Brownie with Chocolate and Coffee Cream
Something sweet for the weekend. A mountain of chocolate. The base is a dense, chocolatey brownie, and the cream is fine, glossy and sweeter than the base. Both components are good on their own, so you can use them in other recipes/combinations.
Ingredients
Brownie
180 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
90 g high-fat butter
3 eggs
200 g sugar
50 g flour
15 g cocoa powder
25 ml strong espresso
1 pinch of salt
Chocolate coffee cream
150 g bittersweet chocolate (50% cocoa)
130 g milk chocolate (33% cocoa)
4 egg yolks
30 g sugar
150 ml heavy cream
150 ml milk
40 ml strong espresso
1 gelatin sheet (1.5 g)
How to prepare brownie with chocolate and coffee cream
- Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. When completely melted, start adding the butter cubes in several batches, mixing after each batch until completely melted. Remove from the steam.
- Beat the eggs with the sugar until it dissolves. Add the mixture to the melted chocolate (after checking that it's no longer hot, just warm; if too hot, let it sit for 5-10 minutes). Add warm or room temperature espresso.
- Sift the flour with cocoa and salt and fold into the mixture above with a wide spatula. In the end you'll get a glossy mixture, like lava, that tends to pull away from the edges of the bowl.
- Pour the mixture into a round pan 18-20 cm in diameter (lined on the bottom with parchment paper and greased with butter on the sides if you know your pan tends to stick). Level it out.
- Bake the brownie at 170°C for 30-35 minutes, when you insert a toothpick in the center it should come out just slightly dirty with batter. So the center should be slightly soft when you take it out of the oven.
- Let the brownie cool completely.
- For the cream, put both types of chocolate (finely chopped with a knife or if using chips add them directly) in a bowl.
- Put the gelatin sheet in cold water to soften.
- Beat the egg yolks with the sugar using a mixer until the sugar dissolves and you get a pale yellow cream.
- Heat the cream, milk and espresso. Pour in a thin stream over the egg cream while stirring constantly with a whisk. When done, put the saucepan over low heat and continue stirring with the whisk until you feel it thickening slightly, becoming viscous (like a vanilla sauce; if you have a thermometer the temperature should reach 82°C). It doesn't take long, about 2 minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat and pour the mixture over the chocolate. Starting from the center, stir gently until it melts completely. Then, with the whisk, continue stirring more vigorously until the color becomes uniform and the mixture smooth.
- Drain the gelatin well and add it to the still warm mixture. Stir until it dissolves.
- Let the cream cool down, then put it in the refrigerator for several hours (minimum 6), until it sets.
- Put the cream in a pastry bag and decorate as in the photo or as you wish.
- Store in the refrigerator, covered. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
