Salted caramel swirl brownies

I got this massive salted caramel Easter egg by Hotel Chocolat as an Easter gift, from a website I write for and I am in love with salted caramel. I mean initially I couldn't figure the saltiness, but a couple of bites later and I knew what the hype was all about. I went around in search of ready made salted caramel in some of the gourmet shops in London, but no luck there. Hell I couldn't even get my hands on some Fleur de Sel which is apparently a major ingredient in salted caramel. I could have picked it up online, but Ro not being a fan of anything caramel, butterscotch etc. made me wonder if it was worth spending that much money on sea salt.

Usually I would just shrug and say, oh then I shall just forget about salted caramel and not be tempted to make a batch on my own. Yes, that way I am a disgrace to the food blogger community. If I can buy something easily, I usually just do that without the thought making it at home. If it involves more than a couple of steps, then I just shrug and say, 'oh ok I don't think I'm that desperate to have xyz.'. Not what you had in mind about a food blogger right? Well, I am the lazy, blogging-only-so-I-can-take-pics kinda blogger with no qualms whatsoever in trying out ready made sauces, meals, mixes and hell, even whipped cream :)

But this time, I had other plans. I decided to make salted caramel at home (pat on the back for that). It was an easy peacy task and one that required no specific skill set. I keep digging into the caramel on and off and even use it as a spread on croissants and such for brekky. It is also perfect to gift friends and family. Do up a pretty little jar with labels and all the works and send it away with all the love (next Christmas I'll definitely do it!!!)

 

So since I had a jar of salted caramel ready, I decided to make use of it in every way possible (other than of course digging into it for a sugar rush after meals). Brownies were first on my mind and went around scouting the internet for recipes. I didn't come across many, so I just decided to adapt David Lebovitz's Dulce de Leche brownie recipe and make these salted caramel swirl brownies. It was a great idea because (I officially hate DdL now) caramel and chocolate is a match made in heaven. You bite into the absolutely chocolatey brownie and then reach the slightly sticky salted caramel centre and  there is no looking back. I also used the salted caramel for a fabulous brioche bread pudding (recipe to follow) which is on my dessert list the next time I have people over. Yes! it's that goooooood (cant stress it enough).

On another note, I don't know what happened while the brownies were baking, but my oven suddenly made this rattling sound and just conked. Thankfully the brownies were already done and Ro claims the caramel exploded inside the oven causing it to break down. I would just consider that as a dramatic proposition, since he wasn't too happy seeing the caramel swirls on the brownie. I halved the recipe because I wasn't sure how it would turn out, and now I'm kicking myself for not having baked more, especially since I'm oven-less for a while. I'm already having withdrawals

Recipe adapted/ halved from here

Unsalted butter- 4 tbsp/ 58 gms

Dark chocolate- 3 oz/ 85 gms, finely chopped

Cocoa powder- 13 gms (Dutch processed)

Eggs- 2 small

Sugar- 1/2 cup/ 100 gms

Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Plain flour- 1/2 cup/ 70 gms)

Salted caramel sauce- 1/4 cup (recipe follows)

 

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Reduce heat to low and add the chopped chocolate pieces into it. Stir until melted

Take the pan off fire and stir in the cocoa powder, followed by eggs, beating well after each addition.

In goes the sugar and vanilla extract, stir to combine.

Finally fold in the flour, making sure the batter is thoroughly mixed with no traces of flour.

Line a small baking pan with baking paper and pour half of the batter into it. Even it out with a spatula.

Drop spoonfuls of the salted caramel at intervals and run a knife through to create a swirling pattern (like how you would do for a marble cake)

Top with the remaining brownie batter and even that out as well.

Add the remaining salted caramel and follow the same swirling procedure as before.

Bake in an oven preheated at 175C for about 25 to 20 minutes or till a skewer comes out clean (more or less).

Cool on a wire rack after which you can slice them and store in a container at room temperature for about 2 days or in the refrigerator for a week.

 

Notes: If you don't want the salted caramel to be over powering, then don't do the middle layer, just do the swirling effect on the top layer alone.

Using salted butter is fine, in which case, reduce the salt in the salted caramel

The salted caramel will harden a bit, but that's really fine, it wont be annoyingly chewy or anything.

Under cook a bit if you want it absolutely gooey.

Add pecans or walnuts, if you prefer, to the batter after you fold in the flour.

Salted caramel sauce (makes a little less than 1 cup. Recipe adapted from here)

 

Granulated sugar- 1/2 cup

Water- 1 1/2 tbsp

Unsalted butter- 3 tbsp

Double cream- 1/4 cup

Sea salt- 3/4 tsp

Heat together the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan. Stir to help the sugar dissolve but stop once it comes to a boil. You can swirl it around a bit if you want.

When all the sugar has melted and the colour become a deep amber add the butter. It will foam up a bit so stand back.

Whisk continuously till the butter has melted and then take it off the flame.

Whisk in the double cream (again it might foam up a bit) and then add the sea salt.

Continue whisking till the caramel is nice and smooth.

Let it completely cool and then store in clean containers which can then be stored away in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.

Just before use, warm it up a wee bit to loosen.

 

Notes: Add a dash of brandy or Baileys for that extra kick.

Add Fleur de Sel if you have any and also adjust it according to your taste. Use only half tsp if you are not too much of a salt-sweet combo fan. 

Wanna punish your husband when he's fought with you?

Then you've come to the right place...hahaha...(evil laugh)

Make this utterly delicious gooey, chewy double chocolate brownies, eat them in front of him and he'd come begging back to you...at least for the brownies :)

It will also come in handy when you can blackmail him later, saying you shall NEVER make it again, if he behaves this way ;)

Without ranting and raving much, i shall move on to the recipe, adapted from the joy of bakingwebsite. This is a very simple recipe, but yields awesome results. Now isn't that what we all want? Better outcome with less work.

Cocoa powder- 1/2 cup

Butter- 1/2 cup

Sugar- 1 cup

Egg- 2

All purpose flour- 1/4 cup

Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Bitter sweet/ Dark chocolate, broken into small pieces- 1/4 cup

Walnuts, cut into small pieces- 1/4 cup

Salt- a pinch

Pre-heat the oven to 165C. Place a baking sheet into an 8 inch brownie tin.

Place a saucepan with water and bring to boil. Simmer, place another heat-resistant cooking vessel on top of it and melt the butter and cocoa powder. Mix well and keep aside.

Add the eggs one by one, mixing well after each. Stir in the sugar and vanilla extract and mix well.

Finally add the flour, salt, walnuts and the dark chocolate pieces. Make sure you don't mix them too vigorously.

Pour the batter into the brownie tin and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for a minimum of 30 minutes. Cut them into as many pieces as you like, store in an air tight container and munch on them whenever you want or even better, warm it for 5 seconds in a microwave and serve with ice cream.

Notes: I used dark chocolate with 70 percent cocoa in it and the chocolate taste was just marvellous. We are huge fans of the bitter chocolate. But if that's not available, any milk chocolate will do..our very own Cadbury milk chocolate for example.

Walnuts are also optional. I liked the whole crunchy munchy feel.

I used self-raising flour, which worked just fine.

Make sure the brownie is cooled on a rack for as long as possible, as it is still a bit gooey when you take it out of the oven