Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

I wanted something rich and chocolatey for Valentine's day... and these definitely fit the bill. I found these over on Bakerella's website and the original recipe is from RecipeZaar. I would suggest that you cut these into tiny squares b/c with the rich chocolate brownie AND the ganache, they are definitely better eaten in smaller portions. It's worth it though, and they're so good.

RecipeZaar mentions using good quality chocolate for this recipe. I ended up using Ghiradellli, but all I had for cocoa powder was Hersheys. I still thought they were great. I've also never even heard up mascarpone cheese before, or cooked with it for that matter. It's almost like cream cheese but it has less of of a sour taste to it. I can see why it would be used for baking and I'd like to try it in some other recipes. The only drawback is that it's a little more expensive.


Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies
(Source: RecipeZaar)

Brownies
1 cup unsalted butter
3 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, softened
3 large eggs, at room-temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Ganache
6 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tablespoons whipping cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter


Preheat oven to 325°F; have ready a buttered 8-inch square glass cake pan.

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.