Easy Rich Vanilla or Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

You'll find these frostings extremely easy and rich...in fact, so candy-like, my daughter likes to eat them with a spoon!

                                              Hmm, Vanilla or....

                                                      Chocolate...

                                               I'll Have Both!

Fudgy, Classic Brownies with Rich Chocolate Frosting

When serving a variety of desserts, you always need a little chocolate somethin' somethin' don't you? These fudgy, classic brownies are simple to make and never fail me. I "whipped them up" for a special occasion recently.

I have been making this recipe, which I adapted, for so long, I can't remember where I originally found it. I know there are many similar versions of these brownies; however, I hope you find my tips in making them helpful. In addition, I offer the option of frosting these brownies with my recipe for Rich Chocolate Frosting which I recently posted with my Very Happy Birthday Pound Cake. Also, you can make these brownies with or without the nuts. (I prefer the variation in texture the nuts offer, but I don't suffer from nut allergies or have an aversion to nuts.)

When a chocolate craving overcame me, I used to say to my husband (he'd bake when I was too busy)...."And just why aren't there any brownies in the house?" Should that serious chocolate craving hit, you'll find these fudgy brownies fit the bill perfectly!

                             Guaranteed to Satisfy Chocolate Cravings

 

Approx. 25 ea. 1 & 1/2" Slices

Ingredients

For the Batter

• butter-flavored cooking spray for greasing pan
• 4 large eggs
• 2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/3 c. butter (important to use the real thing!)
• 4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 c. sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 c. coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions

Tip: If you make them the day before you serve them, they will slice easier. I use a serrated knife which I dip into a glass of tepid water before slicing the brownies. If the brownies come apart a little, you can just press them back together (I won't tell).

1. Preheat oven to 325º.
2. Spray a 9" square pan with a butter-flavored cooking spray.
3. Beat the eggs until light (don't overbeat or the crust will separate from the brownies), then gradually mix in the sugar and salt.
4. Melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave on medium heat for about one minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until fully melted and combined. Thoroughly mix into the egg mixture.
5. Stir in the flour and then the vanilla.
6. Fold in the nuts (optional) and pour into the prepared pan.
7. Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes. The top will appear crusty, but the inside should be moist and fudgy, and an inserted toothpick should come out barely wet, almost dry.
8. Cool overnight for easier cutting. 

From the oven...sorry, I "snuck" a piece and slightly scored them before I remembered to photograph for you.

 

Someone had to taste one...right?

For the Topping (optional)

Sift confectioners sugar over some or all of the brownies right before serving and/or frost some or all of the brownies with my Rich Chocolate Frosting (one-half recipe should cover a whole pan of brownies), which was recently posted with my Very Happy Birthday Pound Cake. (If you want to make a "wow" presentation, swirl the frosting on each piece with a pastry bag using a large #4 tip and place the brownies in paper cups.)

Watch their eyes roll back in their heads when they taste one of these rich brownies..."Oh (fill in your name here), these are amazing!" Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Very Happy Birthday Pound Cake with Rich Chocolate Frosting

I call March the month of birthdays!  The birthdays truly just "March" in.  Including my children, there are many relatives on both sides of our family with birthdays in March, some with the same date.  I would have preferred to have the fun a little more spread out.

My daughter's birthday was last weekend.  I made her favorite cake:  pound cake with chocolate frosting.  I have several good pound cake recipes, but my all-time favorite has always been my evaporated milk pound cake...it's moist, light and delicious. You'll find the chocolate frosting I make extremely easy and rich...in fact, it's so candy-like, my daughter likes to eat it with a spoon!

Evaporated milk pound cake was my go-to for birthdays for years...then I lost my recipe when I moved.  The following recipe is adapted from a recipe I found online; and if it's not the same as the one I used for years, it's very close and excellent.  (I've edited the recipe since my original post to specify using all butter and provide a little more detail in the preparation.)

                               Happy, Happy Birthday March Babies!

Approximately 12 large servings

The Cake

Ingredients

• Non-stick baking spray with flour
• 3 c. plain, all-purpose, pre-sifted flour (I use White Lily)
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. ground mace spice
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) room-temperature butter
• 3 c. granulated sugar
• 5 large room-temperature eggs
• 1 c. evaporated milk
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions

1.  Grease a 10" tube pan:  If you use a tube pan that has a removable tube insert:  Cut a circle of wax paper about one inch wider than the insert and cut out a hole for the tube.  Place the wax paper over the tube inside the pan and press the paper to the bottom and sides of the pan (the edges will be fluted).  Spray the non-stick baking spray over the wax paper and the entire inside surface of the pan, including the tube.  Press, again, the paper to the bottom and sides of the pan.  Lay a sheet of aluminum foil on the rack below the one you will bake the cake on, just in case the tube pan leaks a little grease.
                                                                                                                                                 

        

Wax paper in pan before greased/floured.             

                                                                                        

                     

                   
Wax paper in pan after greased/floured. 





                                                                                 

2.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, mace and salt. Set aside.
3.  Cream the butter and sugar well, or until light and fluffy.  Scrape the bowl.
4.  Preheat the oven to 325º.
5.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Scrape the bowl again.
6.  Stir the vanilla into the evaporated milk and add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk & vanilla mixture.  Scrape the bowl and give the batter one last quick little mix.
7.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for l hr. and approx. 35 minutes (check after 1 hr. and 25 minutes), or until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake springs back when gently pressed with your finger.
8.  Cover the cake with a clean dish towel and cool on a rack away from drafts overnight.
9.  Invert the cake onto a serving platter, release from the pan and carefully remove the wax paper, if used.  Ice with the vanilla or chocolate butter cream frosting.                                                                                                                  
The Frosting

Ingredients

Vanilla Butter Cream

• l lb. powdered sugar
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) room-temperature butter 
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• approx. 1/4 c. plus 1 TB evaporated milk

Chocolate Butter Cream

• add one c. cocoa
• add another approx. 3 TB evaporated milk

Directions

• Beat ingredients very well until glossy, adding the milk a little at a time as needed for spreading consistency.

For a thick frosting (as the one pictured on the cake above):   make one and one-half times the recipe. 

Tip:  I ice the cake upside down for a flat top.  To ice the entire top of the cake:  Cut a circle from a plastic container lid from a grocery item (such as a cream cheese container) that will fit snugly into the hole of the cake where the tube was.  Place the circle of plastic over the hole in the cake and ice over the entire cake.  When you cut the cake, everyone will fight over who gets the circle with all the icing (generally the birthday person wins!).  Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

What's That Got to do with This?

Recently, I had lunch at a bakery/cafe with my daughter and two-year old grandson.  He kept coming back to one item in the display case:  the carrot cupcake...my daughter says because he recognized the carrot piped on top.  Naturally Bon Bon had to buy it for him!
                                         
                                        The Four Dollar Cupcake!

                                       Worth Every Precious Bite!