Recipe: Delectable Cherry Brownies with chocolate Ganache

Folks wanted to know what I did that won the Brownie contest at work, so here ya go. Fairly simple and straight-forward.

Cherry Brownies Recipe
I did not make the brownies by hand, I figure next time I probably will but this was quick and easy. I wanted to taste test ideas before I went out to get all the ingredients.

Any box brownie recipe will do, Ghiradelli makes a really good one with its own fudge topping if you don’t want to make ganache. But the ganache is excellent so..

– The only difference is that I replace any water with maraschino cherry juice instead, to give it that cherry flavor (idea thanks to Irene).
– Also embed several maraschino cherries in the batter itself about an inch apart. Will require the brownies to bake a little longer than recommended because of the excess cherry juice from the cherries.

Ganache Recipe
8 oz semisweet chocolate (I use dove’s milk chocolate)
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp of cherry juice from jarred maraschino cherries
2 tbsp cognac or brandy (optional, I haven’t used)

Heat cream, butter, and juice until boiling. Throw in chocolate and turn heat to low, stirring constantly until thoroughly mixed (I even used a mixer for this).

Pour ganache over the brownies while still warm, should make an even coating on its own, but don’t bother trying to cut until it’s sat a little while. It’s just a gooey mess if you do 😀 (I know!)

Now some say you should let the brownies cool before pouring the ganache over, but I didn’t and it made the brownies extremely moist. Depends on how moist you want the brownies, I reckon. Personally I loved how they turned out.

Serve warm with a side of vanilla icecream to cut the richness of the brownies. For the brownie contest I also garnished with a spring of two fresh cherries.