Monday, November 8, 2010

A Birthday to Die For

Today is my wonderful husband’s 34th birthday.  We got married when he was just 24 years old.  We’ve been through a lot, and I couldn’t ask for a better husband.  So I get excited for his birthday.  It’s an excuse to bust out my baking-groove-thing and make something that I know he will love. 
In the last 9 years that we’ve been together, I’ve discovered a lot about him.  First and foremost, he’s strange when it comes to knowing what tastes good.  He hates creamy stuff.  That means, no whipped cream, no pudding, no yogurt, not cottage cheese, no cheesecake, nothing that has a mushy texture.  However, I have worked diligently at converting him to my way of thinking and he now eats some things if they are on the firmer side, like cheesecake that is still firm. 
So to my surprise, this past summer he tried some Death by Chocolate dessert (which I love, but rarely make) that my mom made while we were camping.  He LOVED it.  There is a lot of brownie in it, but there is also a fair share of creamy mixed in to it.  Today while I was laboring over the choices of what to make for his birthday, I decided to make the Death by Chocolate.  Only I’m doing it my way.  Brownies from scratch.  And real whipped cream.  No containers and boxes in my kitchen today (well maybe the butter box and the egg container, but I didn’t want to try to find a chicken to get a fresh egg from and a cow to milk to make the butter!)
So I pulled out my prettified Kitchen Aid mixer and made brownies first:
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla (real stuff is better!)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Preheat the oven 350 and spray a 9 x13 with olive oil spray (or whatever you prefer)
Mix together the melted butter with the sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Then beat in the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder.  Spread to the greased pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Don’t overcook.
Cool your brownies completely (or in my case, put them on the porch to speed things along and hope they get done in time to finish everything before you have to run and pick up your daughter from preschool)
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While they cooled I made the whipped cream:
Put 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 2 Tablespoons of sugar into the mixer with the wire whisk on it and whip until soft peaks form.  IMG_2235
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Delicious.  Really, I would know Smile
Next you need to mix one small box of instant chocolate pudding with a cup and a half of milk until it thickens.
Then fold in half of the whipped topping and put the rest of the whipped topping and the pudding mix aside.   (Got lazy on the pictures here, I was really trying to hurry)
So I brought my brownies in from the porch and cut them up into small pieces
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I know you think I ate the one from the middle.  I didn’t.  Here it is:
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After I took this picture, I’ll have to plead the fifth on where the brownie went.
Now it’s time to put it all together:
Crumble the brownies in the bottom of a large bowl:
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Top this with the pudding mixture.  I’d' show a picture of that, but apparently I was in a rush to lick the spatula clean and didn’t take one. 
Next you need to top it with chopped up Heath toffee bars.  I cheated and saved money by buying these
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It will look like this so far:
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Crumble the rest of the brownies (minus MAYBE one or two squares, but again, I plead the 5th)
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Top this off with the remaining whipped cream and some more Heath pieces.  I didn’t have a lot of whipped cream left so it’s light on the top, but since Mark’s not into so much creamy, it should be enough.
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Chill this for 2 hours and enjoy.  Can’t wait to eat it tonight!
Then I blog about it, and rush out the door to pick up Camryn!
Death by Chocolate
9 x 13 pan of brownies, cooked and cooled
1 (8 oz) container of whipped topping
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
1 1/2 cups cold milk
Heath baking chips or crumbled Heath bars
Whisk together the chocolate pudding and milk until it thickens and fold in half of the whipped topping.  Set aside.
Crumble half of the brownies in the bottom of a bowl, top with pudding mix, then a layer of candy.  Finish off with another layer of brownies, remaining whipped topping, and candy pieces.

1 comment:

  1. Looks delish! Happy Birthday Mark!

    (regina)

    ReplyDelete