockelson calls this a "cake," it's way fudgier than any other cake I've ever tasted, and so I always pass it off as a "brownie." And a superfudgy one at that! This "cake" is essentially an espresso-cinnamon brownie with a cream cheese-chocolate chip swirl. While some tasters thought that the cream cheese swirl was an asset, others thought it was a liability. Comments ranged from, "cream cheese is an interesting idea, but subtracts from overall brownie-ness," to " too much going on for my taste," to "It has coffee. It has cheese. That’s all anyone really wants in life."
And this superfudgy winner is... Brownie B, the Recchiuti Fudgy Brownie. This brownie will advance to the finals of the tasteoff. Half of the tasters choose it as their favorite, and it earned an average score of 8.14 out of 10. It was followed by the Cappuccino Cream Cheese Fudge Cake (average score 7.22), the Really, REALLY Fudgy Brownie (average score 7.10) and the Midnight Brownie (average score 6.75).
Recipes:
Brownie A was the Really, REALLY Fudgy Brownie from In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley. The cookbook warns: "Very dense, very rich, very chocolately, these brownies are not for the faint of heart." This is a straight chocolate fudge brownie, with no chips or other mix-ins. Several tasters commented favorably on its chocolate flavor and fudginess, although others felt that that it was too plain compared to the other brownies in this group. One taster noted, "Brownie A was just really good. It was a no-frills brownie that said to me, 'I am what I am. Love me for it.' So I did." Another wrote, "For me this is the essence – one might even say the Platonic form, assuming that you can eat Platonic forms – of a brownie: somewhat crumbly but with enough chewiness so as to hold together until it’s in your month, and an admirable chocolate taste." 
Brownie B was the Recchiuti Fudgy Brownie, from Recchiuti Chocolatier in San Francisco. I have made this brownie countless times over the years since it was featured in the Los Angeles Times Culinary SOS column in 2004. This is a very fudgy brownie that also contains semisweet chocolate chunks. I was a little surprised that a significant number of tasters said they liked the fact that this brownie had a slightly salty taste; I have never thought of this brownie as being salty. Others commented, "just pure, unadulterated chocolate," "this brownie just had it all going on," "almost like eating a chocolate bar but it is soooo much better because of the baked good consistency," and " it had a character in addition to fudginess, which I absolutely loved."
Brownie C was the Midnight Brownie that Lisa Yockelson contributed to The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle. (This brownie is cut into thirds because I forgot to save a regular-sized slice for the picture; for the tasteoff, I've been cutting the brownies into extra-small slices so that tasters won't get brownie overload.) This superfudgy brownie contains chunks of Milky Way Midnight Bars. Several tasters commented that the base brownie seemed to have the least amount of flavor in this group. Many complained about the small amount of Milky Way in their sample, although I think this might be a particular hazard that results from serving very small slices. 
Brownie D was Lisa Yockelson's Cappuccino Cream Cheese Fudge Cake from Baking by Flavor. Although Yockelson calls this a "cake," it's way fudgier than any other cake I've ever tasted, and so I always pass it off as a "brownie." And a superfudgy one at that! This "cake" is essentially an espresso-cinnamon brownie with a cream cheese-chocolate chip swirl. While some tasters thought that the cream cheese swirl was an asset, others thought it was a liability. Comments ranged from, "cream cheese is an interesting idea, but subtracts from overall brownie-ness," to " too much going on for my taste," to "It has coffee. It has cheese. That’s all anyone really wants in life." And this superfudgy winner is... Brownie B, the Recchiuti Fudgy Brownie. This brownie will advance to the finals of the tasteoff. Half of the tasters choose it as their favorite, and it earned an average score of 8.14 out of 10. It was followed by the Cappuccino Cream Cheese Fudge Cake (average score 7.22), the Really, REALLY Fudgy Brownie (average score 7.10) and the Midnight Brownie (average score 6.75).
Recipes:
- "Really, REALLY Fudgy Brownies" from In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley.
- "Recchiuti Fudgy Brownies," from the September 29, 2004 Los Angeles Times.
- "Midnight Brownies" from The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle.
- "Cappuccino Cream Cheese Fudge Cake," from Baking by Flavor by Lisa Yockelson.
- "Brownie Tasteoff, Round 1: Classic Brownies," July 6, 2011.
- "A Fudgy Favorite: Recchiuti Brownies," May 25, 1
- "Rediscovering a Long Lost Friend: Midnight Brownies," May 6, 2009.
- "Weekend Baking Recap: A Mixed Bag," July 27, 2008.
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