"Dalmation" Brownies -- For Humans Only

For my good friend's (who also happens to be my awesome boss) birthday this year, I decided to reverse the brownie and add some flair. Now, I am not talking about a typical Blondie here. I'm talking about using high-quality white chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate as the base for these brownies. And instead of a creamy-smooth inside, I wanted to add some flavor and texture contrast. What better way to do that than to throw in some dark and milk chocolate chunks. I thought a little about the appearance of these beauties and I realized that they reminded me of a Dalmation's coat -- white with dark spots. And the "Dalmation" Brownies were born.

The base for this recipe comes from a recent King Arthur Flour catalog I got in the mail. I did change a few things, but you knew that... because that's how I roll.

They came out deliciously moist and super sweet. The nutmeg addition adds that special "je ne sais quoi" that I love to have in everything that I bake. The one thing I would watch for here is baking time. I had to cover the pan with foil for the second half of the baking time, as I didn't want to brown the top edges too much, but wanted the center to fully bake. Keep an eye on these brownies, though, because baking time may vary. Mine took about an hour, but my oven is wack... so they may take anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes in a fully-functional oven :-).

Enjoy!

"Dalamation" Brownies (White Chocolate Brownies with Dark & Milk Chocolate Chunks)
(makes about 16 small brownies)

1 cup chopped or chunks of white chocolate (I like Guittard or Scharffen Berger here)
1/4 cup (2 oz. or 1/2 stick) butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 T vanilla extract
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 cups AP flour
~1 cup milk chocolate chunks/chips
~1 cup semi/bitter sweet chunks/chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8 or 9 inch square baking pan. Set aside.
   
2. Place the white chocolate, butter and sugar in a metal bowl set over simmering water. Once the butten has melted and the chocolate gets soft, remove the bowl from the pan of simmering water (wiping the moisture from the bottom). Add the salt, nutmeg and vanilla.Whisk until smooth and set a aside to cool until it's lukewarm.
   
3. Beat the eggs in the bowl of your stand mixer until airy, light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and baking powder together. Slowly add to the egg & chocolate mixture.
   
4. Mix in the chocolate chunks/chips until just combined. Pour/spoon the batter into the greased baking pan and bake for about 45 minutes. Check at 30 minutes, just to be sure. It may take up to an hour, but cover with aluminum foil for the last 15-30 mins to avoid overbrowning the top -- so that the stubborn middle cooks all the way through.

Source: Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Devil's Food Belongs in Heaven

For a friends birthday, I whipped up some amazing Devil's Food Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. I'm not going to lie, I think these are the best cupcakes I've ever made.

Although I like frosting on my cupcakes, I do not like too much -- it's a fine line, I know. But I really hate it when a cupcake is all super sugary frosting -- you don't get to taste the actual cake! (In this case, the cake is too good to miss!). The cream cheese-based frosting I used here doesn't have too much sugar because I wanted to keep a little of that tang. You get a strong peanut butter punch, followed by that delicious cream cheese flavor. If you like a super sweet frosting, feel free to add more powdered sugar to taste. (The recipe follows the cupcake one below, so read on!)

If  you bake these, I would love to hear what you think. Happy baking everyone!

For the Devil's Food Cupcakes:
(makes about 24 cupcakes)
1/2 cup (4 oz.) butter
1 1/2 cups cake flour (I used 1c. cake flour + 1/2 cup AP flour to add a little more body to the cakes)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup coffee (I used instant espresso to make it strong)
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I use Valrhona cocoa powder -- well worth the $$)
1 cup reg. sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 muffin pans (or bake 2 batches if you only have one tin) with cupcake liners of  your choice. I love to use pretty foil ones when I am baking gifts, so that's what I used here. 
2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk or sift and set aside. In another medium bowl, whisk the coffee and cocoa powder until smooth; set coffee mixture aside.Cream butter and sugars until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Alternately add the flour mixture and the coffee mixture, beating to combine after each addition. Try not to overmix.
3. Measure or scoop the batter into each liner so that they are filled no more than halfway (cupcakes will rise quite a bit).
4. Bake until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

For the Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 8oz. package cream cheese
1/2 cup (generous) peanut butter (I love Skippy Creamy PB)
1 t vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 T whole milk or half and half

Method:

1. Beat cream cheese until soft.
2. Add peanut butter and vanilla. 
3. Add the powdered sugar and milk alternately.
4. Beat on high until smooth and fluffy. You may have to stop and scrape down the sides of your mixture to get any stray sugar or cream cheese clumps. If the frosting is still too thick, feel free to add more milk, 1 T at a time.
5. Frost as desired! (I like to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes using a pastry bag and either a plain, round tip or a french tip).

The cupcakes can be kept at room temperature for a few hours, but anything beyond that, they should be refrigerated.
(Cupcake recipe is adapted from Saveur).