Recipes: "Irish Car Bomb" Brownies

By: Sam Parks (March 2012)

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day!  This dessert combines Irish stout brownies with milk chocolate and Bailey's Irish Cream ganache for the perfect, baked re-interpretation of an "Irish Car Bomb" cocktail!

"Irish Car Bomb" Brownies

INGREDIENTS:

For the brownies:
-3/4 cup dark/ European cocoa
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-2/3 cup butter, melted and divided in half
-1/2 cup boiling stout beer, for this recipe I used the "Foreign Extra" by Guinness (for a review of this beer check the following link to my review ( Guinness Foreign Extra Stout )
-2 cups sugar
-1/4 cup honey
-3 eggs
-1 1/2 cup AP flour
-1 tsp. vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

For the ganache:
-8 oz. dark chocolate chips
-4 oz. whole milk
-4 oz. Baileys Irish Cream
-2 Tbs. clear corn syrup

DIRECTIONS:

For the brownies:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, grease a rectangular, 13 x 9 inch cake pan

In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the cocoa and baking soda.  Add 1/2 of the melted butter.  Mix the butter and the cocoa just until combined.  Add the boiling beer to the cocoa-butter mixture and stir until it thickens (or looks like the photo below)

 Stir in the sugar, eggs, honey, and the remaining butter.  Stir the mixture until it is smooth and free of lumps. Add the vanilla and salt, mix lightly.

Divide the flour into three equal parts.  Working in intervals, add the flour, stirring until combined after each addition.  (Add the nuts when all of the flour has been combined)

Pour the brownie batter into the greased pan, leveling with a spatula if necessary.

Bake for 30-32 minutes for 'fudgey' brownies, 33-35 minutes for more cake-like creations.

Cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

For the ganache:
Place the chocolate chips/ chunks in a heat-proof bowl (I always use glass), add the corn syrup.

Bring the milk and Irish cream to a mild simmer on the stove top.  Pour the heated milks into the bowl with the chocolate and corn syrup.  Wait one minute.  Whisk the mixture until it is smooth.  Allow the mixture to rest 10-15 minutes until it is no longer a liquid, but still easily spreadable.  Spread the ganache over the brownies; if is the appropriate consistency and temperature the ganache should pretty much spread itself over the entire pan.  (in the headline photo, my ganache set-up a little too much, hence the knife marks)

Allow the ganache to set for approximately 1-2 hours.  Cut and enjoy!

Eat good food.  Drink good beer.  And above all, stay classy!