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Red Velvet Cream Cheese Brownies

December 17, 2011 in bars

I know red velvet isn’t very holiday-ish but it’s red! And red & green mean holidays!

I’m not a huge red velvet fan but I couldn’t resist this recipe. It’s pretty much a red velvet brownie with a cheesecake layer on top. Yeah, it’s good. My husband came home while they were baking, peeked in the oven, and said – and I quote – “Eww, what is that?” But guess what!

We got down to the last brownie and he asked if I wanted to split it. When I said no, he said “Good, I wanted it all to myself!”

They’re rich and delicious and you can definitely tell that they are red velvet and not just a regular brownie. The cheesecake layer is what makes them, though. It’s sweet but not overly sweet like a frosting. The two go perfectly together!

Two years ago: Pumpkin and Peanut Butter Doggy Treats

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Brownies
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Ingredients
  • For the brownies:
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon red food coloring (gel or powder)
  • 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • For the cream cheese:
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/8 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper (or butter it generously).
  2. Melt the butter; add sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, red food coloring, and vinegar – stir to combine everything. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs; add eggs to the butter mixture slowly, whisking constantly.
  3. Fold the flour into the mixture, being careful not to overmix. Reserve 1/4 cup of batter for the top and set aside. Pour the remaining batter into the prepared baking pan.
For the cream cheese:
  1. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat cream cheese until soft. Add sugar, egg, and vanilla; beat until combined. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the brownie batter in baking pan.
  2. Dollop remaining brownie batter over the cream cheese layer. Drag a toothpick or knife through the batter to create swirls.
  3. Bake brownies for 25 – 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is set. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before cutting.

from What’s Cookin, Chicago?

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Fudgy Brownies with Mocha Buttercream (and a Starbucks Giveaway!!)

November 30, 2011 in bars

Today is the last day of November! Hooray! I posted every single day in November which means I completed NaBloPoMo for the first time ever! I had so much fun with it and kind of want to stand in my front yard and shout “I’M GOING TO BLOG EVERYDAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!”

But I’m not going to do that. (Scream in my yard or blog everyday. Don’t worry.)

Since you guys stuck with me through all the posts and continued to comment even though I know you’re sick of me, I have an amazing Starbucks giveaway for you!

You have to read about my brownies first though.

Coffee and chocolate were obviously meant to be so I combined the two in this recipe for super rich brownies topped with a mocha buttercream. But it’s not nearly as heavy as it sounds – the buttercream is light and fluffy and was perfect on top of the fudgy brownies. I’m forever on the lookout for a rich brownie that uses cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate and I think I’ve found a winner here.

Giveaway time!! 

Starbucks sent me a bunch of coffee to “try” – and I say “try” because I kind of consider myself an expert on Starbucks coffee. I did wear the black apron for awhile, after all. ;) I love just about every roast Starbucks puts out but I especially love French Roast (included in the giveaway, y’all! Get excited!) because it’s dark and rich and perfect without anything in it. I used the Via instant packets for this recipe (House) and you can totally tell that it’s the good stuff.

For this giveaway, you get the four pounds of coffee that you see above and also 2 boxes of the Via coffee in House Blend and Breakfast Blend. I told you it was a good giveaway!

To enter:

Leave me a comment letting me know how many pounds of Starbucks Christmas blend you plan on hoarding this year! :D (Five for me, thankyouverymuch.) If you haven’t tried Christmas blend, what’s your favorite kind of coffee?

For extra entries:

“Like” Fake Ginger on Facebook! Leave me another comment letting me know you did!

Follow me on Twitter! And then leave yet another comment!

The rules:

  • Only US entries, please.
  • The giveaway will be open until Saturday, December 3 at midnight Eastern time.
  • Winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to get back to me before I have to choose another winner.
Fudgy Brownies with Mocha Buttercream (and a Starbucks Giveaway!!)
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Ingredients
  • For the brownies:
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • For the mocha buttercream:
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 1 tablespoon HOT water
  • 1 heaping teaspoon instant coffee
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
To make the brownies:
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
  2. Melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.
To make the frosting:
  1. Beat the butter until fluffy.
  2. Dissolve the instant coffee in the hot water. Add to the butter, along with the vanilla and cocoa powder. Beat until combined. Start adding powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating after each addition until it reaches the desired consistency. (You can use more powdered sugar if you prefer a stiffer buttercream.)


brownies from AllRecipes

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Project Pastry Queen: Turbo-Charged Brownies with Praline Topping

August 7, 2011 in bars, Project Pastry Queen

Brownies! These were actually my next choice for Project Pastry Queen but Tara beat me to it! I can’t believe it took this long for these guys to get chosen – who doesn’t love brownies?!

I don’t know how or why someone combined brownies and pralines but it works beautifully and these brownies were one of the richest desserts I’ve had in a very long time. The brownie is a pretty basic brownie with some instant coffee mixed in and then it’s topped with the praline mixture after baking.

If you’re interested in the recipe, go visit Tara and make sure you visit the Project Pastry Queen blogroll to see how everyone else did with the brownies.

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Cosmic Brownies

May 25, 2011 in bars

So we’re moving. Did I tell you that? Not just moving houses – moving across the country. Like, soon. And I have this huge problem. Chocolate. I have so much stinkin’ chocolate in my cabinets right now and chocolate won’t be making the cut for what’s traveling with us. So what’s a girl to do? Make brownies. Then eat those brownies so she has to make more. Because there’s still more chocolate that has to be used!

These brownies are supposed to be like the Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies which, if you’ve never had them, are amazing. They’re so much more dense than any other brownie and then they’re covered in a rich ganache before being topped with little candy pieces. This recipe is so close to the original! I do recommend actual candy pieces (even something like m&ms) because the sprinkles, while cute, just didn’t give that crunch that the original has.

Time to get back to using that chocolate! Leave me any recipes you think I should try in the comments!

Cosmic Brownies
5.0 from 1 reviews
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Ingredients
  • For the brownies:
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • For the ganache:
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 7 ounce bittersweet chocolate
  • pinch of salt
  • colorful candies or sprinkles, for decorating
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350F. Line a 13 x 9 pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, then lightly grease. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the sugars, butter and water with a whisk. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry mix into the wet stuff and stir to combine. With a rubber spatula, spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 18 minutes. Don’t over bake!
  3. Set aside on a rack to cool.
  4. While the brownies are baking, prepare the ganache: Place the chocolate in a bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the cream just to a simmer. Don’t boil it, just wait till you see little bubbles starting to form around the edges. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Sprinkle with the salt and let it all sit for a minute or so. Gently stir with a rubber spatula until all of the chocolate is melted. Whisking the heck out of it will just add air bubbles and we don’t want those. Set that aside to cool a bit.
  5. When the brownies are mostly cool, pour the ganache over and spread it evenly over the top. Sprinkle as many or as few of the candies/sprinkles over the top as you like. I cooled mine in the fridge until the ganache was set. When you’re ready to cut them into squares, lift them out with the foil and cut into the size or shape you like.


adapted from Elle’s New England Kitchen

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PPQ – Caramel-Filled Brownies

April 17, 2011 in bars

This week’s Project Pastry Queen recipe was chosen by Beth of The Powdered Plum and she chose the Caramel-Filled Brownies.

It amazes me that after all the times I’ve flipped through The Pastry Queen, I’ve never even noticed this recipe. Brownies, caramel, pecans – it’s everything I usually look for in recipes! The brownies definitely did not disappoint. They’re ooey and gooey just like brownies should be and the caramel just makes them extra gooey and delicious. They’re amazing – no, beyond amazing – right out of the oven. I’ve been heating up the oven each time I have one so that I get that fresh-baked, oozy caramel taste.

The recipe was simple but it will take longer than a typical brownie recipe. You bake half the batter, top it with the caramel sauce and the rest of the batter, then bake it the rest of the way. But it’s worth the extra effort, trust me. (I halved the recipe in an 8 x 8 pan and it worked out fine.)

Make sure you visit Beth to get the recipe and the Project Pastry Queen page to check in with the other bakers!

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