#5 : Brownies

Brownies are what happened when chocolate bars and cookies had babies. Um yeah. Okay maybe it’s the fact that it’s nearly lunch time as I type this, and I am hungry, but really, how would you describe them?

The history of the brownie is not as amazing as cheesecake or anything like that. Really it is rather simple. Near the end of the 19th century at the Palmer Hotel, Bertha Palmer asked her chefs to come up with a dessert that “should be smaller than a piece of cake, dainty, and easily eaten, it should fit well in a boxed lunch,”. You see there was a fair being hosted there and the women’s boxed lunches lacked a dessert. The brownie now has many variations and all of them claim to be the best ever. But that is a matter of personal choice. Whether you like them chewy, moist, more cake like, or slightly crunchy, brownie recipes are as wide and varied as fish in the sea.

Grill Baked Bacon Caramel Brownies

You read that right folks. The best things ever are now combined to become one great super food made on the grill!

METHOD

1. Prepare your 9 by 13 -inch baking dish by buttering, or spraying all sides thoroughly. Line it with parchment paper that has also been well sprayed or buttered. Do not worry about fire, we’re using indirect heat.  (Parchment paper is optional)
2. Bring a saucepan of water to a simmer, set up a double boiler by either using a large metal or glass bowl over the mouth of the pot, or use another pot that fits over the mouth of the boiling pot. Be careful because this gets hot. Put the chocolate and butter into the bowl of the double boiler to melt. Turn off the heat but keep the bowl over the boiling water pot and add the sugars whisking until they are completely combined. Remove the bowl from the heat. To prevent damage to your counter from heat, and to prevent your steam covered pot or bowl from sliding around, I recommend placing a cotton tea towel on the counter where you are working.
3. Add 3 of the eggs to your chocolate mixture and beat until just combined. Add the other two eggs and repeat. Gently add the vanilla. Do not overbeat your mixture at this point or the batter will become cake-like when you bake it.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and cocoa powder. Then slowly add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula, fold the flower mixture into the chocolate mixture until they are just combined. If you have a little flour still, that is okay. Again do not overbeat!

Salted Caramel Filling

1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water. Be careful when stirring, not to splash the sides of the pan.
2. Cook over high heat until an insta-read thermometer reads 350°F or the liquid turns a dark golden brown, like dark brown sugar. This takes about 6 to 8 minutes.
3. Take the pan off the heat and slowly add the cream, then the fleur de sel. Whisk in the sour cream and half of the bacon. Set this aside to cool. Watch this carefully because if done incorrectly, the caramel will solidify. Do not wait to add the cream after removing this from the heat.
4. Preheat your grill to 350°F. Remember you will be cooking over indirect heat.
5. Pour half of the brownie mixture into the prepared baking dish. Smooth it with a spatula, then drizzle about ¾ cup of the caramel sauce over the brownie layer, being very careful not to touch the sides of the baking dish. Make sure that you have reserved sauce for topping the brownies. Smooth out the caramel mixture. Pour the remaining brownie batter over top of the caramel layer and smooth it with the spatula.
6. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes, turning the baking dish about half way through the baking process. The brownies are done when a toothpick comes out with only a few moist and delicious bacon covered crumbs on it.
7. Toss the remaining bacon bits into the last of the caramel sauce to coat. Sprinkle this over top of the brownies
8. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving…or cool them mostly anyway, they look to good to wait that long.

Happy Grilling!