Mascarpone Brownies

So, apparently I cannot pronounce nor spell “mascarpone”. I figured this out because my blog came up second in hits when I searched for that word. And this blog isn’t that popular. No, it came up, because I’ve been spelling it “marscapone”, and that’s wrong. Go me and multiple misspellings while posting. Perhaps I should run spell check more often…

Also, this is the second brownie recipe in a row that I have posted. What can I say? I love brownies. I think brownies are pretty high up on my list of delicious baked goods. And these brownies? Decadent. These brownies are the inaugural baked good of the new house, so decadent seemed to be in order. So, without further ado…

MaScaRpone Brownies (woo woo for correct spelling!)

adapted from The Kitchn

For the Brownies

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the Ganache

• 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate
• 6 Tbsp whipping cream
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter

This recipe is a breeze to make. And since we don’t have air conditioning in our house, a breeze is just what we needed. But onto the recipe…

To make the brownies:

Preheat the oven to 325º.

Melt the butter in the microwave (because that is easiest). Finely chop the chocolate and mix it into the melted butter until it is melted.  It was suggested numorous times to use the best quality chocolate you can find. Usually that is what is in my cupboard, but for these puppies, I went all out and bought some Varlhona chocolate bars.

Add the sugar to the chocolate and butter and mix until combined. Stick it back into the trusty microwave for 30 seconds.

Add the mascarpone, eggs, and vanilla to this and mix until smooth. It took me a while, but I got all the lumps out.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt together and mix into the wet ingredients. Just mix unti they are all combined.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8×8 baking pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool. While the brownies are cooling, it’s a good time to whip up that ganache.

For the Ganache

Heat the butter and the cream in the microwave until the butter is melted. Finely chop the chocolate and stir into the butter and cream until melted and smooth.

Pour the ganache over the brownies. I stuck mine in the fridge to let the ganache set (since it’s 83º in my house and it didn’t seem like it would work on the counter). Once set, remove from the pan (I just ran a knife along the edges and the whole thing popped right out). Slice into bite-sized squares. Because these are rich, and one bite might be enough.