#29) Strawberry Truffle Brownie Cake

Do you like truffles? I do. Have you ever made truffles? I haven't even attempted them until today, and now I know why...

I have been toying with the idea of making truffles for a while now and seeing as my aunt sent me a bag of beautiful strawberries I decided I should make truffles with a fruit twist. What in the world was I thinking?????

I found a recipe for strawberry truffles here and am quite confident I followed it to the letter, but for some reason my filling would not set to a point where I could roll it into balls... What was I going to do????

Well, I tried using my truffle mold instead, but that just created one BIG mess so that was a no go...

So here I am in the kitchen with this delicious bowl of strawberry truffle-ish mixture and no idea what to do... Then it came to me - brownies plus this concoction would be delicious. So I whipped up a brownie batter and baked it....

Now that sheet of brownie looks kinda big, I thought. Brilliant idea #2 - make a layered brownie cake!

Turns out I piled on way too much of the "filling" and ended up with more of a "frosting" effect.

Say what you will about it, but this sweet treat took every bit of creativity and energy I had to offer!

It is far from my best attempt in the kitchen (it is messy, too sweet, and overloaded with chocolate) but not too bad of a save considering my amateur nature. If you have any suggestions about where I went wrong with the truffles in the first place, please let me know :)

Strawberry Truffle Mixture

Ingredients

2 cups strawberries (divided into 1 1/2 cups and 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp syrup
8 ounces chocolate
1 cup whipped cream (not part of original recipe, but part of my attempted save)

Steps

- Puree (thawed, if frozen) strawberries. Stir in cream, vanilla, and syrup.
- Melt chocolate in double boiler and add to strawberry mixure. Mix well.
- Fold in whipped cream and 1/2 cup of whole strawberries. Set aside.

Brownie Layers

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

Steps

-Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 10X14 pyrex dish with parchment paper.
-Add sugar and vanilla to melted butter and beat.
-Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
-Add cocoa. Beat.
-Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat.
-Pour into pyrex dish and bake for 20 minutes.
-Remove from dish and let cool. Trim edges and slice into two equal sheets.

Combination

-Cover one brownie sheet with truffle mixture. Add second brownie sheet and repeat.

Try to enjoy :)

#9) Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cupcakes

Recently, while on vacation, bf and I went to a U-Pick. Now I have a cherished bag of raspberries crying out to be turned into delectable sweet treats... Today I decided to make some of my raspberry cake fill and pair it with some oh-so-sweet chocolate. This recipe makes a rich cupcake filled with sweet and sour raspberries and gooey chocolate.

Ingredients:

Filling
2 cups raspberries
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1.5 tbsp cornstarch

-Bring berries and 1/3 cup water to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
-Strain the berry mixture and return to heat.
-Add cornstarch to remaining water. Whisk into berry mixture.
-Add sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer for 8-10 minutes.
-Cool completely.

Cupcakes (All at room temperature)
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk, shaken (1 cup regular milk + 1 tbsp vinegar)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp brewed coffee
1 3/4 cup flour 1 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
150 chocolate chips (preferably dark)

Steps:

-Preheat oven to 350°F. Line pan with paper liners.
-Cream butter with sugars for 5 minutes on high.
-At low speed, add eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
-In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee.
-In a third bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
-At low speed, add the milk and flour mixtures to the butter alternately, in thirds. (You should begin with the milk and end with the flour.)
-Mix only until blended. Fold slightly with a spatula.
-Place 1 tbsp of batter in the bottom of each liner. Top with 1 tsp cake fill and 5 chocolate chips. Cover completely with remaining batter.
-Bake for 20 minutes.

*Should make about 30 cupcakes. Happy eating!