brownies

Mini Brownie Sundaes

08.07.2013 19 Comments

This is another one of my "it’s not a recipe" recipes. Because it’s not, it’s assembly instructions on how to assemble these cute little party desserts.

I made these for the Forth, a huge hit with with the under 5 set, and small enough to be the perfect size for little fingers.

The only thing I would do differently next time is nix the cupcake wrapper. It was too difficult to try and disrobe the mini brownies when they are piled high with ice cream and toppings.

I used my favorite brownie batter, and next time will just liberally spray the mini muffin tins instead of using the cupcake papers. If you want to buy them, most "brownie bites" come sans cupcake wrappers, so you’ll be all set. If you want to make them from scratch, skip the wrappers, use a brownie batter not a cupcake batter (you want to avoid the domed top and hope for a concave one), and let them cool completely before topping with ice cream.

If you have the freezer space, you can make up trays of these in advance and just pull them out when the moment strikes. I used an amazing grilled peach ice cream that I’ll be posting later in the week, but for a classic flavor combo, good ol' vanilla works just fine.

Mini Ice Cream Sundaes

Yield: 24

Ingredients

24 chocolate mini muffins, cupcakes or brownie bites
1 pint ice cream
2 cups whipped cream
sprinkles
24 cherries

Instructions

Place the mini brownies on a serving tray.
Using a cookie scoop, scoop out a ball of ice cream and firmly place it on top of each brownie.
Top with whipped cream, then sprinkles then a cherry.
Serve immediately.

Notes

If making from scratch, use brownie batter rather than cake batter to avoid a domed top. Skip cupcake papers and spray mini muffin tins liberally. Use a cookie scoop for the perfect sized ice cream ball.

Creme Brulee Topped Chocolate Stout Brownies & Some Big News

13.11.2012 50 Comments

I have some news.

If you Follow me on Twitter, you probably already know the Big News.

I signed a book deal on Thursday. A publisher has actually decided to pay me to write a cookbook.

How amazing is that?

Writing a cookbook has long been on my list of goals, and as I somewhat naively and idealistically jump into this process, I am reminded that it is you I have to thank for this milestone. The ones who share my posts, tell their friends about my little blog, believe in what I’m doing here, the ones who read every silly word I write, and yes, even those of you who write creepy comments about wanting to wake up in my bed and email me about how you google stalk me on a weekly basis. I am grateful for all of you.

This isn’t just my book, it’s yours too. The ideas you give me, the way I’m inspire by your questions and humbled by being seen as a source of knowledge and beer-cooking wisdom.

I wish I could properly thank you all, over a beer and some possibly inappropriate conversation. But for now, we’ll have to settle for some Creme Brulee Brownies made with two different types of beer. Which seems to be fitting, since chocolate stout was the first beer I ever cooked with and creme brulee was the subject of my first post. It’s an homage to my beer cooking beginnings, hope you like it.

If you are at all interested in helping me with this book, as an un-paid but thoroughly appreciated, recipe tester, for which you will receive my undying love and affection, a mention in the book, a sneak peek at never-before-seen-recipes, and possibly more, stay tuned. Once we get to that place, I’ll let you know how you can be my beer cooking partner in crime.

Creme Brulee Topped Chocolate Stout Brownies

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Brownie Layer:

3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp espresso powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter
7 oz dark chocolate 60%
2/3 cup chocolate stout

For The Creme Brulee Layer

1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup low-hop pale ale beer
1 vanilla bean split and scraped or 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 eggs plus 2 yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbs corn starch
Plus 1/4 cup sugar for the brulee topping

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the 3 eggs, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla on high for at least ten minutes. You need a meringue type consistency in order to create a crust on top of the brownies to insure the layers stay separate. In a separate bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder and salt, stir to combine.
In a microwave safe bowl, add the butter and the chocolate. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted.
While the stand mixer is on medium speed, slowly add the chocolate until mostly combined. Add the beer and stir. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour batter into dish and smooth out the top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the top is matte and a bit cracked. Don't over bake.
Allow to cool to room temperature.
For the creme brulee layer:
In a sauce pan over medium heat, bring the cream, beer and vanilla to a slight simmer, removing from heat when bubbles start to form around the edges. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
In a separate bowl, whisk the 1/2 cup sugar, eggs and yolk, and cornstarch until well combined and slightly frothy.
While continuing to whisk the egg mixture, slowly add the cream and whisk until well combined. Make sure the cream has cool or you will just have created vanilla scrambled eggs.
Return the cream to the stove and stir over medium heat until it comes to a low simmer. Continue to whisk until thickened, between 5 and 10 minutes. The cream should leave a track when you drag the whisk through it. Allow to cool to about room temperature.
Pour over the brownies, cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill until set, about 1 hour.
Just prior to serving, cut into squares, cover with a light layer of white sugar and brulee the top with a kitchen torch until the sugar has melted and turned a dark amber color.

Chocolate Stout and Bacon Skillet Brownies

23.10.2012 29 Comments

I hope you don’t mind my excessive use of stout over the past few weeks, but to be honest I’m really not sorry. I love stouts, I’m unreasonably excited about stouts being back "in season," and we are only about 2 weeks away from International Stout Day.

I’m geting you all stocked up on stout recipes, in case you want to celebrate via beer infused baked goods.

Which, of course, I hope you do.

You can use a chocolate stout for this, and that will be perfectly fine. You can also use a smoked porter or stout, or you can use a coffee or espresso stout.

Whatever you choose, this is best served warm, in the middle of a table full of fun people, each with a spoon in one hand and a stout in the other.

Chocolate Stout and Bacon Skillet Brownies

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 strips thick cut bacon
1 stick unsalted butter
3.5 oz 100g dark chocolate (60%), broken into pieces
1/2 cup stout chocolate or coffee stouts work best
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbs espresso powder
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 350.

Instructions

In a 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet cook the bacon until done. Remove bacon from skillet. Swirl the bacon fat to coat the pan, discard the excess bacon fat.
Add the butter to the skillet, return to heat and cook until melted. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add beer and stir.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well combined. Sprinkle the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and espresso powder over the eggs, whisk until just combined.
Add the egg mixture to the chocolate skillet and stir until just combined. Chop bacon and sprinkle over the top.
Bake until the top has set (don't over bake) about 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove from oven, top with vanilla ice cream if desired (and I'm pretty sure you should desire) set in the middle of a table full of hungry people. Add spoons.

Chocolate Stout and Bacon Skillet Brownie6

Chocolate Coconut Brownies (Vegan!)

20.06.2012 36 Comments

To see my Coconut Oat French Toast, click on the picture:

Why would a meat eating cheese monger such as myself want to make something vegan? Several reason, not the least of which are my friends and family who can’t or wont eat dairy. As meat eaters, it is even more important for us to experiment with vegan and vegetarian food and not hang on the crutch of animal products with the exclusion of other foods. We need to have all types of recipes in our arsenals, not just to accommodate those who might be guest at our tables, but in order to discover foods that we didn’t know we loved, because we didn’t think food with "vegan" labels applied to us. In exploring vegan cooking I have discovered what an amazing texture vegetable shorting lends to frosting, how rich and beautiful coconut milk tastes, and how fruit purees can be a flavorful stand in for butter.

Dairy free baking is something I want to lean towards more. Only using milk products when other substitutions would compromise the overall product, but in many cases vegan substitutions make the end result just as good or even better. Plant based foods just feel better in my body and if the taste of the food isn’t harmed then why would I make any other choice?

I started exploring dairy free cooking when three friends where coming over for dinner. One was kosher (meat and dairy can not be served together) one was allergic to cow’s milk and the other was breast-feeding a baby who couldn’t have dairy. All three needed a dairy free meal. I realized how much dairy I use. Why? I love plants, produce, vegetables, fruit…why all the milk?

These brownies where really good. Not just "good for vegan" but just really good. So fudgy and intensely chocolatey, even Tater couldn’t keep her little fingers off them.

She took a bite and then carefully put it right back where I had place it. So cute, I love that kid.

Chocolate Coconut Vegan Brownies

1/3 cup coconut oil

1 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk (can sub coconut milk)

1/3 cup strong coffee*

1 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

1/2 tsp salt

In a bowl, beat together the coconut oil and the agave nectar until well combined. Add the soy milk and coffee and beat again. in a separate bowl, add the cocoa powder, flour, shredded coconut and salt and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined, don’t over mix.

Spray a 8×8 inch baking dish with cooking spray (or line with parchment paper) and pour bater into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes. You don’t want to overcook these or they will be too dry. Allow to cool before cutting into.

For an extra treat, serve warm topped with coconut milk ice cream.

*Note: Coffee intensifies the flavor of chocolate, with no trace of a coffee taste. If you don’t like coffee, or don’t have a coffee maker, stop by a Starbucks and order a black coffee, use 1/3 of a cup and freeze the rest in ice cube trays for use in future chocolate baking.

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Irish Beer Brownies With Mint Sour Cream Frosting

13.03.2012 8 Comments

This week will be full of recipes for Guinness. Although I will always favor local craft beer, I do harbor a soft spot for Ireland and their World Famous Brewery. Just out of college I scraped together enough money to put myself on a flight from LAX to Dublin. I landed in Ireland on a drizzly morning, jet lagged and confused. I had no idea where to go, or how to get there. Before I really knew what was happening, I was being dragged though the streets of Dublin by a charming Irishman, clad in a newsboy cap and green wool sweater. Through his thick accent I was able to discern that he was taking me to a youth hostel at the foot of the Guinness brewery. Once we arrived at our destination, he said goodbye with a smile and a cheerful wave and he was on his way, leaving me to realized that this kind stranger had walked at least a mile in the wrong direction just to make sure I found a bed for the evening.

Although most of you will be breaking out the famous Irish Stout this weekend, I will be sticking with beer brewed a little closer to home. Rogue Brewery makes several beers that would be perfect for this recipe, including the Chocolate Stout, the Double Chocolate Stout, or even the Hazelnut Brown Nectar, I choose to go with the Mocha Porter although the idea of the Irish Lager almost drew me in.

Whatever you decide to consume on St. Patrick’s day, just remember:

Good beer does not need green food dye.

Drink well.

Irish Beer Brownies With Mint Sour Cream Frosting

For the brownies:

12 ounces dark beer, such as Rouge Mocha Porter

1 stick unsalted butter

10 ounces dark chocolate

3 whole eggs plus 2 additional egg whites

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

For the Mint Sour Cream Frosting:

2 sticks of butter, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp mint extract

In a sauce pan over medium high heat, cook the beer until reduced to about 3/4 of a cup, about 10 minutes.

Add the butter, stir until melted. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, stirring until melted, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the eggs, additional whites and sugar. Beat on high until very light and frothy, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix until combined. While the mixer is still on high, slowly add the chocolate mixture in a slow stream. Once about half the chocolate mixture has been added to the egg mixture, dump the remaining chocolate into the stand mixer allowing to mix until combined. Add the flour mixture and stir on low until just combined, don’t over mix once the flour has been added or your brownies will be tough.

Generously spray a 9×12 inch glass baking dish with butter flavored cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until the surface of the brownies begin to look dry and cracked and a tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Make the frosting:

Softened butter is important to this process. If you use cold butter your frosting will have the consistency of ground beef, but melted butter will give you frosting that is too soft.

Add the softened butter and the sour cream to a stand mixer and beat until well combined. Add the sugar and beat on low until the sugar is mostly mixed in. Add the mint and beat on high until frosting is light and fluff.

Allow the brownies to cool before frosting.