Chocolate Mascarpone Espresso Vodka Brownies Recipes

CHOCOLATE MASCARPONE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter an 8-inch square pyrex pan.
• Place the chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl; set aside. In a small glass bowl, melt the butter in a microwave, just until melted- don't let it cook and bubble (if no microwave, melt quickly on the stove instead). Pour the butter over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the butter is well incorporated. Sift in the sugar and cocoa powder.
• With a wooden spoon, beat in the mascarpone, eggs and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Gently fold in the flour and salt.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a cooling rack and let the brownies cool 10 to 15 minutes while you make the ganache.
• Place the chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream and butter to just below boiling point, over medium heat. Pour this hot mixture over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds, then stir until smooth. Pour the ganache over the brownies while still warm, and spread to cover evenly.
• Let the ganache firm-up before cutting. It's best to refrigerate them until quite firm. Once the ganache is firm and the brownies have been cut, they do not need to be kept in the refrigerator.

MELT-IN-THE-MIDDLE ESPRESSO MARTINI BROWNIES

Steps:

• Tip the butter into a heatproof bowl with the dark chocolate. Fill a small pan about a quarter full with boiling water, then sit the bowl on top, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the pan and leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a shallow 20cm square brownie tin. Using an electric whisk, whisk the eggs and sugar until they are thick and creamy and doubled in volume. This can take 3-8 mins, depending on how powerful your whisk is. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a spatula, moving the bowl round after each folding so you can get at it from all sides, until the two mixtures are one and the colour is a dark brown. Try not to knock the air out.
• Sieve the flour and cocoa over the eggy chocolate mixture along with a good pinch of salt. Gently fold in this powder as well as the espresso mixture using the same figure-of- eight action as before. The mixture will look dry and dusty at first; keep going until it looks fudgy, but don't overdo this mixing. Pour the mixture into the tin and gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it. Push the chocolate balls into the brownie at regular intervals.
• Bake for 30 mins or until the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Remove from the oven. If you are serving these as a dessert, leave to cool a little.
• To make the sauce, heat the coffee and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Mix a little of the cream with the cornflour, then add to the pan with the remaining cream. Bring to a simmer and stir over a medium heat until thickened. Add the vodka and turn off the heat. Serve each square of brownie with the sauce poured over.

CHOCOLATE MASCARPONE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F; have ready a buttered 8-inch square glass cake pan.
• First, prepare the brownies.
• In a small saucepan, melt the butter and bring it to just below a boil; have the chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl--pour the hot butter over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds.
• Stir until chocolate is completely melted.
• Sift in the sugar and cocoa powder (I do this through a sieve, not with a sifter).
• With a wooden spoon, beat in the mascarpone, eggs (30 minutes on the counter brings them to room temperature) and vanilla, mixing until smooth.
• Gently fold the flour and salt into the batter.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly--this is important since, if the batter isn't spread evenly, it won't bake evenly.
• Place into preheated oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean (45 minutes did it for me).
• Place pan on a cooling rack and let brownies cool for 10-15 minutes, while you now make the ganache.
• Place chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl; in a small saucepan, bring the cream and the butter to just below the boiling point, over medium heat.
• Pour this hot cream-butter mixture over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds, then stir until smooth; ganache is now ready to use and can be spread over the brownies.
• Should you wish to wait a bit, make sure the ganache is warm when you spread over the brownies, as it does firm up which makes spreading hard to do.
• Don't cut into the brownies until ganache has firmed up; I find it best to put the brownies into the fridge to speed this along; once the ganache is firm the brownies do not need to be kept in the fridge, though.