Mascarpone Brownies With Frosting Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F; have ready a buttered 8-inch square glass cake pan.
• First, prepare the brownies.
• In a small saucepan, melt the butter and bring it to just below a boil; have the chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl--pour the hot butter over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds.
• Stir until chocolate is completely melted.
• Sift in the sugar and cocoa powder (I do this through a sieve, not with a sifter).
• With a wooden spoon, beat in the mascarpone, eggs (30 minutes on the counter brings them to room temperature) and vanilla, mixing until smooth.
• Gently fold the flour and salt into the batter.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly--this is important since, if the batter isn't spread evenly, it won't bake evenly.
• Place into preheated oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean (45 minutes did it for me).
• Place pan on a cooling rack and let brownies cool for 10-15 minutes, while you now make the ganache.
• Place chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl; in a small saucepan, bring the cream and the butter to just below the boiling point, over medium heat.
• Pour this hot cream-butter mixture over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds, then stir until smooth; ganache is now ready to use and can be spread over the brownies.
• Should you wish to wait a bit, make sure the ganache is warm when you spread over the brownies, as it does firm up which makes spreading hard to do.
• Don't cut into the brownies until ganache has firmed up; I find it best to put the brownies into the fridge to speed this along; once the ganache is firm the brownies do not need to be kept in the fridge, though.

Steps:

• Combine cream, mascarpone cheese, and vanilla extract in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar gradually and keep mixing until frosting is smooth and stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F and grease an 8x8 baking pan.
• In a double boiler melt butter and chocolate, stirring frequently.
• When chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined, add sugar and stir until mixture is shiny. It will still look a bit grainy.
• Remove from heat and add marscapone, vanilla, and eggs, mixing until smooth.
• Sift flour, salt and cocoa into mixture with a sieve and stir just until combined, making sure to scrape all sides of the bowl. (Mixture will be rather light in texture, instead of dense and heavy like many brownie batters).
• Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top to ensure even baking.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes until tester comes out clean.
• Use the flat end of a potato masher to lightly tamp down the surface of the brownies while they are still warm. Do not squish! Merely flatten any parts that might have raised more than others (typically the edges). This will help the ganache coat evenly. Leave in pan and set on wire rack to cool.
• About 5 minutes before your brownies are done, start making your ganache to pour over the top (which you will want to do while your brownies are still warm). In a double boiler heat butter, cream, and chocolate until melted, stirring frequently.
• Once brownies have been tamped flat and your ganache is smooth, immediately pour ganache over brownies. Let cool completely in refrigerator.
• Once chilled, turn the brownies out of the pan onto a cutting board, and slice into desired number or pieces (4 cuts in each direction will yield 25 pieces approximately 1.5"x1.5" in size). Dusting the knife with cocoa powder may help keep it clean if this becomes problematic.