Champagne Brownies

Most people will be celebrating this evening with a bottle of bubbly.
But I thought I'd take that one step further- how about celebrating with a pan full of Champagne Brownies?
You read that correctly- brownies made with champagne! When I first came across this recipe I couldn't wait to combine two of my favorite foods (champagne and chocolate)... and the outcome was pretty tasty! I started with the following ingredients:
First, I melted the butter and chocolate in a pan on the stove...
You're probably wondering why I chose to use my french oven just to melt the chocolate and butter. Well, this batter is all made in a single pot on the stove... isn't that cool?
But back to the brownies! While things were melting on the stove, I turned my attention to the rest of the ingredients like salt...
Sugar...
Powdered sugar...
And flour.
And then I got to pop the bubbly- the best part of my afternoon!
After pouring out a cup, I added a bit of vanilla and set to work combining the batter!
I added the sugar to the melted chocolate and butter...
Once it was combined, I added the eggs (one at a time).
After the eggs came the flour...
And finally the champagne/vanilla.
After a good stir, I poured the batter into a greased 9x13 pan and placed it into a pre-heated oven.
After about 45 minutes I pulled this yummy smelling pan from the oven.
I was so excited to try these new brownies that I sliced a bar and dove right in- talk about rich! (Sorry about the look of the brownie- I didn't wait until the pan had cooled and I totally mangled the piece as I attempted to extract it from the pan!) If you'd like to try these someday, here's the recipe:
Champagne Brownies

Ingredients:
1 pound Unsweetened Chocolate
12 Tablespoons Butter
½ teaspoon Salt
2 cups Sugar
½ cup Powdered Sugar
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs
¾ cups Flour
1 cup Champagne

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. In a large pot on low heat, melt together the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat. Add the salt, sugars and vanilla. Stir together to combine. Stir in 1 egg at a time until just combined. Add the flour, stirring until just combined. Add the champagne and stir until incorporated. Transfer to a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake about 40-45 minutes, cool before serving.

What better way to toast the New Year than with a glass of bubbly and a plate of chocolate deliciousness?!
Thank you for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful New Year's Eve and a very happy and healthy 2011!

Having a ball while waiting for the ball to drop!

As 2009 drew to a close, SFS and I spent the last few hours of the year having a blast. After lingering over some delectable tapas at Sol y Sambra, we grabbed a little dessert. Have you ever been here?Cafe Lalo is a really great spot... and I'm told it was featured in You've Got Mail (but since I've never seen the movie, I can't give you much more than that). They decided to go all out for the holiday, and I loved it... check out all those gold balloons! The restaurant is full of great touches- like these cute napkins!
And the food is pretty wonderful- check out my chocolate satin cake:
SFS decided on a slice of chocolate torte with his coffee.
He really liked it...
See?
I really enjoyed it, too!
And as if that wasn't awesome enough, SFS picked up a special bottle of champagne for our first toast of the New Year!
And because I'm a big dork, I took a million pictures of the bottle.
See?
I really wasn't kidding!
Eventually SFS took control of the situation, and popped the cork!
Talk about YUM!!!
And since we STILL had more time before the ball dropped, we started playing the the camera. I practiced toasting...
While SFS' shots were WAY more artistic!
And before we new it, the ball began it's decent!
Happy 2010!
I hope you had a wonderful New Year- thank you for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2010 already- I hope the new year brings you health and happiness!