Best Brownies, August 2010

We still can't get enough of our 2005 winner: the fudgy, dense brownies from the Farm of Beverly Hills. But when a relatively new bakery is making nine types of brownies, you know there's serious competition afoot. Sweets for the Soul, which opened last year, uses Valrhona chocolates to achieve gooey wonders. To die for: the Brownie Bliss (with toasted pecans), the Hotter Shot (spiced with cayenne, cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger), and the Obama (a cocoa base with dark and white chocolate chips).