Coffee-Flavoured Cream & Meringue Brownie Dessert

[ringspells]

Here I give you a very rich dessert. Brownie base, coffee-flavoured* cream in the middle, topped with a soft meringue. (*You can use different flavourings for the cream: you can use only vanilla flavouring and skip the coffee, or you can use a different flavouring of your choice.)


Ingredients

For the Brownies:

150g dark chocolate
50g butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup soft wheat flour
1 teaspoon vanilla flavouring
extra butter and flour to cover the tray

For the Coffee-Flauvored Cream:

250 ml double cream (42% fat)
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla flavouring
4-5 teaspoons instant coffee (the stronger the coffee, the less you need)
1 teaspoon hot water

For the Meringue:

3 egg whites
6 tablespoons sugar


Equipment

1 mixing bowl
2 bowls to keep the cream and meringue in the fridge
a small pot
a bigger pot inside which the small one fits
a wooden spoon
an electric mixer (or a whisk)
a fork
a high-sided baking tray or a rectangular casserole dish (20 x 30 cm, 5cm high)
a stove burner
1 mug or cup
a teaspoon
a torch (optional)




Directions

The Brownies:

Preheat the oven to 160ºC / 320ºF.

Butter and flour the baking tray or casserole dish.

Break the chocolate into pieces, and place it in the small pot with the butter. Fill the bigger pot with hot water and place the small pot inside it, and place it on the burner on low/medium heat to melt the chocolate. Stirr occasionally with the wooden spoon.

While the chocolate melts, use the fork to mix the eggs, vanilla, sugar and flour in the mixing bowl. Once the chocolate has melted, add it to the mixture and stir it again. (You can use a fork for this; it doesn't need beating, just mix it until it's all blended nicely).

Put the mix in the baking tray/casserole dish and bake it for about 30 minutes. (I used a convection oven and it was done in 20, but it took 40 minutes in a regular oven, so check it after 20 minutes. The time also depends on how cooked you like your brownies to be; I like mine rather moist.) Stick the tip of a knife into the brownies; if it comes out dry, they're done. If the dough sticks to it, leave it a while longer and check again.

Once the brownies are cooked, take the tray out of the oven and set aside to cool. Don't cut the brownies or take them out of the tray. (You can turn off the oven, you won't be needing it again for this recipe.)


The Coffee-Flauvored Cream:

Put the instant coffee in the mug, add a teaspoon of hot water and beat energetically with the teaspoon until it's completely dissolved and you have a nice, thick liquid with no coffee specs discernible.

Put the cream in the clean mixing bowl (if you're using the same one as before, wash it first) and add the powdered sugar, the vanilla and the dissolved coffee. Whip it with the electric mixer or the whisk until peaks form when you lift the mixer/whisk. (Don't lift the mixer while it's on unless you want to have to clean cream out of the whole kitchen.)

Put it in the fridge until the brownies are cool. (If you don't have a second mixing bowl, you'll have to place the cream in another bowl or pot since you'll need the mixing bowl for the meringue).

Note: If you don't want to have so much sugar in just one dessert, you can replace the powdered sugar here with artificial sweetener. I don't know how much you'll need, though; you can slowly add some and try it before whipping until it suits your taste.


The Meringue:

Separete the egg whites from the yolks and put the whites in a mixing bowl. Using the mixer or the whisk, whip the whites. When they get foamy, but before they get too hard, keep whipping while you add the sugar in a slow rain. Whip until it's hard enough that peaks form when you lift the mixer and they don't immediately fall.

Keep it in the fridge until the brownies are cool.


Put it all together:

Once the brownies are cool, add the coffee-flavoured cream on top in an even layer, then add the meringue on top of that. If you have a torch, torch the meringue to a soft brown. (If you don't have a torch, no problem; the torching is not necessary, it just gives the dessert a slightly firmer top, but it's great either way.)


It's done! You can now eat it right away, or keep it in the fridge until serving time.


Tip: If you want to make it fancier and not put it all together in the baking tray, you can cut the brownies into squares first, and then assemble each plate, placing the brownie in the middle with a layer of cream on top and a dollop, scoop or peak of meringue over that and torch each individually.



The end result (after we ate some):

Comments

[lacey]

Oh my, that looks magnificent.

[ringspells]

Thank you! My family attacked it, it only lasted a day.

[lacey]

I bet!