Ina Garten’s alternative to a boxed brownie mix has been getting rave reviews for years. Why?
Her “brownie pudding” isn’t really a pudding, but rather a brownie that’s really gooey on the inside, with a crisp crust. You’d compare it more to a molten chocolate lava cake than a traditional brownie.
To make this showstopping but fairly simple recipe, you need good-quality cocoa powder, flour, eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla and a surprise ingredient: raspberry liqueur.
You bake the batter in a water bath to get the brownie pudding to be crisp on the top layer and gooey inside. Beating the eggs and sugar with a stand mixer until the mixture is thick and light yellow adds extra air and moisture.
A writer for The Kitchn raved about the brownie pudding recipe after trying it but recommends you add a pinch of salt to lessen the sweetness — and serve your slices with vanilla ice cream. She also substituted cassis (black currant liqueur) for the framboise (raspberry) liqueur when she couldn’t find the latter.
In her Food Network tutorial making the brownie pudding recipe, Garten talks about making brownies for her husband Jeffrey for years, going back to when she was 16 and he was 18. He would share them with his friends.
“I think he would become the most popular guy in his dorm when they arrived,” she said.
She emphasizes the importance of using butter in the recipe and scrapes a whole vanilla bean for her vanilla component. (The Kitchn found that if you don’t want to splurge on whole vanilla beans, vanilla extract or vanilla paste worked just as well.)
You can watch the Barefoot Contessa make the dessert here:
Garten also has a recipe for a gooey brownie cooked in a skillet that you might want to try out if you like the idea of her “brownie pudding.”
Do you prefer your brownies crispy, chewy, or gooey like this brownie pudding?
This article originally appeared on Simplemost and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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The best drinking chocolates you can buy
If hot cocoa is a crowd-pleasing cocktail, drinking chocolate is a shot of whiskey on the rocks. While both can be a delightful treat on chilly days, drinking chocolate (also known as sipping chocolate) is the stripped-down version, an intense concoction of melted chocolate and hot water or milk. Hot cocoa, in contrast, combines cocoa powder, sugar and milk (and sometimes vanilla or other flavorings) for a thinner beverage that’s sweeter and less chocolatey.
For chocolate lovers, especially dark chocolate aficionados, drinking chocolate provides a better opportunity to fully appreciate the chocolate itself, especially the nuanced flavors and terroir of bean-to-bar craft chocolate. Here are seven bean-to-bar drinking chocolates you need to sip this winter.
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At 60%, the classic drinking chocolate from Arkansas-based chocolate makers Markham & Fitz has the lowest cacao percentage on this list, which makes it a perfect foray into drinking chocolate for milk chocolate lovers. Made with ethically sourced, single-origin Columbia chocolate, it has notes of molasses and caramel.
For those who prefer a darker drinking chocolate, the company also produces a 75% dark drinking chocolate made with Haitian cacao for a brownie-like flavor profile with hints of dried figs and cinnamon.
markhamandfitz.com
Cincinnati-based Maverick Chocolate Co.’s drinking chocolate has a lower cacao percentage (65%) than most drinking chocolates on the market. However, this provides more of a balance between the chocolate flavor and the sugar content, which makes it more accessible for newcomers to drinking chocolate and a good fit for those who like a bit more sweetness. The direct-trade, organic cacao beans are sourced from Ecuador and Tanzania.
maverickchocolate.com
Michigan-based Mindo Chocolate Makers crafts an Ecuadorian drinking chocolate made from single-origin, organic, shade-grown Nacional cocoa beans, a rare heirloom variety valued for its floral aroma and complex flavor profile. At 77% dark chocolate, this drinking chocolate has less sugar and a more intense chocolate flavor than most drinking chocolates. Unusually, it also includes cocoa powder.
“Cocoa powder is one of the key ingredients of our drinking chocolate,” says founder and owner Barbara Wilson. “We are one of the very few companies who hand-press our own cocoa powder at low temperatures, so it has a more amazing flavor than most cocoa powder.”
mindochocolate.com
Founded in 2010, Virginia-based Potomac Chocolate was the first bean-to-bar chocolate maker in the Washington, D.C. metro area. The company’s 70% dark drinking chocolate is made with a blend of organic cacao sourced from Peru and the Dominican Republic for a deep, traditional chocolate flavor with notes of red fruits.
potomacchocolate.com
Utah-based Ritual Chocolate offers a trio of drinking chocolates highlighting different chocolate regions across the globe. Coming in at 70% chocolate, the Madagascar drinking chocolate is a “gateway chocolate for non-believers,” thanks to the lush citrus notes. The Ecuador drinking chocolate (also 70%) is made from cacao fermented with unique methods that lend an extra-rich chocolate flavor.
Dark chocolate devotees should try the 75% Belize drinking chocolate, which is made from cacao sourced from Mayan farmers in Belize’s Toledo region. Thanks to the area’s unusual heirloom cacao varieties, the resulting chocolate has an interesting balance of fruity, nutty and earthy flavors.
ritualchocolate.com
Portland, Oregon’s Woodblock Chocolate crafts a drinking chocolate made with their 70% chocolate. The signature double-origin blend utilizes cacao from Ecuador, which lends notes of cinnamon, and Peru, which provides caramel and vanilla flavors.
In addition to cow’s milk, Woodblock recommends combining their drinking chocolate with a variety of different liquids, including nut milk, oat milk, coconut water and a combination of coffee and milk.
woodblockchocolate.com
Xocolatl Chocolate, an Atlanta-based chocolate maker, won the 2018 Academy of Chocolate Bronze Award for their single-origin Nicaraguan drinking chocolate. The company’s cacao is grown with sustainable farming practices and is sourced directly from individual farmers, cooperatives and values-driven enterprises.
Originating in the central highlands of Nicaragua, an up-and-coming chocolate-producing region, the cacao has a lightly floral, mild cocoa flavor, with notes of black tea and dried dates.
This article originally appeared on TheChocolateProfessor and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
xocolatlchocolate.com
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