Chocolate-Orange Brownies

This little beauty of a recipe was accidentally stashed on the wrong Pin board, and as soon as I rediscovered it, I knew it was time.  Jeff makes some killer homemade brownies, and he suggested we use his recipe, but I wanted to do it exactly the way the original had it.

I'll put the original recipe on here, but I will probably never make it the same way again.  The alcohol is mixed (uncooked) into the cream topping, and it tastes pretty boozy.  That sort of bitter taste ruined the brownies for me.  Don't get me wrong, I love me my booze.  Nothin like coming home from a Monday and knockin back a bottle of wine (ok, not a whole bottle) or going out on Friday with friends for beer.  But this was too much.

When I make this in the future, I'll pass on the alcohol.  There is enough orange zest to give it the flavor.  We also discussed using raspberry extract instead of orange zest to make raspberry brownies, but we haven't tried it yet.  I'll let you know how that goes if we try it!  The orange flavoring was heavenly, and the brownies without the topping were soooo delicious.

Here's the original recipe... if you like the strong alcohol flavor, keep it.  If not, removing the liqueur shouldn't change the liquid ratio enough to alter the consistency.  Maybe we'll try it again soon!

Enjoy!

Chocolate-Orange Brownies
Adapted from Liv Life

Brownies:

5 ounces unsweetened chocolate 

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 

1-1/4 cup sugar 

2 teaspoons grated orange peel 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

3 large eggs 

3/4 cup all purpose flour

Topping:

1/2 cup whipping cream 

1 teaspoon grated orange peel 

5 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate (I use about 1 cup chocolate chips) 

1/4 tsp vanilla extract  

3 tablespoons Grand Marnier (Jeff's favorite but you can use other orange liqueur)

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.  Line 8x8-inch metal baking pan with foil (this makes it easy to move around).  
2. Melt unsweetened chocolate and unsalted butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth; cool slightly.  I've been lazy and just do it in the microwave, which works just as well.  If you do that, do it in short bursts of 20-30 seconds.  
3. Whisk sugar, grated orange peel, vanilla extract and salt in a large bowl.  Add slightly cooled chocolate to the sugar mixture.  Whisk in eggs 1 at a time, then continue whisking until mixture is smooth and velvety. Add flour and whisk just to blend. Transfer batter to prepared metal baking pan. 
4. Bake brownies about 35 minutes. Using the foil, lift the brownies out of the pan to a wire rack.  Cool completely.
5. To make the topping, bring cream and orange peel to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat.  Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk in 1/4 tsp vanilla and Grand Marnier (if you choose to use it).  Refrigerate until thick enough to spread, stirring occasionally.
6. Spread topping over brownies. Refrigerate until topping is cold, about 1 hour. Using a hot knife, carefully cut the brownies into squares.  Let brownies warm to room temperature before serving.