Passover Salted Caramel Brownies

The full recipe is in my  PDF downloadable cookbook, Amazing Passover Desserts. 
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If you'd like to see the ingredient list and what's involved before buying, read on.

You will truly amaze your guests with these rich and decadent bars.  What makes Passover caramel brownies challenging is that you'll need to make the caramel from scratch, rather than using caramel candies, and you can't use corn syrup, which helps to keep caramel from crystallizing.    For Passover, I've replaced corn syrup with honey and added a little lemon juice.  The lemon juice not only helps to cut the cloying sweetness of honey, but it also helps prevent crystallization.  Vanilla also helps to mellow the honey flavor and allow the caramel taste to come through.

 If you can find a 60% chocolate to use in these, you’ll have the richest flavor possible.  Nuts are definitely optional.

Dairy

MAKES 12-16 BARS

TIPS

Buy Passover extract at www.kosher.com or www.allinkosher.com .  Alternatively, scrape out the seeds from 1/3 of a Niellsen-Massey^® vanilla bean, add to the sugar and continue with recipe.  Reserve the bean for another use, or packaged vanilla sugar can also be used.  Make sure to read the instructions on the sugar, as strength varies.

For chocolate chips, go to: www.choclat.com or www.ohnuts.com or www.allinkosher.com

Caramel Filling

water

mild honey (such as Clover)

granulated sugar

heavy cream

unsalted butter

Passover vanilla, vanilla bean or vanilla sugar (see above)

flaked or kosher salt, optional
lemon juice

Brownie Base

unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size chunks

60% Passover Chocolate chips AND Passover semisweet chocolate chips, divided  OR use all semisweet chocolate

granulated sugar

Passover vanilla extract (or water)

water

large eggs, room temperature

matzo cake meal

pecan or walnut pieces, optional

For the Caramel

        You’ll need a large pot to make the caramel, as it tends to foam and rise as it is cooking and when the cream is added.  I use a 5-quart, but a 4-quart would probably be fine, too.  Because you can’t use corn syrup for Passover, you’ll be using honey, which already has a brownish cast to it, so it will be very difficult to gauge the color if you use a non-stick pan.  A heavy-gauge stainless pot works best, reducing cooking time, and providing even heat to reduce burning.


    Off heat, place the water,  honey and lemon juice into  the pot, and stir gently to mix the ingredients together.  Very gently, begin to add in the sugar by pouring a little sugar into the center of the pot, and pushing the water mixture from the outside of the pan to the center.  You won’t be stirring, but pushing towards the center, as if you are on a clockface and pushing from each number towards the center.  Continue to add the sugar, and push until all of the sugar is moistened.

     Place the pot over medium-low heat, and continuing in the pushing manner, heat the mixture until it begins to simmer (keep the heat low, as you want the sugar to dissolve before it starts to actively simmer).

     Cover the pot, increase the heat to medium, and cook for 3-5 minutes.  The mixture should be bubbling and clearish – meaning that all of the sugar has dissolved.  Uncover the pot, raise the heat to medium-high, and continue to cook for 3-10 minutes WITHOUT STIRRING, until the mixture is medium amber in color (the time will depend on the pot you use and your cooktop).

         While the sugar is cooking, combine the cream and butter in a microwave-safe container, and microwave it for 30 seconds to heat it and melt the butter. 

            
      Before you stir in the cream, it is imperative that you wash off the spoon, so that when you stir in the cream, there aren’t any undissolved sugar crystals that get re-introduced, as these will make the caramel grainy (that’s why you’ve elaborately pushed the sugar, rather than stirring – to avoid sugar crystals clinging to the sides of the pan).  Once the sugar mixture is the color you want, tip the pain away from you, and add the cream mixture all at once. Stir in the salt.  Stir gently until the mixture is smooth and slightly thickened. 


      Pour the mixture into a Pyrex bowl or other heat-resistant container, and stir in the vanilla.  Set the mixture aside to cool and thicken.

For the Brownie

         PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 350 ^oF with a shelf in the middle of the oven.  Line an 8-inch square cake pan with two layers of aluminum foil, so that the whole inside of the pan is covered in foil.  Grease and sprinkle with matzo cake meal.

            

1.     Place the butter and the 1 cup of bittersweet chocolate (or 1 cup of semisweet chips if the other isn’t available) in a large microwavable container.  Microwave on power 5 (medium) for 2 minutes.  Stir to blend.  If the chips and butter are not melted, continue to heat in 30-second intervals on power 5, until everything is melted.  Stir well to mix the ingredients together. Whisk in the sugar, vanilla extract and the water.

2.     Whisk the eggs together and then whisk them to the chocolate mixture, constantly whisking until they are well mixed in.  Using a wooden spoon, whisk in the matzo cake meal, in six additions, until well blended. Spread about half of the batter into the prepared pan (this will be about 1-1/4 cups batter, and it should form a layer that is a little thicker than 1/8-inch thick).

3.     Sprinkle 1/3 cup of semisweet chocolate chips over the batter, and press them in so that none of them are exposed. Stir the remaining 1/3 cup chocolate chips into the reserved batter.

4.     Place the pan in the middle of the oven, and BAKE for 15-20 MINUTES until the top dulls and is no longer moist-looking.  Set the pan on a cooling rack.  Using the bottom of a wooden spoon, gently poke 16-20 holes in the brownie layer.  These will pool with caramel and will taste fabulous when the brownies are cooked.  Let the brownie cool for 15 minutes.

5.     If the caramel is too sticky, add 1 teaspoon cream to it, and microwave on high for 30 seconds.  It should now be spoonable.  If it isn’t add another ½ teaspoon cream, and microwave for 10 seconds (you want it thick enough so that it won’t run out of the brownie or down the sides of the top, but you don’t want it so sticky that it is unpleasant in the mouth).  Spoon all but 1/3 cup of caramel onto the brownie, paying attention to fill the holes.  You don’t need to go to the edges because these will be cut off.  Sprinkle the nuts over the caramel layer.   Let the caramel firm up for 15 minutes.

6.     Spoon on the remaining chocolate batter in “globs”, and then gently spread them together so that the brownie batter covers the caramel. Set the pan back in the oven, and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the top looks dullish and cooked.  Do not do a crumb test, as the caramel and melted chocolate chips will make it seem that the brownie isn’t cooked even when it is done.  It’s better to err on the side of underdone, as you can always refrigerate for a little while to firm the brownies up, but if they are overcooked they will taste dry and the matzo meal flavor will overtake the taste.

7.     Transfer the pan to a cooling rack.  Let the brownies cool completely, and then refrigerate for about 40 minutes – just enough to make them firm enough to cut, but not so much that the chocolate chips get hard.

8.     To cut the brownies, lift the whole thing out of the pan, using the aluminum foil to transfer it to a cutting board.  The brownies will be stuck to the sides of the foil.  Do not attempt to remove the foil, or the brownies will break apart.  Instead, cut off the outer quarter-inch of brownie from all sides.  Once this is done, you’ll be able to cut the brownies into bars.  They are very rich, so cut small squares.

To decorate like the opening photo, melt 1 ounce chocolate with 1 teaspoon oil.  Pour the mixture into a plastic bag, make a tiny hole in the tip, and drizzle on a decoration.  Repeat with caramel, if desired.

The brownies can also be decorated with just caramel and a sprinkling of flake (fleur de sel) or kosher salt (for true salted caramel lovers only).  If the reserved caramel has been refrigerated, microwave it for 10-20 seconds, just so that it will run, but is thick enough to pool on the brownies and not run down the sides too much.  Use about ¼ teaspoon total amount of salt.  For the flake salt, you might want to just crush it between your fingers before sprinkling a tiny bit on the top of each pool of caramel.

For brownies that are a bit more firm and fudgy, refrigerate the brownies for at least 2 hours, but remove them from the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.

MORE TIPS

The amount of cream isn’t exact because ingredients and equipment vary. If you add too little cream, the caramel will be sticky – like candy.  If too much, it will be runny and the brownies will be messy and hard to cut.  After you make them a few times with your own equipment and the kind of butter and cream you like, you’ll figure out exactly what to do.

How to cut the brownies:  Use a long, sturdy knife, and have a warm damp cloth and a towel nearby.  Saw through the top crust with a serrated knife and then press down and through the brownie.  After each cut, draw the knife out, rather than pulling it up, and wipe it with the damp cloth and then dry it before the next cut.  This technique will eliminate crumbs and mess from getting on the top of each brownie.

CAN PREPARE AHEAD 

Room temperature or Refrigerated – 2 days, Frozen – 3 months

      Serve at room temperature.



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