I am going to apologize in advance for this post, because once you taste these brownies you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONTROL YOURSELF.
These brownies are to die for. I must warn you: if you don’t give them away (or freeze them) you will probably eat the whole batch yourself. But I just can’t keep this great recipe all to myself, I have to share it with you.
The Sweet &and Salty Brownie is apparently one of the most requested items at a well-know bakery in New York called Baked. Baked also has two cookbooks published and this recipe is a variation on one from the latest cookbook: Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented.
The brownies are a rich, delicious, dense, moist dark chocolate brownie infused with a tangy, creamy homemade fleur de sel salted caramel sauce, then topped with more delicate fleur de sel and sugar (and there is plenty of caramel sauce left over for drizzling over the baked brownies). The perfect mix of chocolate, sweet and salty.
So if these drool-inducing photos have you licking the screen please read on to see how you can make them for yourself. You can find the entire recipe here.
Caramel Sauce: Start by making the caramel sauce so that it can cool and thicken up a bit. In a medium saucepan mix together the sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water.
Cook over medium high heat until an instant read thermometer reads 350 degrees, the caramel should be a nice dark amber color. Remove from heat and stir in the cream and the fleur de sel. Whisk in the sour cream and set aside to cool.
Topping: Mix together 1 1/2 teaspoons fleur de sel and 1 teaspoon coarse sugar (i used raw sugar). Set aside.
Brownie: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9″ x 13″ pan with parchment paper. Spray with Pam and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder (i used a dark dutch process cocoa powder) and set aside.
In a heat proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt together the chocolate (i used a bittersweet chocolate) and butter until smooth and combined.
Turn off the heat and add the sugars, whisking until combined. Set bowl aside until the mixture is room temperature.
Add the three of the eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining two eggs and whisk until just combined. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
Do not over mix or the brownies will be cakey instead of dense and rich. Using a spatula, fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until combined.
Assemble: Pour half the brownie batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.
Drizzle around 3/4 of a cup of the caramel sauce over the batter and smooth with a spatula. Don’t let the caramel come in contact with the edges of the pan or it may burn.
Scoop heaping spoonfuls of the rest of the batter over the caramel sauce and smooth with a spatula, covering the caramel layer.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out with only a few crumbs attached. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the topping of sugar and salt.
Let brownies cool completely before cutting. I let the brownies cool and then refrigerated them until they were completely cool and very firm before cutting. Serve with leftover caramel sauce!
These brownies make a terrific gift. Cut the brownies then wrap each one individually in plastic wrap and place in a wax paper lined tin. Add a ribbon and tag. The recipient will love you!
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