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Sunday, January 29, 2012

"Knock You Naked" Brownies


"Knock You Naked" Brownies, cleverly named by the one and only, Pioneer Woman

Wow... I cannot begin to describe how incredibly scrambled I feel at this moment. You see, I JUST took the brownies out of the oven to shoot 15 minutes to go and have got less than an hour to churn out this post to meet the deadline! @_@

So, I've been looking forward to participate in this event called the "Sweet Adventures Blog Hop" after being inspired by all the marvellous entries by fellow bloggers since the beginning of the event. For all of you unfamiliar with this event, it's basically a fun way for bloggers all around to share a food that they've created based on the theme of that month.

For last month's Christmas edition of the blog hop, I had it all planned out way early on and knew exactly what I wanted to make. Been looking forward to it for so long. Even went out to buy all the ingredients and kitchen utensils JUST to make that dessert. Unfortunately, when the day came for me to make that dessert for a Christmas dinner our family was hosting, I fell incredibly ill. Was bedridden for 4 days and unable to eat anything but porridge that whole length of time. Sad, I was...

THAT'S WHY, I am super rushed but I'm determined to finally get my entry in after all my hard work. KYAAAAAAAAA!!!


So when it came to this month's blog hop, themed: Death by Chocolate, I knew it would be a fun one to do. It was actually my upon my brother's request that I make brownies for him. And the first place I went to look for a recipe was, The Pioneer Woman's website, no questions asked. I knew that this woman would be THE place to go to if I wanted easy, delicious yet creative recipe ideas. Also, she's known to be a bit naughty, naughty when it comes to Chocolates or Butter, which is sorta fitting towards this month's theme, no? And the moment I read the title of the post, "Knock You Naked" Brownies, I was sold.

What's great about this brownie recipe is that it was a layer of caramel + choc chips in between. BUT, I couldn't find any caramels here in KK so decided to make a Butterscotch Sauce, which I've made in the past for a Sticky Date Pudding dessert instead. The sauce was absolutely delicious and I knew would make a great substitute, maybe even better, than the original caramel sauce.

Anyway, the addition of Butterscotch Sauce + Choc Chips in the middle does give this, otherwise plain brownies, so much more character. Definitely slightly more on the rich and fudgey side, if that's yerr thang. But, again, the theme is DEATH by chocolate lol. I enjoyed the piece that I had and can't wait to go back for another one after dinner. This time, with a nice cold glass of milk by my side to wash it down. Bliss...

Hope you enjoy, and GONG XI FA CHAI to all you wonderful people out there who's celebrating Chinese New Year today. Am sure you're all eating too much for your own good so keep it up!


Cheers,
Wince =)


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"Knock You Naked" Brownies
(adapted from this recipe by The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:

1 box German Chocolate Cake Mix *
1 cup finely chopped nuts
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
Butterscotch sauce (see below)
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Powdered sugar/melted white choc for decor

* I used Betty Crocker brand


Method:

Preheat oven to 180degC. Prepare the Butterscotch Sauce with the recipe below, set aside. In a large bowl, pour the cake mix and chopped nuts in. Create a well in the middle and pour in the melted butter. Stir the mixture from the middle. Halfway through, mix in the evaporated milk in the middle as well and stir through until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.



Press half the mixture into a well-greased/lined 20cm square baking pan. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

Pour in the butterscotch sauce and sprinkle all the chocolate chips on top until even. Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Using a spatula, form a large square approximately the size of the 20cm tray. Then, remove from surface and set on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.


Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature. To decorate, either generously sift powdered sugar or, like me, melt some white chocolate in the microwave and pipe them loosely all over the surface. Enjoy =)



Butterscotch Sauce
(taken from this recipe by Hunger Hunger)

Ingredients:

4 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
large pinch of salt

Method:

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir with a wooden spoon. Stir frequently over low heat, 3 to 5 minutes. Be sure to get the sugar that's sticking to the sides of the pot. When sugar caramelises, it will bubble, turn out more liquid and look like thick sand.

Add all the cream and use a whisk to stir once in a while over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Remove from stove and let cool.


Whisk in half the vanilla extract and salt, taste and add more to taste.


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