I love the Barefoot Contessa. I know have declared my love for her before, and I am hardly alone in this... but how is it that every recipe she writes delivers both in ease and great taste. She's like a magician.
In my continued exploration of how many different ways can I use my Black Onyx Cocoa Powder, I enlisted Ina's help and used a recipe for her new book, Back to Basics, called Brownie Pudding. Seriously, who could pass up a recipe called Brownie Pudding?
This is so easy -- seven ingredients total. And it's so good... it's got that crispy top layer and then underneath is like molten lava cake. Okay, so maybe my black cocoa powder makes it a tad off-putting... Mother thought it was refried beans... sigh...
Brownie Pudding
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa: Back To Basics by Ina Garten
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 cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
1 tablespoon framboise liqueur (optional -- I used Kahlua instead)
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter a 2-quart (9 x 12 x 2-inch) oval baking dish. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour into a seperate bowl and set aside.
Once the eggs and sugar are ready, turn the mixer to low speed and then add the vanilla bean seeds, the liqueur, and the cocoa powder/flour mixture. Mix just until combined. With the mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Add hot water to the larger pan to come halfway up the side of the baking dish and bake for 1 hour. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding. -- Mine actually didn't appear under-baked... I may have cooked to long or maybe my dish was a little to big... whatever... I don't think it hurt it any.
Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream. Uh... well, we didn't really allow it to cool and we didn't have any ice cream... we ate it hot and as-is... it couldn't be helped.
