Dark Chocolate Cherry Brownies

I was feeling extra productive this Saturday and I woke up early to go to a yoga class, which I’m still feeling the effects of. Yoga is hard!

After the class, I decided to stop by the Farmer’s Market since I hadn’t been in at least two weeks and was feeling a bit of withdrawal. I ended up buying about $18 worth of goodies in under 20 minutes. How’s that for talent?

Of that $18, $3 went toward a pint of sweet Michigan cherries, with which I decided to bake something.

I thought chocolate and cherries would make a nice combination, but in general I’m not so into chocolate cake. I very briefly thought about putting fresh cherries into cookies, possibly an oatmeal chocolate chip cherry cookie. I might come back to this at a later point.

In the end, brownies were the winner. I found a killer looking recipe online for dark chocolate brownies with roasted cherries and went with it.

I altered the recipe very little, but the directions quite a bit. I credit this to my post-college graduation (but no more developed than a college kitchen) kitchen, in all it’s under equipped glory.

I think making up for my lack of equipment often adds to the fun of baking. It requires a bit of innovative thinking, which is something I enjoy a lot. Looking back through some of blog posts, you can see where I’ve used brown paper bags for a cooling rack, and a Relay for Life cup as a rolling pin.

In the next upcoming post you’ll see a blender used as a food processor (this one didn’t work out so well).

Well, you win some, and you lose some. These brownies = WIN!

Dark Chocolate Cherry Brownies: (recipe adapted from thepastryaffair.com)

Recipe: 

• 1 cup (or a little more) fresh cherries, pitted and halved
• 2 ½ cups dark chocolate (I used 1 bar of Ghiradelli and 2 bars of Hershey’s Special dark)

Sorry Ghiradelli, but you cost too much and I'm unemployed

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

Directions:

• First roast your cherries. The instructions I followed said, “in a small roasting pan, combine cherries with 1 tablespoon of sugar and roast for 10 minutes or until the cherries release their juices.” READ: Spread cherry halves on a makeshift tin foil baking dish and sprinkle one tablespoon of sugar on top. Put in a toaster oven for 8 or 9 minutes, and put them in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.

Chopping the cherries got messy:

Was it Ms. Scarlet with the knife in the kitchen?

...anyone else a fan of Clue?

• Then the original instructions said: Melt chocolate and butter in a double broiler. READ: Melt chocolate and butter in a pot, carefully but awkwardly balanced on top of another pot filled with boiling water. Once melted, remove chocolate from heat until you're ready to add it to the mix.
• Whisk eggs, 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla together in a medium bowl.
• In a different bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Add chocolate to egg mixture and mix well.
• Fold in dry ingredients.
• Fold in your chilled cherries.
• Pour in a pan (9 x 9 if you’ve got it) or something close to that size. I used a pan that was either 11 x 6 or 10 x 5. It was a little small, but worked well enough.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the center of the pan doesn’t wiggle much when you shake it

Recipe and Directions unobstructed by pictures:

• 1 cup (or a little more) fresh cherries, pitted and halved
• 2 1/2 cups dark chocolate (I used 1 bar of Ghiradelli and 2 bars of Hershey’s Special dark)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

Directions:

• First roast your cherries. The instructions I followed said, “in a small roasting pan, combine cherries with 1 tablespoon of sugar and roast for 10 minutes or until the cherries release their juices.” 
• READ: Spread cherry halves on a makeshift tin foil baking dish and sprinkle one tablespoon of sugar on top. Put in a toaster oven for 8 or 9 minutes, and put them in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.
• Then the original instructions said: Melt chocolate and butter in a double broiler. 
• READ: Melt chocolate and butter in a pot, carefully but awkwardly balanced on top of another pot filled with boiling water. Once melted, remove chocolate from heat until you're ready to add it to the mix.
• Whisk eggs, 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla together in a medium bowl.
• In a different bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Add chocolate to egg mixture and mix well.
• Fold in dry ingredients.
• Fold in your chilled cherries.
• Pour in a pan (9 x 9 inch if you’ve got it) or something close to that size. I used a pan that was either 11 x 6 or 10 x 5. It was a little small, but worked well enough.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the center of the pan doesn’t wiggle much when you shake it

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