Showing posts sorted by date for query brownies. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query brownies. Sort by relevance Show all posts
I wanted to bake a treat for my daughter and her husband to take home after our Friday Thanksgiving dinner and I wanted it to be something they both would enjoy. My son in law can be rather fussy when it comes to eating.
There is not a lot he will eat that is out of the ordinary. He is a simple meat and potatoes kind of a guy, and he doesn't even eat a lot of those. My daughter ends up cooking two separate meals most nights.
I thought he might like brownies. He always takes those Little Debbie's kind of cakes to work in his lunch every day. How much better is a homemade brownie than those!
And how much better than a homemade brownie are Mississippi Mud bars! Sinful and indulgent, I cannot think of too many people who would not enjoy Mississippi Mud bars. To do so would be indecent and not human!
Mississippi Mud Bars are decadent fudgy brownies, studded with plenty of toasted pecan nuts and topped with a sweet layer of melted marshmallow and a rich chocolate fudge icing! What's not to like about that!
I made a small batch of a recipe that I found for Mississippi Mud Bars in Southern Living, Comfort Food. This was another one of my cookbooks that I chose to replace here in Canada.
Its a brilliant cookbook, filled to overflowing with fabulously delicious Southern Comfort foods. How everyone down there isn't as wide as a house, I will never know!
Anyways, I thought a full recipe would be far more than my daughter and her husband could cope with, or should cope with so I cut the recipe in half with great success.
Yes I did taste them. A woman's got to do what a woman's got to do. Its a dirty job but somebody's got to do it. I was only too happy to step up to the plate.
After all I wouldn't expect anyone to eat anything I wouldn't eat, right? My only regret is sprinkling milk chocolate chips on top. They came off looking white in the photographs and I can promise you they were not white.
They weren't even actually needed. I was trying to dress them up a bit. Chocolate things can be notoriously difficult to photograph. I thought it would help.
I hope you will forgive me for making something that doesn't look nice in photographs anyways, look even worse! Don't let that deter you from making them. They are gorgeous!
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE MISSISSIPPI MUD BARS
Nothing too spectacular. Simple ingredients put together in the most delicious way! (That's my motto most of the time!)
For the brownie base and marshmallow topping:
- all purpose flour (plain flour in the UK)
- unsweetened cocoa powder (not chocolate drink mix, they are not the same thing)
- granulated sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- melted butter
- large free range eggs
- vanilla extract (I always use the pure stuff)
- miniature marshmallows (I like the all white ones)
For the frosting:
- melted butter
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed milk, you could also use half and half or single cream)
- vanilla extract (again I use pure)
- icing sugar (also known as powdered or confectioner's sugar)
HOW DO YOU MAKE MISSISSIPPI MUD BARS
The hardest part of making these lush bars is keeping your hands off them until everything sets up!
The base for these is essentially a rich fudge brownie. If you can make a brownie then you can make these. The dry ingredients are whisked together and then you whisk in the melted butter, eggs and vanilla, whisking only until the mixture is smooth and homogenous.
You then stir in the toasted nuts. I always toast my nuts as you know. It just makes them taste nicer. Toasted nuts taste better. (8 to 10 minutes, spread on a baking sheet in a moderate oven. Let them cool before using.)
You then spread the batter into your prepared pan. I butter the pan and also partially line it with baking paper, so that there is an overhang on two opposite sides.
This just makes it so much easier to lift the finished bars out of the pan. I am all for ease when it comes to things like this. So just spread the batter in the buttered/lined pan and bake.
While they are baking put your frosting together as you will be needing it not too long after your brownie base is baked.
The brownie base is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, with only a few crumbs clinging to it. They should not be gloopy in the least.
Once that happens you just scatter the marshmallows over top and return them to the oven for a minute or two.
You don't want the marshmallows to brown at all. You just want them to melt until they are ooey and gooey.
Once that has happened, take them out (they will be all puffy) and then spread the frosting over top of the warm marshmallow. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.
I found the easiest way to do this was to dollop blobs of the frosting over top of the batter here and there, and then just spread it over with the back of a metal spoon. It worked really well.
The frosting is as easy to make as beating the ingredients together with an electric hand whisk until smooth and spreadable.
HINTS AND TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Use cocoa powder and not chocolate drink mix. Chocolate drink mix is considerably sweeter than cocoa powder and has a completely different consistency which just won't bake the same. The two are NOT interchangeable in my opinion.
Sift your cocoa powder. Cocoa powder can be really lumpy and doesn't mix in well, so sift, sift, sift. Nobody wants to bite down on a lump of cocoa powder. It won't taste nice and it will be unsightly.
Always toast your nuts when baking. They just taste better.
Don't overmix your brownie batter. You just want it smooth and homogenous. You don't want to overdevelop the gluten in the flour. This results in a tough brownie.
Sift your icing sugar to get out all of the lumps. Nobody wants to eat a lumpy frosting and it just doesn't look nice.
Don't sweat it if your icing doesn't completely cover the marshmallow. It is okay if a bit of mallow peeks through. That's just the nature of mud. Trust me, they will still be delicious!
Try (if you can) to leave them overnight before cutting into them. You will get much nicer cuts. Lift them out of the pan to cut. In an eight inch square pan, four cuts one way and 3 cups the other will give you 12 nice, decently sized squares.
Trust me, these are so sweet you won't want huge pieces. Break out the milk, because a nice tall glass of cold milk goes really well with these!
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! (And leave off the chocolate chips unless you like really sweet things!)
Mississippi Mud Bars (small batch)
Yield: 12 bars
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 32 MinTotal time: 42 Min
Deep dark, chocolatey and decadent delicious! Oh my goodness!
Ingredients
For the bars:
- 3/4 cup (110g) plain all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (4 TBS) cocoa powder (Not drinking chocolate)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter, melted
- 2 large free range eggs, beaten lightly
- 1/2 TBS vanilla
- 1/2 cup (60g)chopped toasted pecan nuts
- 1 1/2 cups (75g) mini marsmallows
For the frosting: (makes 1 1/4 cups)
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted
- 2 1/2 TBS cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 1/2 TBS evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
- 1 3/4 cup (225g) icing sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8-inch square baking tin. Line it with baking paper, giving yourself an overhang to lift the cooled squares out with.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter, eggs, and vanilla. Stir everything together until smooth. Stir in the pecan nuts.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs attached. Remove from the oven and immediately scatter the marshmallows over top and return to the oven for one to two minutes to melt the marshmallows.
- Remove from the oven and carefully spread the frosting over top of the marshmallows. Cool completely and cut into squares.
- To make the frosting beat all of the ingredients together with an electric mixer at medium speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Beat at high speed until the frosting reaches a spreadable consistency.
Spice Cake with a Spicy Mocha Frosting. The recipe I am sharing with you today is for a delicious nut studded spice cake with a fabulous old fashioned mocha icing.
I love snack cakes and this is one of the best. Not only is it one of my favorite spice cakes, but it has a ribbon of cream cheese filling running through the middle of it.
Back before I moved over to the UK you used to be able to buy these small recipe magazines put out by Pillsbury, Betty Crocker etc. in the grocery stores. They would be situated near the tils.
Something for you to peruse while you were waiting for your turn to empty your shopping trolley onto the conveyor belt. I could never resist looking at them.
I had collected quite a few through the years. Sadly I lost them all when I moved back to Canada last autumn, save a few of them that I somehow had the forethought to pop into my luggage.
This recipe comes from one entitled Fall Baking by the people who make Gold Medal flour. It was published in 2000, and was always one of my favorite of those little books.
I cut the original recipe in half. The original made a 13 by 9 inch cake. Far too much cake for just me, and in all truth so is an 8-inch square cake. Its a good thing I have some family to share it with!
Spice cake is something I have always loved. Flavored with warm baking spices, it is just a cake I have always enjoyed, in any way shape or form.
Flavored with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and all spice, some cakes will also use molasses to sweeten them. This cake does not.
Instead it uses brown sugar, which also goes very well with warm baking flavors.
The batter is enriched by the use of sour cream, which produces a lovely, moist cake. I know there are some people who don't like the word moist. I am not one of them.
I embrace moistness. To me moist spells delicious!
What makes this cake a bit unique however is that it has that ribbon of cheesecake running through the middle of it. Oh my goodness.
What's not to fall in love with when you are talking about something like that? Spice cake, moist and spicy . . . cheesecake, rich and decadent. Oh my my . . .
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SPICE CAKE WITH SPICY MOCHA FROSTING
Simple ordinary ingredients most of us always have in our homes, that's what!
For the cake:
- all purpose flour
- brown sugar
- sour cream
- chopped toasted walnuts
- butter
- water
- warm baking spices (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and ginger)
- baking soda and baking powder
- salt
- egg (1)
The filling uses equally simple ingredients and only three of them:
- cream cheese
- sugar
- egg yolk
And then the frosting is simple as well:
- icing sugar
- butter
- cocoa powder
- hot water
- cinnamon
- instant coffee
You see, nothing complicated there in the least.
HOW TO MAKE SPICE CAKE WITH A SPICY MOCHA FROSTING
Again, this is a very simple cake to make. You want to make the cheesecake filling before you start the cake. This is easily done by whisking them all together until smooth.
Likewise the cake batter is also very easy to make. Once more, you simply whisk everything together until smooth.
I do like to use toasted nuts in all of my bakes. This isn't really necessary, but I like the extra nuttiness that results from toasting them. Again a simple thing, spread on a baking sheet in a single layer, in a moderate oven for about 8 minutes. Let them cool before using.
I often do a whole bag at a time, keeping them in an airtight container in the freezer so they don't go rancid. Ready to take out and use whenever I need toasted nuts.
Once you have the filling and the cake batter done, it is a simple matter of layering them in a prepared baking tin. I used an 8-inch square tin which was buttered and lined with baking paper.
You may wonder why I always line my tins if I am buttering them anyways. Its simple really. It helps me to be able to safely lift the baked cake out of the tin when it is done.
This is a matter of practicality when you are talking about smaller 8-inch cakes and bakes such as brownies and other bars. Also, if you don't want the grid marks on the top of your cakes and bakes, being able to lift them out prevents that.
Layering the cake layers and cheesecake layers is probably the most complicated part of this recipe, but even that is easy to do.
Just spoon and spread half of the cake batter in the prepped pan. Dot the cheesecake filling over top and then spread it as evenly as you can over the cake batter. This is quite easy if you use the back of a metal spoon.
Finally the remaining cake batter is spread over top of the cheesecake layer. Again, done in dollops and spread with the back of a spoon.
That's it just bake and then let it cool. If you frost the cake before it is completely cold, the frosting will melt.
The frosting is as easy as measuring everything into a bowl and whipping it all together until it is smooth and light and fluffy. Spread that on the top of the cake and you are done!
This really is a lovely cake. Moist and delicious and filled with Autumn flavors, all spicy and warm. I loved the mocha frosting, but then again my favorite chocolate bar is the coffee crisp bar. I may not drink coffee, but I do enjoy eating it.
Altogether this is a fabulous snack cake. If you are not fond of mocha, then just leave out the coffee in the frosting. It will still be a really tasty cake. I really hope that you will be inspired to bake it and that when you do, you enjoy it as much as I have!
Spice Cake with a Spicy Mocha Frosting
Yield: 9
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min
A small batch recipe for a snacking spice cake that has a ribbon of cream cheese running through it and a lush mocha cinnamon frosting on top. Delicious!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup (140g) of all purpose plain flour
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (60g) dairy sour cream
- 1/4 cup (28g) chopped toasted walnuts
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, softened
- 1/4 cup (60ml) water
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 large free range egg
For the cheesecake filling:
- 1/2 package (4 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 3 TBS sugar
- 1 large free range egg yolk
For the mocha spice frosting:
- 1 cup (130g) sifted icing sugar
- 2 TBS butter, softened
- 1 TBS cocoa powder, sifted (not drink mix)
- 1 TBS hot water
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp instant coffee (dry)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8-inch square cake tin and line with baking paper.
- Make the cream cheese filling by popping all of the ingredients into a bowl and beating together until smooth.
- Make the cake batter by combining all of the cake ingredients in a bowl and beating with an electric whisk until smooth, stopping to scrape the bowl occasionally.
- Spread half of the cake batter in the tin. Dollop the cream cheese filling over top and then spread it out as well as you can in an even layer. Finish with the remaining cake batter, spreading it evenly over top as much as possible.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cake is cooled, measure all of the frosting ingredients into a bowl and beat together with an electric whisk until smooth and spreadable. Spread this mixture over top of the cake.
- Cut into squares to serve. Delicious!
Fudge Brownies. Everyone has their favorite brownie recipe and I am no different. My favorite recipe is my Fudge Walnut Brownies, which I have been baking for years and years. You can find that recipe here.
It is the brownie recipe that I used to bake for my children and it is the brownie recipe that used to be often requested when I worked at the Manor. It is quite simply the best chewy fudge brownie recipe going.
Its just not practical for me to bake a whole pan of brownies these days. As a singleton living on my own, I cannot be trusted with that many brownies! Far too dangerous!
I decided to work at downsizing my recipe so that it made a much smaller amount. The end result is this small-batch fudgy brownie recipe. Built for only two or one as it were.
These are dense and moist, rich and chocolatey. Just what a perfect brownie should be. I have eaten many a brownie in my day, and I declare these perfect.
I have my own ideas about what constitutes a really good brownie. I am always surprised when I see people cooking brownies and declaring them perfect when they are only a mass of sludge and goo.
A good brownie should not be a mass of sludge and goo. You should be able to totally pick up a good brownie in your hands.
Yes, they should be dense and fudgy. Moist and rich. Never runny or under-cooked. You should not ever need a spoon to eat one.
I had occasion to attend a cookery show in London one time. As an invited guest I was asked to bring in a recipe that I had cooked at home. There were several celebrity chef's in this particular show.
The Tanner Brothers and Paul Rankin. There was also a celebrity guest. Vanessa Phelps. One of the things they cooked was brownies. They actually had a brownie bake-off and I have to say, in all honesty I could have taught them a thing or two about baking brownies!
All of their brownies were the absolute worst brownies I have ever seen or tasted. They were masses of gooey chocolate sludge. Maybe it is just impossible to bake a good brownie in the time that they had to bake them in.
But I was singularly un-impressed. Totally disappointed. Surely they could do better than that, and if they didn't have enough time, they would have been much better served to have baked something which could be done properly in the time alloted.
This brownie recipe of mine always turns out. ALWAYS! Each and every time you are assured of the perfect brownie. So long as you follow my instructions. Even this small batch recipe.
One thing to remember when making brownies is to not overmix them. Once you have the chocolate melted and the sugar, eggs, etc. stirred in, you simply need to fold in the flour.
Make sure, of course, that no streaks of white flour remain in the batter. But don't overmix by any stretch. This will result in a tough brownie.
Also don't over-bake them. Not unless you want a more cake-like finish to your brownie. Overbaking is as huge a no-no as is under-baking them.
As you can see, these are lovely and dense. Not cake-like. Not gooey or oozy. Extremely fudgy. I did not add walnuts to these like I normally do.
Instead I opted to sprinkle a few mini chocolate chips on top. You could always fold in some chocolate chips/chunks and toasted nuts, if that is the way you enjoy your brownies.
Perfectly cooked brownies will have a shiny, glossy surface, and these did. I dusted them with icing sugar for photography purposes.
The truth is dark things, chocolate things, etc. never photograph really well. The camera does not like them. Adding something like a dusting of icing sugar helps them to photograph a lot better.
I hope you will forgive me for that. 😉
If you would like to check out all of my brownie recipes, you can find them here. You will need to scroll back through the pages, but not a problem if you like brownies I can assure you.
There is quite a variety to choose from. And I can assure you every one of them is delicious, a tried and true, perfect bake.
In the meantime, if you are looking for smaller sized, brownie perfection, you have come to the right place. Enjoy!
This content (written and photograph) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
Fudgy Brownies
Yield: makes 8
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 Min
I small batched my favorite brownie recipe to make the perfect size for the smaller family. These are rich, fudgy and delicious. Moist and chewy. Take care not to overbake.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 ounces (100g) good quality semi sweet chocolate chips (scant 2/3 cup)
- 4 TBS butter, cut in four pieces
- 1 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder (not chocolate drink mix)
- 1/2 cup + 2 TBS (120g) sugar
- 1 large free range egg, plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (70g) all purpose plain flour
- a small handful of mini chocolate chips to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4.
- Line an 8 1/2 inch by 4 1/2 inch loaf tin with some aluminum foil, using two sheets of foil placed perpendicular to each other in the tin, and pushing it firmly into the corners. Leave an overhang in order to better lift the baked brownies out. Butter the foil really well.
- Melt the chocolate chips and butter together over medium low heat in a saucepan. whisking until melted and smoothly amalgamated. Whisk in the cocoa powder. Leave to cool to lukewarm.
- Whisk in the sugar, salt, egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract to combine. Fold in the flour.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it out to the corners and smoothing over the top. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips evenly over all.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs attached. Rotate the pan halfway through the bake time. The surface will be shiny when done.
- Leave to cool completely in the pan. (I leave them overnight so I can cut them neater.)
- Remove from the pan and peel off the foil. Cut into rectangles or squares to serve.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes:
- These can be baked in a 9 X 5 inch loaf tin, but will be done about 5 minutes sooner.
- Take care not to overbake or your brownies will be more cake-like rather than fudgy.
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