Raspberry Jam Brownies

During the holidays, Nestle used to put out a raspberry-filled chocolate chip that went into at least half of my baked goods. I was feeling a bit nostalgic for these last week and thought I would try to recreate the chocolate-covered raspberry feel, minus the loads of sugar and food coloring that made up the fake raspberry taste. I also happened to want brownies at the time, so my shopping list read as follows: "chocolate, eggs, and???"

The easiest way to get the raspberry flavor would be to add in the actual fruit but raspberries are mostly water and would prove either too mushy or too dried out by the end of the baking process. The next best thing, I thought, would be raspberries boiled down to a syrup-like consistency I could add in the way you would use caramel to create a turtle brownie. This led me to the jam aisle, where I went straight for the St. Dalfour brand because it's a lifelong favorite and they have one of the best recipes for jam out there - very basic, very true to the original flavor, and as little sugar as possible. Armed with the Four Fruit flavor (I figured the mix of my favorite fruits would add a bit more heft to the final taste), I grabbed some extra semisweet Guittard and headed home.

 

The basic recipe for brownies is: eggs, butter, cocoa powder or melted chocolate, AP flour, vanilla, granulated sugar, and a bit of salt. Beyond that, it's a matter of figuring out what else you want to go into the recipe and futzing around with the ratio of ingredients to compensate.

To start, pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, and beat the eggs until combined in a large mixing bowl (this is another one-bowl recipe - yay!). Add the granulated sugar, vanilla, salt, and melted butter, mixing until combined as well. Next, add in the cocoa powder and flour, introducing the cocoa first and stirring carefully until it is assimilated before adding the flour (stirring to quickly will result in a cloud of powder in your face). Finally, add in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into a greased 13 x 9 pan (glass or metal).

  

This is where we get creative. To control the application of jam to the batter, I fashioned a quick pastry bag out of a ziploc bag. The easiest way to do this is to roll the top of the bag over, so it stands up on its own and keeps the top of the bag from getting covered in jam. Next, spoon the jam (I used the entire jar) into the bag and seal shut.

 

Once the bag is ready, hold it so that the jam is at one corner of the bag, and cut a small opening in the corner (no more than 1/2 inch wide).

 

 

 At this point, you can start adding the jam to the brownie batter, tracing a smooth S-curve from one side of the pan to the other, working your way down the dish. *I used a 'natural' jam that had seeds in it, so the opening in the ziploc bag did clog at times; go slowly and don't worry if this happens or you get too much jam in one spot, we're going to fix that in the next step.

You should now have a trail of jam snaking through the brownie batter. Drag a sharp knife through the batter, lengthwise, so the jam trails after it, forming an arrow-like pattern in the batter. *You can also do a swirly patter or go back through with the knife to more evenly distribute the jam if you got too much in one area.

Place the pan in the oven, on the middle rack, and turn the oven from pre-heat to bake. Let bake for 50 minutes, rotating the pan at 25-30 minutes. Once done, a knife inserted into the brownies, should come out clean. Let cool completely, cut into squares, and serve.

The resulting brownie is just dark and salty enough to offset the undercurrent of fruit jam and does taste almost exactly like a chocolate covered raspberry. These taste even better day two, so let them set for 10-12 hours in a sealed container if you can hold off on eating the whole pan. As I prefer a richer brownie, I would use this batter even without the inclusion of jam. It's all about experimentation, so feel free to make up your own recipe.

Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

- 3/4 c flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 c cocoa powder
- 1 3/4 c semisweet chocolate
- 4 eggs
- 3 tbsp butter
- 10 0z jam - preferably a natural or organic type

- 1 13 x 9 pan (glass or metal - the latter will bake faster so keep an eye on it)
- 1 ziploc or pastry bag
 

Baking Time:

- 325 degrees
- 50 min