Hot Fudge Sauce

If you have tried my Ultimate Brownie you know that it stands alone as a delicious dessert. But if you want to take it further, just add some vanilla ice cream and some amazing Hot Fudge Sauce! Here is the recipe for my favorite. If you lived in the New York area and are old enough to remember Schraffts restaurants, this should bring back some happy memories…

Hot Fudge Sauce


Ingredients:

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
⅓ cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup light corn syrup
⅔ cup heavy cream
¼ teaspoon salt
6 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter cut into fairly small pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Combine cocoa, sugar, corn syrup, cream, salt and half of chocolate in a 2 quart heavy saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium heat until chocolate is melted. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and add rest of chocolate and remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. Cool slightly.

Leftovers may be stored in the refrigerator for 10 days.

This sauce makes a wonderful hostess gift - just pack in a pretty jar and add a ribbon! Of course, some Ultimate Brownies along with the sauce would be even more wonderful.



Watch the video:

The Ultimate Brownie

As American as apple pie. We’ve all heard that many, many times. But apple pie is just as British as it is American - in fact, I’m sure the Brits were making it long before the Americans. In my opinion, Brownies are the All-American dessert. If you travel to Britain or France, you will see offerings of American Brownies but never American Apple Pie! So here is my recipe for what I immodestly call the Ultimate Brownie:

Ingredients:

6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces (1½ sticks)
⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1⅔ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ pound good quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
very coarsely chopped
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°. Line an 8-inch square pan with foil and butter the foil.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Off the heat, add the cocoa. Whisk until smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until blended. Add 1 egg and whisk until just blended. 

Whisk in the vanilla and the second egg until just blended. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until just blended. Add the chopped chocolate and nuts and stir until combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with small, gooey clumps of brownie sticking to it, 33 to 38 minutes. Don’t overbake or the brownies won’t be fudgy. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool completely.

Lift foil and remove brownies from pan. Remove foil and, using a sharp knife, cut into four strips then cut each strip into four squares.

Makes 16 brownies (Watch the Brownie Video below)


PS: Watch for the video on Hot Fudge Sauce!

Chocolate and Marzipan Brownies

I love marzipan!  I especially love it in these intensely chocolate brownies.  I bake them often, but right now they will be going into the Christmas cookie packages I will be delivering to friends.  I hope you enjoy them.


Chocolate Marzipan Brownies


3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
½c. butter
¾c. flour
¼ tsp. baking powder
Dash of salt
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
8 oz. marzipan

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Place chocolate and butter in a saucepan and heat over very low heat until melted. Remove from heat, stir and then set aside to cool slightly.
3. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. Stir sugar into chocolate mixture and add eggs, 1 at a time, stirring after each addition.
5. Blend in flour mixture.
6. Evenly spread ½ of the batter into a greased 8” square pan. Set aside.
7. Soften marzipan and roll out into an 8” square. This is most easily done between two sheets of waxed paper.  Place marzipan on top of batter in pan.  Spread remaining batter evenly over marzipan layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
8. Chill the brownies thoroughly before cutting into 1” squares with a serrated bread knife.
9. The brownies freeze well - in fact, I think they taste better after freezing!When the brownies are done, they will have a firm crust on top but a toothpick inserted into the center should come out wet. Do not overbake the brownies.

 Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan and slice into rectangles. These are very rich so I cut them into 1” squares so you will have over 100 brownies!

Storage: The brownies will keep at room temperature for up to three days. They can be frozen, well-wrapped, for up to two months.