Listen up, bakers! This recipe is to die for, the brownies are superdense , not cakey like Duncan Hines. This recipe was completely thought out by Siddharth and it’s great. The brownies are gooey and the caramel gives the extra zing to the chocolate, although I must warn you, it will require some work and a lot of patience! The flavors are really well balanced, with the goat cheese cutting the sweetness, and the walnuts adding extra crunch. I wasn’t a huge brownie fan to begin with, but these brownies were enough to convert me!

Ingredients

Salted Caramel

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tsp kosher or sea salt
• 2/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature

Goat Cheese Filling

• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, RT
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp AP Flour
• 1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate (gooey) Brownies (adapted from Joy of Baking)

• 5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Start by making the caramel. In saucepan, heat sugar over medium high. Whisk continuously as the sugar melts (not whisking will cause burning). The sugar may clump and harden, but this is okay if you keep whisking (I told you it will take some patience and man-power!). Cook sugar until it is dark amber and melted, and then add salt and butter, whisking until everything is incorporated. As a warning, when you add the butter, the mixture will seize up into a ball. Keep whisking, it’s still OK, and it will dissolve!

Once the butter is fully incorporated, remove from the heat and pour in the cream, whisking briskly to subdue foaming (again, this can be daunting as it will foam fast – just keep up your whisking!). When foam subsides, return to stovetop on low heat. When the cream is added, it’s again normal for the mixture to seize up, and you just need to keep whisking to dissolve it. Once you have a smooth sauce (see below), let it cool for 15 minutes before using it (or enjoy dipping a few things around the kitchen in it and sampling! It’s delicious!).

At this point, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Spray with a nonstick cooking spray a medium-depth 8 inch x 8 inch pan. You can line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper to make the brownie removal easier. Now let’s start on those brownies. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler (just put a mixing bowl over the top of a saucepan with steaming water, making sure the water level is below the bottom of your bowl). When butter and chocolate are melted and combined, remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder and sugar. Next, whisk in the vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour and salt. Finish by folding in your toasted nuts. Pour into your prepared baking dish and set aside.

The last step is of course to make the goat cheese filling. This is simple. Beat the cheese and butter until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, then beat in egg and fold in flour. Mix in vanilla.

Now let’s put it all together and make our swirls!

Carefully add the cooled caramel sauce directly on top of your brownie batter. The caramel should cover the brownie batter layer completely. Use a spatula to help spread it. Next add the goat cheese filling dollop by dollop. Again with your spatula, spread the goat cheese on top of the brownie layer as evenly as possible while being very gentle. We don’t want dig in and expose the brownie batter. Now: let your inner artist come out! Using a toothpick to penetrate just through the top two layers, swirl to create patterns. The final step awaits!

Bake for 35 minutes. Because of the caramel, normal toothpick testing does not work very well, so you’ll have to have faith in your cook time! Do not over bake, as the edges of the brownie will bake quickly. Remove from oven and let the pan cool on a wire rack. Dig in!