I’ve combined everything I could possibly want in a brownie - something moist, fudgey, gooey, sticky and loaded with intense chocolate - then hit it with a shot of fresh espresso and a generous drizzle of dark salty caramel.
- plus there’s some fresh Medjool dates on top for good measure.
What makes this so surprisingly delicious is the combination of miso and coffee in the caramel - who’d have thought it would work but it does. I discovered this quite by accident and I am really loving the flavours together.
The brownies are also great on their own and last for days - try them warm and oozy or place them in the fridge to create a fudge like firmer cake that is so great as a mini treat cut into cubes.
The caramel is quite firm when cold, so give it a little warm up before drizzling, or sprinkle come cocoa over the brownies for a less sweet treat.

Ingredients

For the espresso brownie:

200g dark chocolate ( I use Callebaut dark callets)
200g unsalted cultured butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (natural)
4 eggs (room temperature)
250g dark brown sugar
25ml shot of hot espresso
50g dutch cocoa powder
75g white spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt

For the miso coffee caramel:

250g sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon miso paste (I used Genmai )
30ml espresso (or 1 teaspoon instant coffee in 30ml hot water)
125ml thickened cream
50g unsalted butter

200g Fresh Medjool dates (optional)

Extra cocoa for dusting

Extra butter to grease the tin

Instructions

To make the brownies:

Preheat the oven to 165 degrees Celsius, fan forced.
Grease and line a square brownie tin with baking paper so that it hangs over two edges. (this helps to lift the brownie out).
Cut the butter into cubes.
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate together. Mix in the vanilla essence. Set aside and allow to cool.
Alternatively melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl, but heating in short bursts and stirring regularly.
Whisk the eggs using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer until frothy then beat in the sugar and hot espresso. Keep beating on high until foamy and paler. (it will still be quite runny).
Fold in the cooled chocolate/butter mixture and mix gently but well, making sure you combine any chocolate that sinks to the bottom of the bowl.
Whisk together the spelt flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Sift over the ingredients in the mixing bowl and fold in until combined.
Pour into the prepared tin. Tap a few times on the kitchen bench to get rid of any large bubbles then bake in the oven until just risen and still slightly gooey in the centre. This will take about 20 minutes. You want the edges to be a little firmer, and a skewer inserted in the centre to come out with wet crumbs. The cake will be just starting to dome.
Remove and allow to cool in the tin and firm up.
Transfer onto a rack and cut into squares to serve.

For the coffee miso caramel:

Place a large heavy saucepan over medium to high heat and sprinkle the sugar over the base a little at a time until it has all caramelised to a deep amber colour. If the sugar is not melting, add a little water to assist and keep swilling the pot.
Whisk together the hot coffee and miso to loosen it.
Warm the cream in the microwave or over the stove in a small saucepan until just hot to touch.
Remove the toffee as soon as it has reached the right colour and carefully pour in the cream. Be careful as it will spit initially. Use a whisk to combine the cream and toffee well, then whisk in the coffee/miso mixture until there are no lumps.
Cut the butter into small cubes then slowly add it cube by cube to the caramel, whisking as you do so to amalgamate everything.

To serve:

Tear apart some dates and remove the pip.

Serve the brownies, topped with date halves and drizzled with hot caramel.

Cream or ice-cream would also be a delicious accompaniment to make it completely decadent.

Note:

I used a 23cm non stick square pan from bakemaster.com.au to make these. The heavy gauge of this tin produces a great result and there is minimal need for greasing.

The recipe makes 16 large square brownies and plenty of caramel.