Chewy Caramel Brownies

Looking for something deliciously chocolate and chewy? Look no further.  These brownies are so rich that even I need a break after eating them (and eating them and eating them all weekend).

The original recipe called for the caramel to go in middle of two brownies. While that sounds delicious, I started baking too late one night after Mabel finally went down for the night. So I had to streamline. I baked the brownies one night and then mixed up the caramel the next day.

These brownies are chewy and rich.  On the first night I ate them, the brownie itself was actually a little dry. But by the next night, after sitting under the caramel and cream for a day, the chocolate was just as you would dream it would be - melting in your mouth with each bite. So I wouldn't change a thing, just plan to make them a day before you want to serve them.  Oh, and make sure to have vanilla bean ice cream on hand to go on top.

Caramel Brownies
Yield: 18+ brownies

Ingredients:
For the brownies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1½ cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt

For the caramel topping:
14 oz. caramel candies, unwrapped
1/3 cup heavy cream

For the chocolate topping:
3 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with butter or cooking spray. Combine the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth.  (Alternatively, microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted.)  Remove the bowl from the heat.  Whisk in the sugar, eggs and vanilla until incorporated.  Stir in the flour and salt just until combined. Spread batter in the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer.  Bake for 30 minutes, until a butter knife stuck in the middle comes out mostly clean.

To make the caramel filling, combine the caramel candies and cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth.  Immediately spread the caramel mixture over the brownie layer.   

Melt semisweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. Using a spatula, scrape the melted chocolate into a pastry bag (or use a ziplock bag and cut the tip off).  Decorate top of caramel with chocolate swirls.

Let cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving. 

Source: adapted from Annie'e Eats

Fruit Tart with Pastry Cream

Summertiiiime and the living is easy...Nothing makes it feel like summer like fresh berries. And there's nothing like eating berries on top of a buttery crust and smooth vanilla cream.

 

This fruit tart took me 3 sessions over a 36 hour period. One to make the dough, one to make the cream and one to bake and assemble. The recipe doesn't call for this much time; this is just what baking with a 4 month old looks like. 

When all was said and done, it was delicious. After finishing my inaugural piece(s), Mabel woke so I had to take my full belly into bed to cuddle her back to sleep.  ...sigh...

I borrowed this recipe from Annie's Eats. The crust was like shortbread and had a good sweetness and crunch. It browned on the edges more than I would have liked though and the sides slid down as often happens with pie crusts (why does that happen?). Also when I rolled it out, it stuck to the wooden cutting board and was a bit of mess to transfer to the pan.  I think it needs to be colder.   Next time on the crust,  I'll try this crust.

The pastry cream was like custard, very rich, creamy. The texture was cool and refreshing but a little too runny when I cut the tart. Maybe something happened in cooking it that made it not set up enough. More investigation needed.

For fruit I used strawberries, mango, blue berries and one raspberry. Very fresh and tasty. Hard to get the mango pieces cut uniform and laid out nice. I skipped the apple jelly.  I would prefer a higher fruit to cream ratio. I think it could have used half the cream and more fruit piled on.

 

But it was delicious....and when I brought the leftovers to my coworkers, it went quickly.