My three-year-old son loves to cook with me. Especially when cooking means “baking.” Especially when baking means “chocolate.” And that’s pretty much always. So, a few day ago, he and I made some brownies from a French-American cookbook by a local author Monique Hooker, a native of France.
Now it is worth noting that I am not generally a fan of brownies because I find then relatively dry and I really don’t like the crusty top, but this recipe turned out wonderfully moist, and was absolutely elementary to throw together – always a good sign in my book.
To do away with the crusty top, I topped them with a thick layer of slightly-chilled raspberry ganache – an idea given to me by one of the readers (here is looking at you, Marcy!), and I also threw a few raspberries into the batter while at it.
While the brownies themselves were great, the mashed-raspberry ganache (made with semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolates) was absolutely amazing. Even my husband, who doesn’t ordinarily like ganache, offered copious praise.
Although I haven’t done it this time, I can’t stop thinking of how lovely it would be to bake this batter in individual ramekins instead one 8″ x 8″ pan, and to pipe the ganache elegantly on top for a Valentine’s treat.
Here is the recipe if you’d like to give it a go:
Raspberry Brownies with Raspberry Ganache Icing
Adapted from Cooking with the Seasons: A Year in My Kitchen by Monique Jamet Hooker
Makes one 8″ x 8″ pan
For the brownies:
- 1 stick butter
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 3/4 C sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 C all-purpose flour
- 1/4 t baking powder
- a dash of vanilla
- 1/4 to 1/3 C whole fresh raspberries (do not use frozen, as they will make the brownies rubbery)
For the ganache:
- 1 C heavy whipping cream
- 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 1 T Lyle’s Golden Cane Syrup or regular light corn syrup
- 1/4 to 1/3 C fresh or frozen raspberries, mashed lightly with a fork
Make the brownies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8″ x 8″ pan.
Melt the butter and the chocolate together in a microwave (microwave for 1 minute or until the butter has melted) or in a small pan over low heat. Stir until smooth.
Place all of the remaining ingredients except raspberries into a bowl and mix. Add the chocolate-butter mixture and stir until fully incorporated. Gently fold in the berries.
Pour into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. The toothpick should come out covered with some batter if you like your brownies melt-in-your-mouth smooth, or dry if you like them chewy (which I don’t).
Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a rack. Allow to cool completely before icing.
Make the ganache:
Place all ingredients except the berries into a pan and heat over low heat, whisking constantly, until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Fold in the berries. Refrigerate until the ganache reaches spreadable consistency. Spread over cooled brownies.
Note: This recipe freezes exceptionally well if wrapped in saran followed by aluminum foil. When thawed, these brownies have a texture similar to chocolate truffles.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I think some of the frozen raspberries I have been hoarding since July may have to be sacrificed to this cause. Yum.
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Those don’t work as well in the brownies, will be rubbery. But they work well in ganache.
good to know– I’ll wait.
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