I wasted about a week making a string of disastrous sheet cakes. A vanilla rhubarb cake that was tough and spongey with weeping, semi-curdled frosting. An earl grey-lemon one that was simultaneously bitter and bland. The last bright idea I had was a lemon-thyme cake with a goat cheese frosting. But I just couldn’t face another failure so I skipped it. But I had already bought the goat cheese. So I gave it a hard think and in the spirit of Reckless Experimentation decided to make a Chocolate Brownie with a Chocolate Goat Cheese Frosting and Candied Walnuts.
Goat Cheese? Really?
I’ve always loved walnut and goat cheese in savory items. My favorite salad from my 20 year-old copy of the Dean and Deluca cookbook uses this combo. I thought that the richness of the brownie might complement the intense goat cheese. And by giving the walnuts a shiny, crunchy, sugar shell, the whole thing just might work. And boy howdy, was I extremely right. I know you might be giving goat cheese frosting the side eye. But it’s not that different from a cream cheese frosting. The goat cheese adds dimension and the texture is perfect with the fudgy brownie. That brings me to my next point: If you are a cakey brownie person, keep walking and find a different recipe. Because these are the fudgy-est.
The Great Brownie Debate:
Brownies have a lot in common with pizza. There’s almost no such thing as a bad brownie. They are universally beloved. But they’re also very polarizing. I know people who get visibly roused when debating the merits of New York vs. Chicago-style pizza (Chicago-style, duh). When it comes to brownies there are two things to debate: Do you like cakey or fudgy brownies? And, do you want nuts or no nuts? No brownie can be all things to all people but I think this fudge, semi-nutted brownie comes pretty darn close to a universally delicious brownie. Plus, it has that next-level secret ingredient that will make you the darling of your next potluck.
Some Tips For Amazing Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Goat Cheese Frosting and Candied Walnuts:
- This is a “foil sling”. It makes it easy to get the brownies out of the pan in one go, which I prefer to cutting them in the pan. I don’t like to scratch up my bakeware.
- Err on the side of undertaking. You don’t want hard burnt edges and nobody ever said, “Ugh, this brownie is TOO fudgy.”
- This recipe makes a lot more frosting than you need for a batch of brownies. Now, I see no problem with that. Extra frosting? That’s not a bug, it’s a feature. But if you really can’t think of what you’d do with all that extra frosting, you should probably just make a half-batch.
- When the directions say to “work quickly” on the candied nuts, it means QUICKLY. Not, oh I’m so relaxed in the kitchen I can really savor this experience. More like, OMG I better separate these nuts before that bag of squirrels over there chews through the sack and takes me down like Gulliver. It is truly amazing how fast the candy coating sets up so there is zero time to spare. BRACE YOURSELF.
- I arranged the nuts in a wide swath across the middle. Mainly because I thought some people might like a brownie with no nuts. I personally think that’s loser talk, but I aim to please. I also did it that way because I ate a lot of the nuts while standing around waiting for the brownie to cool and I wasn’t sure I still had enough to cover the whole thing. I stand by my decision.
More Decadent Chocolate From Bakers Brigade:
- Dark Chocolate Tart with Espresso Whipped Cream
- Chewy Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
- Rich Chocolate-Almond Buttercream
- Mezcal-Chili Dark Chocolate Truffles
- Mind-Blowing Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes
| Servings |
|
- 1/2 cup butter
- 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 4 oz goat cheese room temperature
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups shelled walnuts
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- flaky sea salt
Ingredients
For Brownie:
For Frosting:
For Candied Walnuts:
|
|
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8X8 inch pan with a foil "sling" and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a heat safe bowl, microwave the chocolate chips for one minute. Stir. Add the butter and microwave again for one minute. Stir again until smooth. If it's still not completely melted, microwave in 15 second intervals until it is completely smooth when stirred.
- Add vanilla, eggs and sugar and stir until smooth. Then add flour and salt and stir until combined.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, watching edges carefully so you don't over bake our burn them. Allow to cool completely in the pan before frosting.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and goat cheese on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.
- Add the remaining ingredients and beat at the lowest setting until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy and lightened in color, scraping down bowl once or twice, for 2-3 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes.
- In a medium saucepan, cook the sugar on medium heat. When the sugar begins to melt, stir until completely melted and a deep amber color. Then, working quickly, stir in walnuts, coating completely.
- Pour the walnuts back onto a greased cookie sheet and as quickly as you can, separate them with two forks. Allow to cool completely.
- Spread about half of the room temperature frosting onto the brownie with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Arrange the nuts in a diagonal swath across the brownie.
