Dulce de Leche Brownies

I have been wanting to try a new brownie and last night I had a chocolate craving so I did a quick Google search and found these babies.  The idea of Dulce de Leche and brownies—one of my favorite things—is   just too too too much to handle.  These brownies look so fudgylicious.  The recipe is from David Lebovitz (the original recipe was modified to make it suitable for my kitchen and meet my taste), so you know is going to be out of this world.

If you aren’t familiar with Dulce de Leche, it is basically caramel, like caramelized sweetened condensed milk which I can eat straight out of the can J. It can be found on the isle of your supermarket near the Mexican (or South American) ingredients, but you can also make your own.   Earlier I’ve posted the recipe of Dulce de Leche which I made myself.  You must bake these brownies, you must!  You are missing out on the greatest brownies if you don’t and I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on something so good.

The Dulce de Leche brownies are very easy to make, given that the only variation between them and standard brownies is the swirl.  The swirl, however, adds just enough extra ‘wow’ to take these brownies from good to great.  The brownies are fudgy and rich, without being too dense or heavy.  The caramel adds a little extra moistness and a little extra fudginess to the areas touched by the swirl.  The sweetness of the caramel also stands out against the chocolate background.

If you want to emphasize its flavor a little more, you could add a little bit more Dulce de Leche, but I’d suggest making an ice cream sundae with Dulce de Leche brownies (like I did), as the brownies might be a little bit too fudgy if you are overgenerous with the amount of caramel in the swirl.

 

Basically, Dulce de Leche brownies are perfect on their own, but I went all out and added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and extra drizzle of Dulce de Leche  for an extra special dessert.  I devoured my brownies and licked the Dulce de Leche off my plates J.

For recipe in Indonesia click HERE

Ingredients:

·         8 tbsp (115 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

·         6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

·         ¼ cup (25 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

·         3 large eggs

·         1 cup (200 g) sugar

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         1 cup (120 g) flour

·         1 cup (100 g) toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)

·         1 cup Dulce de Leche (or Cajeta)

·         Vanilla ice cream and additional Dulce de Leche for serving (optional)

Directions:

1.       Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Line a 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with a long sheet of aluminum foil that covers the bottom and reaches up the sides.  Grease the bottom and sides of the foil with a bit of butter or non-stick spray.

2.       In a large saucepan (or you can use microwave), melt butter and chocolate pieces over medium-low heat until smooth.  Remove from heat and whisk in sugar and cocoa powder until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition.  Add salt and vanilla.  Fold in flour until just combined.  Mix in the nuts, if using.

3.       Pour half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan.  Drop ½ of the Dulce de Leche, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter, then drag a knife through to swirl it slightly.  Spread the remaining brownie batter over,  then scoop the remaining Dulce de Leche in a small clumps over the surface of the brownie batter.  Swirl slightly with abutter knife.

4.       Bake for 35-45 minutes.  The brownies are done when the center feels just slightly firm or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes our almost clean.  Allow to cool completely before slicing.

5.       Cut the brownies into squares and serve.  Top with ice cream and extra Dulce de Leche, if desired.

Notes:

ü  These brownies actually become better the second day, and will keep well for up to 3 days.

ü  The Dulce de Leche can be made up to a week ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.  If you’ve made it beforehand and stored it in the refrigerator, you can warm it in the microwave for about  20-30 seconds to make it smooth enough to stir (it will still be thick)

Bahasa Indonesia
Bahan:

·         8 sdm (115 g) mentega tawar, potong kotak-kotak

·         6 ons (170 g) coklat masak bittersweet atau semisweet, cincang kasar

·         ¼ cup (25 g) coklat bubuk Dutch-process

·         3 butir telur

·         1 cup (200 g) gula

·         1 sdt ekstrak vanila

·         1 cup (120 g) terigu

·         1 cup (100 g) kacang walnut atau pecan, panggang, cincang kasar (optional)

·         1 cup Dulce de Leche (atau Cajeta)

·         Es krim vanilla dan Dulce de Leche tambahan (optional)

Cara:

1.       Panaskan oven dengan suhu 350 derajat F (175 C).  Siapkan loyang ukuran 8x8-inch  (atau bisa juga ukuran 9x13 inch) yang telah dialasi kertas roti atau aluminum foil. Olesi dengan minyak, sisihkan.

2.       Lelehkan mentega dan potongan coklat di atas api kecil-sedang.  (Bisa juga dilelehkan dengan menggunakan microwave).  Angkat.  Segera tambahkan gula pasir dan bubuk coklat,  aduk rata. Tambahkan telur satu per satu, aduk  hingga bercampur.   Tambahkan garam dan ekstrak vanilla. Ketika adonan mulai kental dan mengilap, masukkan terigu dan aduk hanya sampai terigu bercampur. Tambahkan kacang-kacangan, jika menggunakan.

3.       Tuang setengah adonan brownies ke dalam loyang.  Tuang juga setengan Dulce de Leche di atas adonan brownies, ratakan, lalu buat pola dengan mengunakan pisau mentega atau tusuk gigi dan jaga jangan sampai Dulce de Leche mengendap.  Tuang kembali dengan sisa adonan brownies, ratakan sampai Dulce de Leche tertutup adonan.  Terakhir tuang kembali sisa Dulce de Leche di atas permukaan adonan brownies.  Buat pola melingkar (atau sesuai selera) dengan menggunakan pisau mentega atau tusuk gigi.

4.       Panggang selama 35-45 menit dan lakukan tes tusuk.  Pemanggangan selesai jika pada tes tusuk hampir tidak ada adonan yang menempel.  Biarkan dingin sebelum dipotong.  Jika perlu, masukkan ke dalam freezer selama 10 menit untuk mendapatkan irisan yang rapi.

5.       Potong brownies bentuk persegi (atau kotak).  Sajikan dengan es krim dan tuang  Dulce de Leche di atasnya, jika suka.

Catatan:

ü  Brownies ini akan semakin nikmat disantap pada hari berikutnya, dan dapat disimpan selama 3 hari pada suhu ruang.

ü  Dulce de Leche dapat dibuat seminggu sebelumnya dan disimpan di dalam lemari pendingin.  Hangatkan dengan microwave selama 20-3- detik sebelum digunakan agar lebih mudah diaduk.