Birthday Brownies for the Boys

Mike’s 30th birthday is tomorrow, so I wanted to make a birthday treat for him to take to work tonight. I thought about cupcakes, but Mike mentioned brownies sounded good, and I’ve recently come across several recipes I want to try. I narrowed it down to either Whiskey Brownies or Mocha Brownies with Coffee Frosting. I had every intention of making Whiskey Brownies when I arrived home from work and the store, but alas…no whiskey anywhere in the house. Mocha Brownies it was!! The brownie recipe itself was simple enough. I used butter-flavor Crisco sticks for the shortening, because that’s what I had in the house. They baked up fairly nicely. I went to book club after I pulled them from the oven so they’d have plenty of time to cool before I frosted them. If you want a big melty mess, go ahead and try frosting warm brownies or cake, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The brownies batter was REALLY thick.
Be sure to spread it evenly in your pan.

 The frosting really was the best part of these…I can see how you could make packaged brownies really outstanding just by topping them with this. I think it would be tasty on many other things, too, especially a chocolate sheet cake. I think next time I make these brownies (I’m sure there will be a next time), I might try incorporating raspberry extract in place of the vanilla extract. I can only imagine a chocolate/coffee/raspberry combo would only be better! I found this recipe on www.food.com (formerly Recipezaar). It’s Recipe #103762. I’m not going to retype the entire recipe here, but I will include the delicious frosting so you can try it right away.
Note: The confectioners’ sugar should be sifted. I used to skip this step, as it just seemed like one more bowl to clean up afterwards, but it really does help achieve a smoother, creamier frosting (same rule applies to cakes and such). I measure the confectioners’ sugar in a fine sieve and shake it directly into my mixing bowl.

Coffee Frosting
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 to 3 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1½ tablespoons milk

Cream the butter and vanilla together in a bowl. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar on medium speed (I start on low so the sugar doesn’t explode everywhere, but hey, it’s your kitchen J ). The mixture will look fairly dry and crumbly here, but don't worry. Dissolve the coffee granules in the milk in a small cup and then mix into the sugar mixture. Beat on high until light and fluffy.
Pay no attention to the missing corner. After all, I couldn't
send them in without tasting them first, right?



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