Thursday, February 26, 2009

Oscar (party) worthy brownies!

What could be more red carpet worthy than Triple Chocolate Raspberry Brownies? (Well, probably a few things, but we'll go with this. Much more affordable than an evening gown. And tasty too!)

I went with a box mix for the main brownie portion, mainly due to time constraint reasons. I promise one of these days I won't be wimpy/lazy and will make something from scratch. Maybe.

This mix had chocolate chips in the batter. (Chocolate count - 1).

To this mix I added a little less than 1/2 cup of raspberry jam (sans-seeds) and 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips (Chocolate count - 2). Yes, I measured. It made me feel more official.

Ready for the oven, brownies?
You may have noticed the parchment paper surrounding the brownies. We'll call this a lesson in listening to directions in their entirety. While watching the Food Network, a helpful hint was given to put parchment paper down so the brownies can be easily and gracefully lifted from the pan. The directions said to grease the pan, then the parchment paper on top of the pan.

"But why do I have to grease both?"
"I'm sure that is a skip-able step"

This could be why I am a kitchenphobe, and not a skilled chef.

Needless to say, I am sure you can predict the end of my tale. But we're not there yet, let's continue the pictures for a moment, from during a happier, less stuck time. Ohhh, she gave it away.

Check out that smooth, slightly marbled surface. Ooooh. Ahhh. 
As you have probably come to realize, I am a girl full of ideas. Some of them aren't too shabby. Remember now, we're making triple chocolate brownies. I decided that the last chocolate would be represented in dark chocolate curls gracing the surface of the brownies. 

This actually worked according to plan!!!
In order to keep the dark chocolate curls (oh yes, chocolate count - 3) from wandering about the surface of the brownies, I heated up a bit of the raspberry jam until it was smooth and liquidy, then spread a thin layer on top of the brownies. Quickly, I sprinkled the chocolate curls on top. 

Close-up on the curls
As I'm sure you have predicted, the challenge came when removing the brownies from their parchment paper nest. More brownie than I would have liked stayed on the paper, but I did get the correct number of brownies out of the pan, so that is a good thing. Lesson learned: grease your pan. And your parchment paper. And anything else your brownies may get stuck to. 

All's well that ends well, and the rescued brownies were received with open arms and open mouths. 

No comments: