Strawberry Caramel Brownies
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Chuao has this dark chocolate truffle that’s filled with strawberry balsamic caramel and I’m completely obsessed with it. I decided to try to recreate it in brownie form. There are definitely still a few kinks to work out, but all-in-all this recipe is still pretty darn delicious. It’s pretty rich – a little piece of this brownie goes a long way, especially with all of the caramel.
For the strawberry caramel, I pretty much used a basic caramel recipe then pulled the rest outta my ass. It really was an experiment.
Pureed fresh, sweet strawberries for the caramel sauce.
Ingredients for strawberry caramel – strawberry puree, butter, cream and sugar. Pretty easy peasy.
Bubbling melted sugar with the addition of the cream and butter; added in the strawberry puree and let bubble and reduce; after freezing to let caramel firm up – a nice thick consistency.
Brownie time!
Chopped dark chocolate on my fancy yellow cutting board.
Chocolate + butter. You can melt this over a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each. It took 2-30 second intervals for me to get the chocolate and butter melted nicely.
Brownie batter with the addition of sea salt. Please use sea salt instead of reg’la table salt. Not just for this, for everything needing salt in general. It makes a difference.
NOTE: If you or a loved one did not lick the entire shit out of this brownie batter bowl, know THIS: We can never be friends in real life.
Dollops of the strawberry caramel on top of the brownie batter, ready to get its swirl on.
Swirly chocolate strawberry caramel deliciousness.
Fresh out of the oven… the caramel was still bubbling!
Tada! Experimental strawberry caramal swirl brownies.
Strawberry Caramel Brownies
adapted from smitten kitchen
makes 8×8 pan of brownies in 45 minutes
Ingredients
For strawberry caramel
8 strawberries, rinsed, hulled and halved
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 heaping teaspoon flaky sea salt
3 tbsp heavy cream, room temperature
For brownies
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 heaping teaspoon flaky sea salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
Directions
For the caramel
Toss the strawberries with 2 tbsp of sugar and set aside for 10 minutes.
Puree berries + sugar. Place puree in a small sauce pan over medium heat and let reduce by half, about 10 minutes.
In a medium, dry saucepan over medium-high heat, melt remaining 1 cup of sugar; this will take about 5 minutes, stirring if necessary to break up large chunks. By the time it is all melted, if should be a nice copper color; if not, cook until it is. Remove from heat and stir in butter. It may not incorporate entirely but do your best. Stir in cream and salt and strawberry puree. Return saucepan to the stove over medium-high heat, bringing it back to a simmer and melted again any sugar that solidified. Cook bubbling strawberry caramel for a few minutes more, until it is a shade darker and sauce has reduced slightly.
Pour out onto parchment-covered plate and transfer plate to your freezer. This won’t completely solidify because of the strawberry puree, so just freeze until thoroughly chilled and consistency is very thick, about 45 minutes for me.
When caramel is almost done chilling, start the brownie batter.
For the brownie
Heat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment, extending it up two sides. Butter the parchment or spray it with a nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium heatproof bowl over gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter together until only a couple unmelted bits remain. Off the heat, stir until smooth and fully melted. You can also do this in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and salt. Stir in flour with a spoon or flexible spatula.
Add in the caramel
When caramel is chilled, remove it from the freezer. Scrape brownie batter into prepared pan, spreading until mostly even. Places tablespoon sized dollops of the caramel over the batter. Use a fork to swirl strawberry caramel throughout the batter. Be careful not to over swirl, you want pockets of caramel throughout the brownie. Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
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