I’m going to begin by saying that Valentine’s Day is not really my favorite. I’d much rather celebrate Galentine’s Day or a Treat Yo Self Day (can you tell I still marathon Parks & Rec on a regular basis?), but I suppose I can get behind the whole chocolate and dessert splurging that comes along with the day. Since I rarely celebrate it I decided this year I would go all out just for you guys to let you know that I consider YOU ALL my Valentines.. Yes I know, very cheesy, but I mean it. You’re all awesome so here’s a from-scratch, sweet treat for you.. fluffy cake-like brownies, airy whipped cream, and a sweet and tart raspberry sauce to top it all off. Make this dish for your sweetheart or just devour it all to yourself!
(makes 8 servings)
Brownies:
4oz semi-sweet baking chocolate, roughly chopped
3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
Recipe Note: For those of you that have made some of my brownies in the past, you know that I always go for rich fudgey brownies, but since we already have other sweet elements in this dessert dish, I opted for a more fluffy cake-like brownie. Use my Boozy Brownies recipe if you’re wanting extra decadence!
Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
3 Tbs powdered sugar
Raspberry Sauce:
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries*
2 1/2 Tbs sugar
Juice from half a lemon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
*This will be about 1 and a 1/2 (6oz) packages of raspberries – reserve the rest for garnish.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8″ × 8″ baking dish with foil. Lightly butter or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Add chocolate and butter to a small saucepan and melt over low heat, stirring every few minutes. While waiting for the chocolate and butter to melt, combine sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl until mixed. Slowly stir in chocolate mixture once melted and then gradually add flour until just mixed. Spread batter out evenly into prepared baking dish and then pop into the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Place pan on a cooling rack to cool for 10-15 minutes. Remove foil (with brownies on it) from the baking dish and unwrap the foil from them. Carefully transfer brownies to a cooling rack without the foil to finish cooling. When completely cooled, cut into small squares or use a cookie cutter to cut out shaped brownies. I cut mine in half so they fit the glass better.
In a medium sized saucepan, stir together raspberries, sugar and lemon juice. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring and mashing raspberries for 8-10 minutes until mostly liquid and seeds. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract, and strain into a bowl using a fine mesh sieve. Press on pulp to get as much sauce as possible. It helps if you scrape the bottom of the sieve into the bowl regularly in between pressing pulp through. Stir and place sauce in the refrigerator to cool while you prep the whipped cream.
Add cream to a medium sized bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until peaks begin to form. Add powdered sugar and mix until completely incorporated and stiff peaks begin to form.
To assemble, crumble 1 small brownie in the bottom of a small dish or wide mouth cup. Top with several heaping spoonfuls of whipped cream, add 1 to 2 brownies on top and drizzle with raspberry sauce. Garnish with a fresh raspberry and serve right away.
Enjoy!
