Dulce de Leche Apple Crisp

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Grasshopper Brownies

This is another dish I made and brought to the baby shower. By my own admission, I went a little crazy... but these were really, really good :)

Grasshopper Brownies


Brownies
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
10 1/2 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not extra-bitter or unsweetened and no more than 60% cacao if marked), finely chopped
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Mint Ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
10 oz white chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Chocolate Ganache
1 cup heavy cream
10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

For the brownies, first, preheat the oven to 375 with the oven racks in the center. Grease a 9x13 pan, or line with foil for easy removal.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla, then the flour, cocoa, and salt. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

For the mint ganache, first, bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and pour over white chocolate in a bowl. Let melt for1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract and chill until thick, about 1 hour.

For the chocolate ganache, bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate in a bowl. Let melt for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Chill until thick, about 30 minutes.

Finally, to assemble the layers, spread a thin layer of mint ganache over the top of the brownie. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Then spread chocolate ganache over mint and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Dulce de Leche Brownies

Despite my best efforts to get rid of any leftovers, I still had dulce de leche around the house. The situation was getting desperate - something had to be done to get that gooey, caramelly goodness out of my fridge. Luckily, I had this recipe in my pile of things-just-begging-to-be-made and a bunch of hungry coworkers to enjoy them.

Dulce de Leche Brownies

Adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris (Broadway Books)

8 tbsp unsalted butter
6 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 cup dulce de leche

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil to cover the bottom and the sides of the pan. Grease the bottom and sides of the foil.

Melt the butter and the chocolate over low heat in a medium saucepan. Once melted, remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sugar, vanilla, and flour.

Scoop only half of the batter into the prepared pan. Then drop one-third of the dulce de leche over the brownie batter and drag a knife through to swirl it slightly. Repeat with remaining batter and dulce de leche.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until center is just set.

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

The Significant Other (SO) has been away this week, and I have a confession to make: I really, reeeeeally enjoy eating while he isn't around. Its nothing against him; I'm just free to make whatever I want, when I want, how I want. I don't have to worry about making something too fatty (he is an 80's baby. His mother fed him lo-fat and no-fat everything.) or too vegetarian (the man loves his meat.) Also, I get to indulge on desserts :)

These brownies are sinful. They are everything I think a good brownie should be... dense, chocolatey, but not overly sweet. Mmmmm, betcha can' eat just one... I know I can't!

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

(From Apartment Therapy via Food Network Canada)

1 cup unsalted butter

3 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder (sifted)
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
3 large eggs, at room-temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

The original recipe includes a ganache frosting which I skipped, in the interest of being more portable.

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8x8 pan and set aside.

Melt melt butter in microwave in a glass mixing bowl. Stir in chocolate and mix until creamy - I stuck everything back in the microwave for 30 seconds so the chocolate was nice and melty.

Stir the sugar into mixture until combined. Microwave for 30 seconds on high, then stir until shiny.

Mix in marscapone cheese, vanilla, eggs and beat until smooth.

Sift together the flour, salt and cocoa. Stir into chocolate mixture just until combined.

Pour batter into pan and smooth top to ensure even baking. Bake for 40 minutes until tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

S'mores Brownies

Last weekend my coed soccer team got together to watch the World Cup. We have a few people on the team from the UK, and the US played England on Saturday, so we all headed over to one player's house to BBQ, watch the game on his big screen, and talk a lot of smack.

I wanted to bring something over for dessert that was easy and delicious, and brownies were the perfect choice. I had a lot of marshmallows left over from a BBQ the week before and I thought brownies would also be the perfect way to use them up - and keep me from eating them straight from the bag!

These brownies were tasty, but not perfect. I like thick fudgy brownies and these were light and cakey - must have been something to do with the 2tsp of baking powder! Next time I'd use more chocolate and less leavening. Oh, and more marshmallows :)



S'more Brownies
Adapted from here

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
5 large eggs
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup crushed graham cracker
12 big marshmallows (next time, I'd cut them in half)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9×13-inch baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Stir butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl over a heavy saucepan of simmering water. Stir chocolate and butter in this double boiler until melted and smooth.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers. Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 12 large marshmallows. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30- 40 minutes minutes.

Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool. Cool for at least 20 minutes than slice with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife with hot water if it gets too messy and sticky. Serve or wrap individually in wax paper for storing.