I played another round of “what-can-I-make-from-things-in-my-cupboards” last night. I actually have a market about 3 blocks from my house, so playing this game is pretty unnecessary. But I had already been to the store in the morning when I realized my cats were out of food and I refuse to go the store twice in one day. As it is I think I am there every other day. So I played my favorite kitchen game. When I spied a couple of squares of unsweetend chocolate, a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips and another handful of milk chocolate chips I knew that I wanted to make brownies.
One of the (many) things that I love about chocolate is that it pairs so well with so many other flavors. Peanut butter, citrus, fleur del sel, raspberry, cinnamon, caramel – the possibilities are almost endless. I won’t even try to pick a favorite. But a chocolate combination that I adore is chocolate mint. Classic. It reminds of being a kid and on the rare occasion that my parents would take my brother and I to the ice cream parlor and I would without fail, always, always get mint-chocolate chip.
So I made chocolate-mint brownies.
Chocolate-Mint Brownies
makes 16 ********** Brownie layer 1/2 cup butter2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon creme de menthe syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Mint Layer 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon creme de menthe syrup
1 tablespoon milk Chocolate layer 2 tablespoons 1/2 and 1/2 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature **********
Melt chocolate and 1/2 cup butter in double boiler. Set aside to cool.
In stand mixer, beat sugar and eggs until very light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes.
Add chocolate, flour, creme de menthe and vanilla extract.
Mix until just blended.
Pour into foil-lined 8x8x2 glass pan. Spread evenly and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool slightly.
For the mint layer:
Beat sugar, butter, creme de menthe syrup and milk until smooth, about 3 minutes.
Spread over baked brownies. Let stand until set, about an hour.
Chocolate layer:
Heat 1/2 and 1/2 over low heat until simmering.
Take off heat and whisk in chocolate until melted.
Whisk in butter.
Transfer chocolate mixture to a ziploc bag (or piping bag) and snip corner of bag and pipe chocolate over mint layer.
Let stand until set, about an hour.
I’d say I won this battle of Meleah v. the kitchen cupboard.
Puck and Kudzu 