Cocktails and Brownies are a winning combination

Margie has enriched my life. She has been my best friends for 22 years. I feel simultaneously proud and old while typing that. She introduced me to so much deliciousness over those years. While all the cool teenagers were smoking cigarettes in back alleys and our parents were out like normal social people we were at one of our houses gleefully giggling over Cote-St-Luc BBQ 1/4 chicken dinners. The tradition was this: we wore overalls to avoid waistband restrictions. We tore off bits of bun at a time and sandwiched bits of chicken and fries in between then dunked the whole thing in gravy. Then laughed at our enormous food bellies. Then did shots. Not of liquor like normal teenagers, no. The shots were of water. The drinking game was to keep going shot-for-shot of water until one person tapped out because they couldn't hold their pee any longer. What I'm saying is, while normal teenagers went out dancing in clubs, we were doing pee dances in our kitchen. I'm a geek. It didn't spring out of nowhere. It's been a long time developing.

When Margie showed me Ireland she introduced me to some marvelous things. That Disney Aladdin song is playing in my mind as I type this. Baby Guinness shots was one of them (I don't think Disney had cocktails in mind). When I read about this month's chocolate-themed cookalong I was inspired to make a new and improved brownie. What could be better than an alcoholic cocktail brownie containing Bailey's and Tia Maria and looks like a Guinness? Nothing, that's what. No word yet on the winner...
Here is my contribution:

Baby Guinness Brownies by Caryna's Cakes

Recipe

Ingredients for the brownies:
125g butter, melted
125g granulated sugar
125 demerera sugar
50g unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
75g (1 egg plus 1 yolk) lightly beaten egg
90g cream flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

Ingredients for Tia Maria ganache:
250g double cream
300g 70% dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
35g Tia Maria

Ingredients for Baileys ganache:
250g double cream
300g white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
35g Baileys

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 9x12" baking tray with silicone paper.

- Mix the sugars, cocoa powder, vanilla and egg. Slowly add the melted butter until well mixed.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the mixture and fold until blended.
- Pour into prepared tray and bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely.

For the Tia Maria ganache

- Boil 250g cream.
- Pour over the dark chocolate. Let sit for a minute then stir until smooth.
- Add the Tia Maria. Cool slightly until thickened. Spread over the brownie and allow to cool completely.

For the Bailey's ganache

- Boil 250g cream.
- Pour over the white chocolate. Let sit for a minute then stir until smooth.
- Add the Baileys. Cool slightly until thickened. Spread over the brownie and allow to cool completely.

Cut into 15 large, 20 medium or 48 bite sized squares with a sharp knife. D-licious!

Caryna Camerino

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