Ah, Brownies

I love dessert (as anyone who has ever seen my ass can attest). And for me, the ultimate dessert is brownies. Why? Because they are the most perfect cross between cake and candy ever invented. Rich, fudgy, loaded with extra chocolate and then embellished to your hearts content. Mmm.

Brownies are easy to make, take only one bowl, no mixer required and you can vary them infinitely. I once had a man, who had recently gotten engaged, offer to dump his fiancee and marry me after eating one of my s'more brownies. (Graham cracker crust, rich brownie center, smooth marshmallow cream on top that I toasted with a blow torch. Yummy.) I'm not sure he really would have married me (I also had a proposal over my home made peach pie and yet I'm still single. The way to a man's heart may be through his stomach but apparently the stomach has a short memory span) but it was nice to know my brownies were that good.

I love taking brownies and seeing how I can make them better. My malt ball brownies with malted chocolate frosting are to die for. Black forest brownies are sinfully good. Others have exclaimed over my German chocolate brownies (I'm not a big fan of coconut so I'll just take their word for it) And my brownie trifle was once given the highest compliment, "it's better than sex". While I'm not sure it's that good, it is a pretty awesome combination of brownies, chocolate custard, whipped cream and ganache. My brother also says it can induce coma if not given in small doses. Wimp.

My favorite brownies are loaded with chocolate then frosted. Pretty basic but I then drizzle ganache over them because I just can't leave them alone. For those that don't know, ganache is just chocolate and heavy cream mixed together. Lots of people are intimidated by ganache. It's so easy if you use my microwave method. (Oh, be quiet all you chocolate purists, yes you can make a great ganache in the microwave!) Put a few tablespoons of heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 20-30 seconds until quite warm. Pour in chopped chocolate. Stir until all the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth and glossy. It will look really disgusting at first as the cream sort of separates but keep stirring and it will all come together and be soooo good. The ratio varies depending on how thick or thin you want the ganache to be, but a good rule of thumb is two parts chocolate to one part cream for a sauce-like ganache. I use a mixture of both bittersweet and milk chocolate in my ganache, mostly bittersweet with just a touch of the sweeter milk chocolate to mellow it out. Three to one seems just right. Of course if you love milk chocolate, just reverse it for a sweeter ganache. Use this ganache for drizzling over brownies, ice cream, using in butter cream frosting, fold into whipped cream for an amazing chocolate mousse. Ganache is to die for!

Okay, here is my dirty little secret. If I'm running short on time I'll cheat and use a brownie mix. Brownie mixes are pretty easy and if you 'doctor' them a bit they taste almost as good as home made. If I'm 'cheating' I'll add four tablespoons of chocolate syrup (Hershey Special Dark) and at least an extra half cup of chopped chocolate. Also, if you substitute a little of the water called for with Kahlua or vanilla rum it will really taste yummy. Of course home made is best but I always keep a box of brownie mix on hand for 'emergencies'. A doctored mix can be in the oven in less than five minutes and that can cover a lot of emergency situations!

If you have the time, here is an easy brownie recipe to get you started. Embellish to your hearts content and enjoy!

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 c. butter
1 3/4 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of a 9 X 13 baking pan. In a large microwaveable mixing bowl, microwave butter and unsweetened chocolate for 1-2 minutes until butter is melted. Take bowl out of microwave and stir until all of the chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar. Mix in the beaten eggs and the vanilla. Stir in flour and chocolate chips until just combined. Spread into greased pan and bake for 35-40 minutes (Be careful not to over bake. They are fudgiest when slightly under done. A toothpick inserted near the center should come out 'almost clean" - meaning not gooey but not perfectly clean either. If you cook them too long the center will be dry and the edges inedible.) If you can wait that long, cool and frost. If you can't wait, eat them warm with some vanilla ice cream. Heaven!