Day 20 - Brownies

Well so much for doing a bunch of spring cleaning around the house. My days are not my own this week so I kind of give up on the cleaning until next week. My grandmother has a cold so I had to take some medication over to her, took my father out to lunch, and then finished my nephews first 1st Birthday cake. I have 2 more to make for Sunday. I did up a buttercream image of Mickey Mouse for his cake, and I must say it looked pretty good. The best part was watching him eat it. This kid does not like to get dirty, so he was leaning in to eat it with just his mouth until his daddy brought him a spoon. He has a nice sugar rush before bed. Tomorrow I have to go out and pick up the final items for his other 2 cakes, 1 for him and 1 for everyone else, and then start working at it. I thought with being off, I could get my baking done in the morning and have my posts up earlier....Guess not.

Today is Brownies. I don't think I have ever had a bad brownie, maybe ones that were too sweet or chewy, but not bad. Rather than doing a regular milk or dark chocolate brownie, I wanted to think a little outside the box. So I finally decided on a white chocolate brownie. There are so many things you can add to a good white brownie recipe; any chocolate chip, nuts, dried berries (especially cranberries), a little jam swirl, etc. White chocolate is such a great flavour to work with because it's not sweet, it's a nice smooth flavour that can hold its own or be paired.

White Chocolate Brownies

2 sticks butter
10 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Chocolate chips, nuts (optional)


Preheat oven to 325º. Grease 9 x 13 pan.

Over low heat, melt butter and chocolate, stirring frequently till melted and smooth. . Stir in sugar, then eggs and vanilla. Add four, salt and any optional chocolate chips or nuts. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, till the top is slightly golden...be careful not to over-bake. Cool to room temperature, then chill for 3 hours. Cut and serve.

Melt butter and chocolate together until smooth.

Whisk in sugar until combined.

Beat in eggs and vanilla when mixture has cooled a bit.

The mixture will not be smooth at this point, so do not over mix. Just until combined.

Mix in flour until well combined.

Pour mixture into prepared pan. You can sprinkle anything you wish on top or leave plain.

Here it is, nice and golden brown. I will add a picture of it cut tomorrow, just because of how long they need to cool.

Tips:

Let the sugar mixture cool a bit before adding eggs, the eggs will cook and scramble if added to a mixture that is too hot



What better for white chocolate brownies, than white chocolate stilettos. They even have a bow on the back.

As I mentioned I made a cake for my nephew. Here it is. It is a 2 layer vanilla cake with buttercream icing. I did a frozen butter cream Mickey Mouse that thaws and becomes part of the cake afterwards. I love it, it is a brand new technique for me to use and I can't wait to do it again :).

10 Days left and over 400 hits, I would really love to get to 500 before this is over. I want to thank everyone who has viewed my blog and helped me along with it, whether you were encouraging, a taste tester or one of my biggest fans, I love you all. If you know anyone who is interested in baking or just blogs in general please pass on my link. I love looking at my audience and seeing new countries light up on my map. Also please don't hesitate to leave a comment, whether it's pro, con, ideas, tips, or whatever. I love hearing from people.

Happy Baking!

Sey