Pip's Plate

There was a sweet black hole in the bistro that was sucking all the sugar, sweetness, and happy thoughts from everything around it. Upon further inspection, this sweet black hole was chocolate peanut butter brownies. Delicious, moist, and rich. Don’t spend too much time figuring out the meaning of this sweet black hole or you will be all-consumed, never to return from glorious chocolate heaven.

These brownies could only get better in one way: they are super easy to make. Thank you, Trader Joe’s for your high quality, no scary ingredient box mixes! You better cut these into small pieces or you will need a gallon of milk to wash away the sumptuous chocolate and peanut butter.

Sweet Black Hole Brownies
Makes 8x8x2 pan

Ingredients
1 box Trader Joe’s Truffle Brownie Mix
1 stick of unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 container Trader Joe’s mini chocolate peanut butter cups

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Melt 1 stick of butter in a glass bowl in the microwave for about 1 minute or until creamy. Add 2 large eggs and mix with the butter. Add entire package of Trader’s Joe’s Truffle Brownie Mix into the butter and eggs – combine until completely mixed. Add 1/2 container of Trader Joe’s mini chocolate peanut butter cups.

3. Pour batter into an 8x8x2 pan and bake for 25 minutes.

4. After 25 minutes in the oven, remove the brownies from the oven and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 container of Trader Joe’s mini chocolate peanut butter cups over the top. Return to oven for another 3-4 minutes or until the chocolate peanut butter cups are soft.

5. Remove the brownies from the oven and, using an offset spatula, spread the melted peanut butter cups over the top of the brownies to cover the top. This is the frosting.

A friend of mine had a birthday last week and as part of my baking ventures this year, I decided to go conceptual again (after the wildly successful Spam cake). There’s a back story about he and his brother’s saying the word “bounty” in a low, deep voice that makes it too hard not to laugh.

Either way, I came up with what I thought to be a hilarious birthday cake concept: a pirate and his bounty of treasures! How perfect, right? And then! I come to find out that the special saying of the word “bounty” came out of Pirates of the Caribbean. Who knew? And how perfect!

I found a recipe on bettycrocker.com for Pirate’s Hidden Treasure cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter cups inside. YUM! But mostly I liked the decorating, so I used parts of that recipe. The actual cake and frosting recipe is a mix of 2 other recipes too. I’ve made the cupcakes and the frosting before, but I’ll include the recipes here just in case (since this recipe is a conglomeration of 3 recipes).

continue reading for the recipe

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Outrageous is such a mediocre adjective to describe just how killer these brownies are! Several coworkers said they were the best brownies they’ve had in years. But seriously – how can you go wrong with 1 pound of butter and 2 pounds of chocolate!?

These brownies are easy to make, and they’re excellent the next day.

This is adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) on Food Network’s website. Wait a minute – did I just say I adapted a BAKING recipe? What is happening to me? I do believe this is the first baking recipe I’ve hacked/riffed/made my own. And it was successful!

Outrageous Brownies with Caramel

makes: jelly roll pan (12×17)

prep time: about 30 min

bake time: 30 min

1 pound butter

8 oz unsweetened chocolate (the better quality chocolate, the better the brownies)

2 bags 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips – divided (the better quality the chocolate, the better the brownies)

7 large eggs

3 T instant espresso powder

2 T real vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour – divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup for chips)

1 T baking poweder

1 t kosher salt

10 oz caramel (I used vanilla flavored and it was excellent)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a jelly roll pan (12×17″) with butter. You can dust the pan with flour, but I don’t like how it makes the brownies white on the bottom so I use loose cocoa powder instead.

Melt together the 1 pound of butter, 8 oz of unsweetened chocolate, and one 12 oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips on top of a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, just boil about 3 inches of water in a sauce pan and place a glass or metal bowl (with the butter and chocolate) on top of the pan with boiling water. This will keep the chocolate from burning.

Once the butter and chocolate is melted, cool slightly. Stir together eggs, espresso, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the remaining 12 oz bag of chocolate chips with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Add to the chocolate batter and pour into the prepared pan.

Warm the caramel in a microwave for 20-30 seconds just so it’s soft and a little oozy. Pour evenly over the brownie mixture. Take a knife and “cut” the caramel into the brownies. Do this by cutting vertically and horizontally through the entire pan. It will create a nice swirl pattern that looks elegant once baked.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Cool thoroughly. You can refrigerate if you like, but just wrapping with plastic wrap is sufficient.

For some reason I’ve made chocolate cake and cupcakes 3 times in the last couple weeks. I know I said I would start baking more this year, but is this getting out of hand? I know several people who would adamantly disagree with that last statement.

I like chocolate just as much as the next person, but I love baking with chocolate. Stop the presses…I just said “I love baking…” is this really happening? Sweet.

I was vacationing up north (Two Harbors, MN) this past weekend and it just so happened that two of the friends with were celebrating birthdays. And what do they like? Cupcakes. Chocoloate cupcakes. Lots and lots of cupcakes.

My friend and I essentially made homemade Hostess cakes. Oh yeah they were good.

Pictured above are the Cream-Filled Devil’s Food Cake cupcakes for the birthday boys.

As for the cake that I made the following night…I felt like making chocolate cupcakes a couple weeks ago. And they turned out pretty good with the exception of my complete and utter lack to successfully make that buttercream frosting. Never fear, I found the one that I made 4 years ago (that’s right, 4 years ago) that worked!

When I remade this chocolate cake with the new frosting, I added chocolate ganache topping…oh yeah. I love chocolate ganache like a nervous tic I can’t get rid of.

A friend and coworker has changed jobs and his last day was yesterday so I baked him this chocolate cake. It was pretty darn good.

In fact, I should quote another friend:

“Your cake is sick… by that I mean phat…or dope…”

You get the idea.

So make this cake. It’s easy and it’s fun to get a lot of stuff like flour and cocoa all over the kitchen and yourself.

Recipes after the jump…

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