Special Chocolate Brownie
Well, continuing on the festive-mood I could not wait to share this recipe with you. I’m not much of a sweet-tooth, but I like to create crowd-pleasing recipes (that is one of the most gratifying things about cooking; the second best thing is eating the creations).
This recipe will make you want to have dessert first, or even for breakfast… No one is watching, this is no-rule-is-a-rule type of season.
As I was saying, this is a special kind of brownie, sneaky-type if you will. It is a recipe that is more savory than sweet, super decadent and right when you thought it could not get better BAM! A surprising flavor sneaks in and makes you reach for more.
I dedicate this recipe to the two of you, who were supposed to eat this with me and didn’t get the chance, no need mentioning names, you know who you are. Let me know who makes it first, and I want to try it out.
This recipe yields one medium tray of brownies.
Ingredients for the brownie:
½ cup of butter (soften for greasing the pan)
½ cup of cocoa powder (for dusting the pan)
5 large eggs (4 full eggs and one egg yolk)
½ cup of brown sugar
1 cup of melted butter (unsalted)
1 ¼ of cocoa powder (sifted)
½ cup of all-purpose flour (sifted)
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of coarse salt
1 cup of toasted walnuts
½ tablespoon of crushed red chili pepper flakes
Ingredients for the Banana Foster:
½ cup of salted butter
1 cup of dark brown sugar
½ cup of amaretto liquor
2 whole bananas (peeled and sliced)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
Ingredients for the Strawberry Salsa:
2 cups of strawberries (cleaned and sliced)
½ lemon (juiced and zested)
1 tablespoon of fresh mint (chopped)
Directions for the brownie:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees (Fahrenheit).
2. Butter pan and dust with cocoa, set aside.
3. In a bowl add all the dry ingredients except the brown sugar and mix. Set aside.
4. In a mixer bowl add the eggs and beat at medium speed until it becomes a light yellow mixture (approximately about 3 minutes). Then, add the sugar, melted butter and the vanilla; mix again for a minute.
5. Add the dry ingredients a little at the time and mix to combine, lastly add ½ cup of walnuts into the batter.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, top with the ½ cup walnut and bake for 45 minutes and or until toothpick-test is clean. Remove from the oven and set on a rack to cool.
Directions for the Banana Foster:
1. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat, add sugar and stir together until sugar dissolves (approximately 2 minutes).
2. Pour in the amaretto and stir to combine. Ignite alcohol in the pan; let it flame for 30 seconds.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the cinnamon.
Directions for Strawberry Salsa:
1. Combine all ingredients together and keep in the fridge, serve cool.
Tips:
1. Instead of walnuts, almonds can be used.
2. The amount of red chili flakes can be reduced or increased. Your choice, I like how the heat sneaks in as an after taste.
3. Ices cream is great companion to wash down the heat. Instead of the banana foster and strawberry salsa.
Enjoy!
