Kick Ass Brownies

Preheat the oven to 350F

Butter and flour a brownie pan

 

 

1 box of Ghirardelli double chocolate brownies mix

¼ cup of strongly brewed Starbucks french roast coffee
¼ cup of Nutella melted with ½ cup of butter flavored Crisco
¼ cup of bittersweet Ghirardelli cocoa (sifted)
¼ cup of Hershey’s cocoa (sifted)
1 nip of Kahlua
1 tsp. of cayenne pepper
1 pinch of salt
2 eggs

There are two important keys to making great brownies from a mix...never use butter and elevate the recipe by adding simple ingredients like cayenne pepper and a pinch of salt.

Mix all these ingredients in a large bowl with a fork.  (Do not overmix…fifty strokes or less)…

 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before frosting.

 

Frosting:

 

First frosting is a simple buttercream.

 

Simple Buttercream

 

1 box of confectioner's sugar

1 stick of butter at room temp

1 tsp. of vanilla

heavy cream

 

Use a hand mixer and a deep bowl.  Put sugar, butter and vanilla in the bowl and use the hand mixer.  Slowly pour in the cream until you have a proper textured frosting.  Frost the brownies when the brownies are cool.

 

Second frosting is a chocolate ganache.

 

Chocolate Ganache

 

8 ounces of semi sweet chocolate (I use Ghirardelli)

1 tsp. of vanilla

1/2 stick of butter

heavy cream

 

Melt chocolate with the vanilla and butter (heat water and melt slowly in a metal bowl over the water).     Remove the melted chocolate from heat and slowly drizzle in the heavy cream.  Mix with a fork until you get a great glaze.  Quickly pour the glaze over the buttercream frosting.