Tiramisu Caramel Brownies

Hi everyone,

Today I brought you the recipe of an easy to make, yet quite fancy looking and absolutely indulgent dessert in which chocolate plays a major part.

A rich creamy coffee enriched brownie base topped with tiramisu, joined together with a decadent boozy caramel cream. Need I say more? 

Ingredients:

Quantities given are enough for an approximately 22 x 30 cm rectangular mold, save for the caramel sauce. Please note that you'll end up with lot more caramel sauce than the amount specifically needed for this recipe. In my experience, it is simply not possible to make small quantities of that. Good news is that it may be kept in the fridge for at least 2 weeks and it can be used for so many things (on ice cream, pancakes, sweet bread).

For the whiskey caramel sauce

• 300 g sugar
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 150 g cream
• 40 g butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 50 ml whiskey *

*If you make it for kids, simply omit the alcohol.

 For the brownie:

• 250 g dark chocolate
• 250 g butter
• 100 g caster sugar
• 100 g brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 120 g all-purpose flour
• 10 g instant coffee
• 35 g cocoa powder
• 1/3 teaspoon salt

 For the tiramisu:

• ladyfingers (20 pieces approximately)
• 2 tablespoons instant coffee
• 130 ml hot water
• 500 g mascarpone
• 250 g double cream
• 40 g powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• cocoa powder for dusting

Utensils:

• digital scale
• bowls
• saucepan
• stand mixer with whisk attachment
• 22x30 cm rectangular mold (should be at least 6 cm deep)
• sieve
• spatula

I struggled for a long time to get my caramels right, I usually had lumps in it or I partly burnt it and I still had non-dissolved sugar at the same time. Something almost always went wrong, but all my caramel issues finished when I tried the wet caramel method. Truly foolproof.

Place sugar, water and lemon juice into a deep saucepan and start warming it at medium heat. 

Sugar will gradually dissolve, then - amid some vivid bubbling - it changes its color to amber. Best thing? Just watch, don’t do anything else. Stirring is strictly prohibited. If you cannot resist you may turn the saucepan by holding the handle once or twice.

The important thing is to pay close attention and remove the saucepan from the heat in time. 

Beware, after it gets golden yellow it reaches amber color (what we are looking for) in no time, and unfortunately a little furter on, it gets burnt in no time. It is always better to remove the saucepan from the heat somewhat earlier than a bit later than the ideal time. 

Remove from the heat, add cream (some serious bubbling action will take place, be prepared), salt, butter and whiskey.

Combine with a spoon. Wait till it cools to room temp then pour into a jar and place into the fridge to thicken.

Preheat the oven to 175° Celsius.

Gently melt chocolate and butter together in a double boiler. Remove from the heat and wait till it cools to room temperature.

Place eggs into the mixing bowl of the stand mixer and whisk at high speed adding sugar spoon by spoon until light and fluffy.

Add the chocolate mixture and combine. 

Sieve together dry ingredients: flour, salt, granulated coffee and cocoa powder. Mix.

Add one third of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix and add the other two thirds. Make sure it is fully combined.

Line the mold with parchment paper. Do not cut the overhanging parts, these will work as handles when removing the cake from the mold.

Pour in the batter, spread in an even layer, then place in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.

Pour double cream into the mixing bowl and whip until stiff peaks form.

Remove whipped cream into another bowl.

Dump mascarpone into the mixing bowl (no need to clean after making whipped cream) and mix at high speed, add sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt and keep whisking until it becomes softer and lighter.

Loosen with the whipped cream: add one third of the whipped cream into the mascarpone and mix vigorously then fold in the rest. 

Before you start assembling the cake, make sure that the brownie is totally cold. Spreading mascarpone cream on a warm brownie would definitely melt the cream.

Place coffee granules into a bowl or box that is big enough for the ladyfingers into but not too big. Pour hot water and dissolve.

Gather the brownie base (still in the mold), caramel sauce, ladyfingers and mascarpone cream.

Pour 3-5 tablespoons of caramel sauce on the brownie, then add a bit of mascarpone and spread it in a thin (3-5 mm) layer on top.

Place ladyfingers one by one on a fork, lower them into the coffee and remove almost immediately, or else they get totally soaked. Line them one by one on top of the first layer of mascarpone cream. Spoon the rest of the cream over, spread evenly and place the cake into the fridge for at least 4 hours (or overnight). 

By holding the overhanging parchment, lift the cake out of the mold and gently pull the paper off the sides.

Dust the top with cocoa powder, cut the edges straight and cut into squares. 

For true hedonist, drizzle some extra caramel on top of the cake when serving. Or under, as in the photo. Or both 😊