Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies



Great news, my croissants turned out wonderful yesterday! I'm very happy with the results, I can't wait to post my crumb-cut shots to show everyone the interiors. I'm still going to do a 4th batch of laminated dough tomorrow because I want to try something a little different with the yeast before I do the final write up.

Bad news, the little Humble is feeling under the weather so I am not going to post the napoleons today. The write up for that recipe is going to be rather lengthy and I'm not sure I can spare that much time at the computer. So I've decided to post the quickest of dishes I have lined up: Mascarpone Brownies.

Oh and more bad news (for me), my brand new ice cream maker broke last night. The first time I used it! The moment I turned it on the inner paddle snapped. I am quite annoyed.

Though it was probably my fault. I added my ice cream mixture to the frozen bowl, turned on the machine and realized it wasn't plugged in. Then I fiddled with getting the cable out of the machine's underbelly, removing the manufacturer's plastic and zip tie, plugged it in and turned it on. This took about a minute or two and in that brief time the cream mixture froze to the sides of the bowl, creating a dense mass that snapped my paddle like a twig.

I really hate flimsy plastic components. I'm going to have Mr. Humble bring home another machine today, as I am craving a homemade batch of coconut ice cream with lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves.



So these mascarpone brownies. They're a little different but quite good. Mr. Humble gave them his stamp of approval and he is big brownie fanatic. They differ from a typical brownie in that they have a fine crumb and a lighter, almost cake like texture. They are still very moist and extremely fudgy, so they're worthy of being called a brownie.

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies
adapted from recipezaar.com
1 cup unsalted butter
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder (extra-dark, dutch processed cocoa is best)
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, softened
3 large eggs, at room-temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325°F and prepare a 8-9" square pan with a little nonstick spray and line the bottom with parchment.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Once melted add the chocolate to the sauce pan and pull off the heat. Give the pan a little jiggle to submerge the chocolate and then allow to stand for a minute then stir until smooth.

Sift the cocoa powder into the chocolate mixture and then add the sugar and salt, mix well and set aside.

In your stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the mascarpone, eggs, and vanilla on medium speed until smooth. Pour the butter and chocolate mixture into the mixing bowl and mix until no streaks remain.

Remove the bowl from your mixer and gently fold the flour into the batter. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and spread evenly with an offset spatula.

Bake the brownies for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Place the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Once cool you can top with the chocolate ganache.

Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tablespoons whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Place chopped chocolate into a heat safe bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer over medium heat. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for a minute then stir until smooth.

Once smooth, add the butter one tablespoon at a time stirring until completely melted.

Run a knife around the outside of the brownies to release from the pan then invert onto a cutting board or serving platter. Remove the parchment and pour the ganache onto the brownies, spreading evenly with a spatula.

Allow the ganache to set up before cutting (this will take a few hours at room temperature, you can speed this along by popping them into the fridge) and enjoy.


33 comments:

  1. I like the last step in the recipe the best.

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  2. Looks scrumptious, as if everything else you make. I love mascarpone cheese. If something calls for cream cheese, if I think it can be done, I'll switch it out for Mascarpone. Like the forsting on cinnamon rolls.

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  3. "I am craving a homemade batch of coconut ice cream with lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves."

    How odd. So am I.

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  4. These brownies are going on my "to try list" immediately! They sound delish. Your phots are really amazing. Hope lil Humble feels better soon.

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  5. I've never tried anything with mascarpone cheese but I look forward to trying these brownies. But, how do you cut them so perfectly? What's your secret?

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  6. Yup - you're right on why the paddle snapped - in fact, the motor and paddle should be running before you add the mixture, then you'll be scraping just as soon as any starts to freeze to the bowl.

    Hope the little humble is feeling better.

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  7. Little Humble is sleeping off a huge berry smoothie, she seems to be feeling better now.

    Curtis,

    No secret. Though, I do get to use some fierce sharp knives in my kitchen (an amazing set of Global knives, thanks to Mother Humble).

    Kathy,

    Yea, I was just too excited about being able to make ice cream again and in my haste destroyed yet another appliance. Someone should make a special Ms. Humble ice cream maker with a tungsten paddle so I can abuse it in my haste for creamy treats.

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  8. This is so funny, I just couldn't wait for you to post this recipe. so yesterday I took the recipezaar version and tried tarting it up on my own.

    I increased the chocolate to 4 oz. but didn't increase the sugar. And I added a half tablespoon of instant espresso powder to punch up the chocolate intensity. Now I'm wondering if I should have upped the sugar too.

    I also increased the ganache ingredients by 33%, but used half semisweet, half 60% dark because I didn't buy enough semisweet and had 60% dark lurking in my pantry. I hate having miscellaneous and lonely squares of chocolate lying around.

    My spoilsport of a husband took one bite and declared he couldn't eat anymore, they were just too much. Oh well, more for me.

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  9. It's times like these I wish I could reach through my computer screen and grab a brownie! They look AWESOME. Om nom nom, indeed!

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  10. Just when I think I've tried enough brownie recipes! These look just amazing. One more I'm going to have to try.

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  11. Those brownies are SEXY. I'm not even a big brownie fan but anything with mascarpone is awesome as far as I'm concerned so I'm bookmarking this.

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  12. I'm with Curtis - these are the best-cut brownies I've ever seen.

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  13. Gorrrrgeous! I agree with Anna above about recipes w/ mascarpone!

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  14. You have the most perfect photos. Wow. The brownies are cut perfectly, and the icing looks amazing. I hope things work out with the ice cream maker! I'm looking forward to new ice cream flavors.

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  15. As usual, what you cook is really tasty!!!!

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  16. Wow, these look so rich and decadent! I have heard that using mascarpone in brownies is just to die for so I think I'm definitely going to be giving this recipe a try-YUM!

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  17. Bummer that your machine broke like that! I hope the next one works out better for you so I can see that ice cream!
    These brownies look lovely!

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  18. wow, these are some of the most elegant brownies I've ever seen!

    Sucks about the ice cream maker, I wish it were easy to replace the flimsy plastic bits but it doesn't seem to be!

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  19. tell me, how did you get that cut so clean? it's perfect almost as if frozen :) good job. hehe.

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  20. Looks like a treasure...gold bar perhaps. :-)

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  21. I made them today. Oh dear! They are very intense but i love them!

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  22. Okay I think you painted these because they look SO perfect. Really, I am not a big brownie fan but these totally grabbed my attention. Bravo!

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  23. I made these a few months ago - they are SO rich and so delicious :)

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  24. I made these for my boyfriend's birthday on Saturday night and people loved them! I didn't have enough time to include the ganache, and my supermarket only had coffee-flavored mascarpone, but they were super rich and totally worth making. I have enough ingredients to make these again, so I'll do that tonight and include the ganache this time. Thanks for posting!

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  25. I made these yesterday and they are absolutely divine :)

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  26. coconut ice cream with lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves... did you ever make this? it sounds absolutely amazing, I'd love the recipe.

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  27. I did, however I found the flavor of the toasted coconut a little too overpowering. It was just too, toasty.

    I'm planning on reworking the recipe sometime in the future. Instead of using toasted coconut to flavor the cream, I'm going to use coconut milk or coconut cream, then flavor it with an infusion of kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass.

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  28. Best brownie I've ever ate or baked! Thank for the recipe.

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  29. These Brownies are simply beautiful. i wish i could just go through the screen and have one. Definitely one to try. Thanks for the post.

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  30. Those look like the best brownies in the world, I will have to make these at some point.

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