Gentlemen’s Brownies with Scotch-Infused Frosting

February 16th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments
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Gentleman's Brownies

The other day, The Angry Chef headed into the city for his monthly cigar night. I wanted to make something extra special for him and his buddies, who are some of the nicest guys I know.

Mmmm

These brownies are rich, dense, and extra chocolate-y from melted chocolate and cocoa powder.

Gentlemen's Brownies

Their texture is creamy, almost bordering on fudge.

Gentlemen's BrowniesA drizzle of Johnnie Walker Black and brewed espresso balance out the sweetness. They’re filled with a scotch-infused take on my tangy, old-fashioned cream cheese frosting.

Serve with a glass of scotch or a cup of fresh expresso.

Gentlemen’s Brownies

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
8 Tbls. butter, softened (that’s 1 stick)
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 Tbls. brewed espresso, room temperature or cold
2 Tbls. Johnnie Walker Black, or other scotch you like
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
spray oil

Scotch-Infused Frosting

1 recipe old-fashioned cream cheese icing
2 Tbls. scotch

Bake in either an 8 x 10 or a 7 x 11 pan

Gentlemen’s Brownies: Prep your pan

Don’t skip this step. Seriously. It only takes a minute, and it will help really your brownies come out of the pan easily.

Spray your pan lightly with oil. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan. Press the paper in place. Spritz with oil lightly again. See how to do this step-by-step on this post. You want your pan to look about like this.

Prep your pan

Set your pan aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Gentlemen’s Brownies: Chop & melt the chocolate

Grab your chocolate. I used Baker’s Chocolate, but by all means use any bittersweet chocolate you like.

Chop your chocolate up

With a knife, break the chocolate up into small-ish pieces.

Chop your chocolate up

Chop your chocolate up

Fill a pot with an inch or two of water. Set it on the stove over high heat. Bring it to a boil. When it’s boiling, drop the heat to low and set a large, heat-proof bowl on top of the pot of water. Put your chopped chocolate in the bowl.

Melt the chocolate

Stir the chocolate with a spatula. It should start to melt almost immediately.

Melt the chocolate

Stir until the chocolate is completely melted.

Melt the chocolate

When it’s melted, remove the bowl from the stove. Set it aside to cool while you start the brownie batter.

Gentlemen’s Brownies: Make the brownie batter

Put the softened butter and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl if you’re using a hand-held mixer).

Butter + sugar

Mix on medium-high to cream the butter and sugar together.

Cream the butter + sugar

You want to create a uniform mixture that’s light and fluffy looking, like this:

butter + sugar

Crack in the eggs.

Add the eggs

Add the eggs

Mix on medium-high until well combined. (Start the mixer on low and gradually speed it up, so your egg doesn’t fly everywhere.)

Mix in the eggs

They should look about like this:

Mix in the eggs

Pour in the espresso and the scotch.

Toss in the scotch

Mix to incorporate. Then toss in the flour and cocoa powder. (If you like, sift the two together in a separate bowl before adding to your mixing bowl. For this recipe, I don’t find it makes a lot of difference, so I skip it.)

Add the cocoa and flour

Mix just to combine.

Mix to combine

Pour in the melted chocolate. It’s OK if it’s warm, you just don’t want it to be hot (or you risk literally scrambling the eggs in your mixing bowl).

In goes the chocolate

Mix on high to combine for maybe 30 seconds or so. Without overbeating it, you want the batter to look about like this.

Brownie batter!

It will be stiff, and have a texture resembling chocolate mousse.

Brownie batter!

Pour out into your prepared pan. Smooth down with a spatula to even out the surface.

Into the pan

Smooth down the batter

Gentlemen’s Brownies: Bake the brownies

Pop the pan into your preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. When they’re done, they’ll have a lovely even brown color, like this.

Hot out of the oven

When you insert a toothpick halfway between the side and the middle of the pan, it should come out clean. (This time, do this in the place indicated, not in the center.)

Test for doneness

Your toothpick should have just a few crumbs clinging to it, like this:

Done!

If your toothpick is gooey, stick the pan back in the oven for a few minutes, then test again.

Gentlemen’s Brownies: Cool and fill with frosting

Now, you can stop right here. These brownies are great on their own. Cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before cutting. If you’re going to fill them with frosting, cool them to room temperature.

Gentlemen's Brownies

If you’re going to fill them with frosting, whip up a batch of my Old-Fashioned Cream-Cheese Frosting.

Cream cheese frosting

When the frosting is done, add the scotch. (If you wanted a different flavor frosting, this is where you’d add it in.)

Add the scotch to the frosting

Beat it ’til it’s well combined.

Beat the frosting

When your brownies are cool to room temperature, cut into squares.

Mmmm

Split your brownies in half, like this:

Fill with frosting

Fill the brownie

Drop a spoonful of frosting onto one side.

Add the frosting

Smoosh the frosting down a little so it covers most of the brownie.

Fill the brownie

Top with the other half of the brownie. Don’t press down too hard.

Top with the other brownie

Voila!

Filled brownie!

Set it aside on a plate or sheet pan. Repeat with the rest of the brownies.

Fill them all!

When they’re all filled, pop the brownies in the fridge for a few hours to firm up the filling.

Serve and enjoy!



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