Cooking In The Car: Brownies

Last Thursday, while I was getting ready for work, I noticed that the weatherman said it was going to be a blistering 96 degrees outside. It had been hot the day before (98 or so) and the forecast was in the low 90s. So, I figured if they were forecasting 96 and really hot then it would be a great day to try to get in a day of cooking in the car.

So, after I got dressed and put on my face (as the older ladies like to say), I grabbed a box of brownie mix from the pantry and got to work mixing it up. Soon after, it was in the pan and ready for a day of baking on the dashboard oven.

Once I got to work, I placed the dish on the dash and headed in. I forgot to get the exact time, but it was some time after 7:00. I did not go out and check on the brownies at lunch time because I knew they would need the whole day of undisturbed baking.

I left work and headed out to the car around 4:30 or so. I was excited to see the progress of the brownies. I opened up the car door and proceeded to take the pan out of the dashboard and let me tell you, people, that pan was HOT! I nearly needed an oven mitt to hold it and couldn’t hold it for a long period of time. I was going to set the brownies in my lap to take a photo but the pan was too hot to hold in my lap. So instead, I got out of the car and placed the pan in the front seat to take the photo.

The brownies had formed a thin crusty layer at the top – you know that flaky top brownie layer. The insides, however, were still pretty runny. There were small chocolate chips in the batter and they had all melted but the brownies were not cooked all the way through. They were a tad bit thicker than when I had first placed them in the car but no where near being able to cut and eat like a real brownie.

I ended up taking them home and finished the baking in the oven. I served them up at work the next day and they were eaten by many. I had some left over to take home too and ate the remainder over the weekend.

My phone told me the temperature got up to 99 degrees and the heat index was 102. I can’t remember if I mentioned it or not, but I would really like to get a thermometer to put beside whatever I’m cooking in the car so we can all see how hot it gets in there. I know, and you do too that the inside of a car gets way hotter than the outside temperature. So, I’m anxious to get a thermometer to see just how hot it gets on the dashboard oven.

This cooking in the car experiment somehow left a greasy spot on my dash which gives me a chuckle each day. Guess I should have put a towel up there or something. I wonder what people think when they walk by my car – do they even notice that there is something cooking on the dash? Hmmm, I wonder.

I’m not sure that we are going to have many more scorchers this summer, thankfully. The temps have been in the low to mid 90s as of late, unlike Texas where they are still suffering from 100 plus degree days. Yikes! I’ll keep my eye out for another hot day and see if I can’t come up with something else to cook before the summer is out. As always, your suggestions are welcome.