CHERRY RIPE BROWNIE DELIGHTS
Withe dark chocolate ganache
Today has been a crazy, busy day in the kitchen; recipe testing a huge variety of Brownies, cleaning the mess brownies leave behind, and of course, photographing the finished products! It’s been fun, chaotic and filling… as in, my stomach is about to burst from taste testing every one.
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Yep. The best job perks in the world!
After all the recipe testing, these were 100% my favourite from the day!
A totally delicious blend of homemade Cherry Ripe Topping, rich Dark Chocolate Cakey Brownie, a healthy smothering of Dark Chocolate Ganache, topped off with a slice of Cherry Ripe (Top and Bottom!)
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Isn't that little Cherry Ripe base so cute!? I love desserts that have a bit of surprise to them, your guests will never know what's coming until they dig in...
Not only are they insanely pretty, they are more delicious than you can imagine…
The crunch. The chew. The sweetness. The smell…Need I say more!?
If you are a Cherry Ripe fan - and after the feedback on a chocolate photo I recently posted on Instagram, I know a lot of you are - then this one is just for you!
Now, I’m just like any other gal’ out there who loves super gooey, chewy brownies, but, I also love a good cakey brownie every now and then as well!
You know, I like to mix things up a little – living on the wild side (Haha)! So, I decided to make these ones more cakey than usual to take the weight of the topping, and it made for a great balance of textures given the chewiness that comes from the Cherry Ripe topping!
Little helpful hints:
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-I baked mine in a 12 cup loose base tin, for 20 minutes. But, if you don’t have this tin on hand you can use large muffin tins for the same cooking time, or just a normal brownie/slice tin for 25-30 mins to make it into a giant slice!
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-I reserved a few tablespoons of the cherry ripe mixture to place a truffle for decoration on each cake!
Makes : 12 Mini Cakes
Gather The Following...
Now, Lets Begin!
Begin by preheating your oven to 180°C and line a 12 cup loose base tin with baking paper. Place a fun size Cherry Ripe into the base of each lined cup and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Sift the remaining dry ingredients into the wet mixture, and fold until silky and smooth.
Pour the batter, evenly into each cup, covering the Cherry Ripe (I like to use a large ice cream scoop or a ¼ cup measurement) and pop it in the oven to bake for 20-25 mins.
Once the brownies are cooked, remove them from the oven and cool in the tin, on a wire rack.
To make the Cherry Ripe Topping, Place the copha and cherry extract into a large microwave safe bowl and heat stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth.
Stir through the cherries, condensed milk and coconut until combined.
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Finally, add in the red food colouring until you reach your desired cherry colour. Press an even amount of mixture over each of the cooled brownies, whilst still in their tins. Smooth the surface of each cake using the back of a spoon, and place them into the refrigerator to set (1-2 hours).
When your cakes are set, make your Ganache! Place your chocolate and cream into a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30-60 seconds, stirring until melted and smooth.
Remove the mini cakes from the tin and place each of them onto a serving board. Using a small spoon, place a spoonful of ganache onto each of the cakes, gently pushing the chocolate ganache towards the edges, allowing it to drizzle over down the sides of each cake.
Sprinkle with more desiccated coconut and top with a slice of cherry ripe + mini truffle, then simply, devour!
For The Brownies...
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12 fun size Cherry Ripes
¾ cup Vegetable oil
1 ½ cups Dark Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
¾ cup Plain Flour, sifted
½ cup Cocoa, sifted
1/3 tsp Baking Powder
A pinch of Sea Salt
For the Cherry Ripe Toping...
150g Copha, chopped
A few drops of Cherry Extract/Essence
200g bag of Red Glacé Cherries, finely chopped
1 x 395g can Condensed Milk
3 ½ cups Desiccated Coconut
Red Food Colouring
Dark Chocolate Ganache...
100g Dark Chocolate
¼ cup Thickened Cream
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Toppings...
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Desiccated Coconut
1 Cherry Ripe Bar, sliced
