Saturday, June 16, 2012

My One Year Blogisversary and the Most Decadent Brownie Ever!

Happy 1st Blogisversary to Me!

But I have a little secret.

Even though today is technically the one year anniversary of Per L'Amore Di Cibo, it's actually the one year anniversary of the first time I hit "publish". You see I typed up my first blog post in February 2011, but never published the post. I didn't like the way my layout looked, I had no other recipes to post and honestly, I really didn't have a clue about blogging. Now I'm not saying I'm the food blogging guru - there's definitely and always room for improvement but I can say that I'm happy with the progress I've made so far.


It's been a big year all around and I'm using this blogisversary as a moment to reflect on things in my own life as well. Times like this remind me of the saying from Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, "The days are long, but the years are short." I can't tell you how many times I've thought that to be true over the past year. Remember that for yourself as well, no matter how tough things are or impossible they seem always remember that a long day eventually turns into a quickly passing year. Days will come and go and eventually all problems will work themselves out. Always remember that anything and I mean anything is possible if you believe it to be. I recently came across a quote from Aristotle that I feel so strongly about and want to share with you all:

"What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do."


So whatever it is that is standing in your way, no matter how big or small believe you can surpass it. Say a pray, write it down, tell a friend, make a promise to yourself - whatever it is you need to do to help you believe that anything is possible do it.

So that's my moral and hopefully compelling post for the day. Now onto the good stuff!



For my blogisversary I wanted to make something really, really good and decadent and rich, something that everyone else would probably say was too much or over the top. If that's what you think when you read this then I know I've succeeded here.

The base for this recipe is any brownie batter you prefer. I chose to use the Baked Brownie recipe for this brownie because it's so decadent and rich. But really, you could use any brown recipe you wanted, even a box mix and this recipe will still come out just as rich.

The Most Decadent Brownie Ever
Yield: 24 Brownies

Prep Time: 20 minutes     I     Bake Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • Brownie Batter (any kind you prefer or use the recipe at the bottom)
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup Philadelphia Milk Chocolate Indulgence
  • 2 tablespoons Baileys
  • 2 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the brownie batter as directed below and add in the Baileys. The flavor will add a richness to the recipe much like adding coffee to it would. Take your brownie patter and pour half of it into a 9x13 lined with parchment paper leaving some overlapping the edges so you can easily lift the brownies out of the pan later.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips all over the top of the batter and then spoon dollops of the cream cheese all over the brownie batter. 

Next top off the mixture with the rest of the brownie batter and put into the oven baking for approximately 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

While the brownies are in the oven mix together the remaining ingredients to form the frosting. Once the brownies are removed from the oven let them cool completely and then frost them. I think they taste best with a nice, tall glass of cold milk.




The Baked Brownie
Yield: 24 brownies
Prep Time: 15 minutes     I     Bake Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 11 ounces dark chocolate broken into pieces
  • 1 cup butter cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (minus both sugars) and set aside.

In a separate bowl combine the chocolate and butter and put in the microwave or over a double boiler and cook until fully melted, add the sugar to the mix and whisk until they are full combined.

Let the mixture come down to room temperature and add 3 of the eggs to the chocolate mixture whisking until fully incorporated and then add in the final 2 eggs whisking continually. Add in the vanilla and stir into the mixture careful not to over beat it.

Start to add the flour mixture to the chocolate slowly using a rubber spatula to fold it into the mix until the flour is mixed in fully.






2 comments:

Julie @ Sugarfoot Eats said...

Happy Blogiversary!

Anita at Hungry Couple said...

Happy blogiversary and pass me a glass of milk for that brownie! :)