Brownie Pudding

I know, you just ate your weight in chocolate for Valentine’s Day yesterday, and here I am posting a super rich chocolate dessert the next day. Bear with me, I simply couldn’t wait to share this one with you I usually make Shane his favorite cookies for Valentine’s Day, and include them as part of his gift, but I decided to go a different route for dessert this year. I’ve been wanting to make this brownie pudding forever, but it’s super indulgent and not exactly the kind of thing I can send off to work with Shane, so I usually end up talking myself out of it. Yesterday was all about indulgence though (you should have seen the giant porterhouse steak I cooked for Shane!) so I went all out and put the brownie pudding on the menu.

I think the name is a bit misleading – yes, this dessert is a cross between brownies and something else, but I wouldn’t say pudding (honestly, I don’t even really like pudding). No, this is more like molten chocolate cake, only a million times better! The dessert has a brownie-like crust, and when you crack into it you discover a warm, gooey, chocolatey center – it’s almost brownie batter-like. Topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, I’m convinced this is about as good as a chocolate dessert gets. You probably already have the ingredients you need on hand, so there’s no excuse not to make it for your friends and family soon

Brownie Pudding
adapted from Ina Garten

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Dutch-processed)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray a 2-quart baking dish (I used a 13×9 ceramic dish) with cooking spray.

Place the butter in a saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Swirl the pan occasionally until the butter is melted – set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, or until very thick and pale yellow in color (the batter will form ribbons off the paddle if you lift it). Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together into a medium bowl.

When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, turn the mixer down to low, and add the vanilla extract and cocoa/flour mixture, beating only until just combined. With the mixer still on low, pour in the melted and cooled butter and continue beating just until combined.

Spread the brownie mixture into the prepared dish. Place it inside a large roasting pan and add enough really hot tap water to the roasting pan to come about halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted about 2 inches from the edge comes out partially clean. (The center is going to look under-baked, the dessert is supposed to be gooey.)

Transfer the baking dish to a wire rack and let cool. Serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!