Bacon Salted Caramel Brownies, and Spring

April 10, 2011 § Leave a comment

I wrote an impromptu haiku about spring. (This is from a deep, dark place where I momentarily lost myself in tax forms and sanity. ;))

spring, transitions and

change, but worst of all taxes.

thank you, turbo tax

—-

BACON SALTED CARAMEL BROWNIES. what?!

I know at first glance this seems like a terribly odd combination. Perhaps you even groaned an “ew”, which I can completely understand because I thought the same thing! That is, until I actually tried my bacon-inspired dessert for the first time at Dessert Truck, which is now called Dessert Truck Works. Their Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with Bacon Custard Sauce was so sinfully delightful, I wanted to try my hand at something similar. Lo and behold, I found an amazing recipe on Savour-Fare and I knew I had to try it! I made a few adjustments, noted below, and this was a really delectable treat. They are really indulgent, so I suggest cutting them into super tiny squares and sharing them with your friends or coworkers.

Recipe: Bacon Salted Caramel Brownies

Summary: Adapted from David Lebovitz and Savour Fare

Ingredients

2 slices bacon
1/2 c. heavy creamv
3/4 c. sugar
6 T. butter
1/2 tsp salt

For the brownies:

8 T butter, cut into pieces
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 large eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. flour

Instructions

In a small saucepan, fry two slices of bacon until crisp (I find it’s easiest to do this when the bacon is cut in half). Remove bacon, set aside, reserving bacongrease in the pan. Eat the bacon. Add cream to hot pan and let cool.
In a larger pan, heat the sugar over high heat until the mixture is liquid and a deep amber color. Add the butter and the cooled bacon cream all at once, and stir until the butter is melted. Let mixture cool thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8 inch square pan with two sheets of aluminum foil that covers the bottom and sides of the pan. Grease the foil with butter or a little Baker’s Joy.

In a large microwaveable bowl, melt the butter and the chocolate together on a double boiler on the stove. Be careful to never let the water be hotter than simmering and don’t let the bottom of your bowl touch the water. Add the cocoa and whisk until smooth, then add in the eggs, one at a time, and the sugar, vanilla and finally the flour. Stir only until combined.

Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan. Then drop about a third of thebacon caramel, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter in the pan. It doesn’t have to cover the whole batter, but should be in splotches. Spread the remaining brownie batter over the top, then drop spoonfuls of the remaining caramel sauce over the top of the brownies and swirl.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, but err on the side of underbaking. Remove from the oven and cool completely. The caramel will be pretty gooey still, so you might want to wait to cut these until just prior to serving, and/or store in the refrigerator.
Cut into small pieces and enjoy the gooey, salted caramel bacon goodness.

my golden hour