I grew up in an era when processed food became ubiquitous and convenience was the order of the day. Boxed cake mixes lined pantry shelves and most cakes back then were made from them. I certainly enjoyed cakes and brownies from a box and they provided a convenient way for busy mothers to prepare a dessert for the family. I’m sure as a budding cook, I added water to a brownie mix and minutes later I was enjoying more than my share of the chocolate treats. As I gained interest in cooking, though, I always wanted to learn to make things from scratch. I’ve been accused in my day of making things more complicated than they needed to be and I must admit that I have never been one to take the easy path in anything I did.
My Cuban friend, Felix, recently served us dulce de leche and ice cream for an after dinner dessert. He explained that he made the caramel by cooking a can of sweetened condensed milk covered in water in a pressure for one hour. I was intrigued and, quite frankly, a little concerned about that process. I had to try it, though, and it worked beautifully and produced a deliciously creamy caramel. Now, I have to say that I am somewhat of a caramel aficionado, considering that my Grandma made the most perfect caramel cake I ever tasted and believe me, I ate a lot of it over the years. I finally mastered making icing a few years ago and I featured it in this post for Caramel Cake.
Getting back to brownies…they may just be one of life’s most perfect confections. There are as many brownie recipes as there are cooks where mostly the same ingredients are used in varying amounts. As I thought about brownies and remembered the caramel that Felix made, I knew I needed to combine the two. Today’s post features Salted Caramel Brownies.
Ingredients
For the caramel:
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into eight pieces
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons espresso powder
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup caramel
1/4 teaspoon Sel de Mer or Maldon sea salt
Instructions
1. Remove label from sweetened condensed milk can. Place can in pressure cooker and cover can completely with water. Cook at high pressure for one hour. Release pressure from cooker and carefully remove can. Let cool completely before opening can.
2. Alternatively, place can in a soup or stock pot and cover with water. Bring water to boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 3 hours. Make sure can is always covered with water. Remove can and cool completely before opening.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9"x9" square baking pan with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray.
2. In a double boiler or heat resistant bowl over a pot of simmering water, melt chocolate and butter. Whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and let sit for five to ten minutes.
3. Whisk flour, baking power, salt, cocoa powder and espresso powder together in a small bowl.
4. Whisk eggs in a small bowl. Add sugar in small amounts, whisking until well combined. Blend in vanilla extract.
5. Add melted chocolate and walnuts to egg mixture and whisk until combined.
6. Add dry ingredients in small amounts, whisking until incorporated. Do not over mix.
7. Pour half the batter into the pan and spread to edges of pan. Top batter with nine evenly spaced heaping teaspoons of caramel (roughly half of the caramel). Using a toothpick, gently swirl caramel into the batter, leaving most of the caramel intact.
8. Top with remaining batter. Repeat process with caramel.
9. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle with sea salt. Cool before slicing.
https://southernboydishes.com/2013/10/02/salted-caramel-brownies/
Bill Harris
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I followed your advice and took the salted caramel brownies home to the chocoholics for the Thanksgiving holiday. With everyone being a traditionalist about the foods they must eat for holidays and not being real exploratory when it comes to new treats, it was fun to watch what happened after the first person tried one. It was like a rampant wildfire spread quickly across the house as the first “OMG” turned into several, then into many. Needless to say, the brownies that made it through the night were not allowed to make the return trip to Georgia. Since then, I’ve been asked for the recipe by all three of the matriarchs in charge of holiday meals. These things are seriously decadent and delicious!
Thanks, Trace! So you didn’t blow up the house making the dulce de leche (caramel)? 🙂 So glad they worked out and everyone enjoyed them. Thanks for letting me know!
Killer photography!
Sensuous, dark, seductive brownies 🙂
I’m hooked. And sold 🙂
The first time I saw the results of the 3 hours cooking of condense milk was when a friend brought the can to work, opened it and at the entire contents for lunch. It was shock and awe when he told me what he was eating and how he had made it. I did not know that trick until then. Now for the brownies – WOW! Being a caramel lover I think this is one of the best brownie recipes I’ve seen!
They look seriously decadent and good. I am with you on taking the long paths to cooking.
Couple of years ago my teen was suddenly fascinated by anything dulce de leche and he researched and found the exact method to cook condensed milk down. He put in in a huge pan and cooked it for I believe 2 hours and that is when I knew we could make milk candy, caramel from condensed milk. Isn’t it fun? Love the process.
Oh My – Bill, these brownies look so great!
Espresso and chocolate are insane together – but then you went and added the caramel AND the sea salt AND the walnuts!
So glad you didn’t stick to the processed, packaged stuff 😉
Shut the front door! These brownies are the bomb.
I grew up in the same era where it was good thing if you lined the shelves with convenience foods….I am doing my best to getting back to basics and away from the boxes which includes a good dessert like brownies.
Velva
Yeah, I tend to take the overly complicated path at times, too. Usually worth it, though not always. Anyway, I’ll take any brownie, anywhere. These look terrific – super job. Thanks so much.
I seriously know I am in love now. These are incredible!!