Barefoot Bloggers-Brownie Pudding

I cannot put into words how amazingly delicious this dessert is! Definitely a chocolate lover's dream. I was so excited when Tia of Southern Eh? picked this recipe. It"s one of the first recipes I flagged when I purchased Ina's Back to Basics cookbook. This recipe alone is worth the price of the book! I love brownies and I love chocolate pudding so this recipe combined the best of my favorites. This is great for a dinner party because it can be made ahead and is pretty simple to make. The pudding has a crisp brownie like crunch with a soft almost molten cake like interior. As Ina would say, "how bad could that be?"



Brownie Pudding

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup good cocoa powder (I used green and black organic cocoa powder)
  
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean ( I used 1tbsp vanilla bean paste)
  
• 1 tablespoon framboise liqueur, optional
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving
  

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter a 2-quart (9 by 12 by 2-inch) oval baking dish. Melt the 1/2 pound of butter and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside.

When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla seeds, framboise, if using, and the cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.

Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out 3/4 clean. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding.

Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Source: Ina Garten, Back to Basics, Clarkson Potter, 2008.