Dark Chocolate and Lemon Curd Brownies
Makes 18-24 Brownies
Lemon Curd:
¾ cup fresh lemon juice (I use a combination of lemons and clementine oranges – 3 lemons and 2 clementines will usually give me about ¾ cup juice)
10 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar (divided)
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
Dark Chocolate Brownies:
1 lb. dark chocolate chips
24 Tbsp (three sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
6 Tbsp dark cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp fine sea salt
1 ½ tsp expresso powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp chili powder
Zest of one lemon
8 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla paste
1) The night before: Make your lemon curd. Juice your fruit to give you ¾ cup fresh juice. In a medium bowl, whisk together the two eggs, three yolks and ¼ cup granulated sugar. In a heavy bottom saucepan, over medium heat, heat the butter, juice and ¾ cup granulated sugar, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has melted, and the mix is just beginning to simmer. Slowly pour the warm juice mix into the eggs, whisking the entire time. Return the mix to the saucepan and return to a medium heat. Heat the mixture until it thickens and the first bubble of a boil pops – stirring the entire time! Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a container, cover the top of the curd with a piece of plastic wrap and chill overnight.
2) The next morning: Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line two 8-inch square baking pans with parchment (see picture below).
3) Place a bowl over a pan of just simmering water and melt together the dark chocolate and the butter. Lightly whisk until smooth, remove from the heat and whisk in the sugars until fully combined. Let cool for five minutes.
4) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt, espresso powder, cinnamon, chili powder and lemon zest.
5) In a third bowl, lightly whisk the eight eggs and then add to the chocolate, whisking until fully combined.
6) Fold in the dry mix until just combined. Fill each of the prepared pans with about 3 cups of the batter. Spoon the remaining batter into a pastry bag with a ½-inch tip in the bottom. Spoon the lemon curd into a second pastry bag with a ½-inch tip in the bottom.
7) First, pipe a border of the brownie batter around the edges of each pan. Then alternate lines of lemon curd and brownie batter (see picture below). Starting on the left side of the pan, drag a chop stick from top to bottom and then from bottom to top, alternating across the pan to achieve the decoration.
8) Bake the brownies for 45-50 minutes until just fully set and slightly puffed. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing each pan into nine or twelve brownies.
