Coffee Chocolate Brownies

Its Tuesday, and even though Mondays is when you drink a lot of coffee, Tuesday for me is the day where i’m totally into my work and drink even more coffee! So what better way to substitute a cup of coffee (or compliment one!) with some coffee dark chocolate brownies topped with some dark chocolate ganache! I say YUM!

Here’s how you bake them!

INGREDIENTS

Coffee Chocolate Brownies –

150 g unsalted butter, cut into large pieces
170g dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup dark coffee, preferably espresso – Cooled!
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted

Ganache (optional) –

150g Dark chocolate
150ml cream

METHOD

Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang on all sides. Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, and whisk in sugar. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add the coffee, and whisk until combined. Whisk in cocoa and salt. Fold in flour until combined.
Pour batter into pan. Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift brownies from pan using parchment. Remove parchment and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Ganache (optional) –
1. Pour the cream into a small saucepan and place it over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Keep an eye on the cream — it’s not necessary to boil or simmer it. It just needs to get hot. The cream is ready when you can place a finger in the cream and keep it there for 3 to 4 seconds. Turn off the flame and remove the cream from the stove.
2. Put the chocolate into the cream. Stir gently to distribute the chocolate through the cream and then let it sit for a few minutes to give the chocolate time to soften and melt.
3. With a spatula or wooden spoon, stir the ganache. At first it might look spotty and broken but keep stirring until it comes together in a creamy mass.
4. Cool the ganache until it is thick, but still soft, and then beat in a stand mixer or with a hand held mixer, until the ganache is fluffy and has lightened in color, about 1 or 2 minutes.
Then spread the ganache onto the cooled brownies, and slice into squares. And Voila! There you have it! You’re decadent coffee chocolate brownies!

Enjoy!