Tiramisu Brownies

I am a huge fan of coffee and coffee-related foods, so tiramisu is obviously a favorite of mine. When the concept of a Tiramisu Brownie was mentioned, I was immediately excited. What a fantastic combination of desserts!

Barista Prima  Coffeehouse® K-Cup® packs are four dark, rich coffee blends that really deliver an intense flavor that are more bold and robust than other K-Cup offerings. The four flavors offered are: Colombia, House Blend, Italian Roast, and French Roast. I’ve had a Keurig for years now (I just had to retire my original Keurig and buy a replacement, sniffle) and am always really pleased with the coffee choices that can be found in K-Cup form. I tend to use coffee grounds in a bunch of recipes, especially ones that use chocolate, to really up the flavor.

Barista Prima was nice enough to send me a box of their House Blend K-Cups so I naturally wanted to make a dish that used these delicious grounds as well as a dessert that would be perfect paired with a cup of House Blend coffee. Many thanks to Barista Prima for also sending me this mouthwatering recipe!

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. chocolate chips
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 whole eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup cake flour (or normal flour if you can’t find it)
• Brewed House Blend coffee grounds, to taste
• 8 oz. Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
• 8 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 egg whites
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Pkg. Soft Ladyfingers
• 1 cup of Barista Prima House Blend Coffee

Place a large metal bowl over a simmering pot of water. Add the chocolate and melt, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. (I find using a silicone mitt like EKCO, which I used here, to be really helpful when trying to melt chocolate. You can get a grip on the metal bowl without burning yourself).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13×9 baking pan with parchment paper, with some extra paper sticking over the sides. Add chocolate to a mixing bowl and beat in the butter.

Add 1 cup of sugar, 4 eggs, and 4 egg whites.

The original recipe called for coffee extract, which I didn’t have. Instead, I opened one of the k cups and added in some of the grinds (maybe 1/2 teaspoon) and added that to the mixture. Follow with the flour. Mix on low speed until just combined.

Reserve 1 cup of the batter to the side. Pour the remaining batter into the prepared baking pan.

Lay the ladyfingers upside down on top of batter, and push down slightly. (You can break them as needed to fit)

Brew your cup of coffee. Using a pastry brush, carefully brush the Barista Prima Coffee over the lady fingers until they are saturated.

In another bowl combine the mascarpone cheese, cream cheese, and 1/4 cup sugar, 4 egg whites and vanilla extract.

Spread the topping over ladyfingers.

Place spoonful of brownie batter on top of the creamy filling and swirl it lightly with a toothpick or knife. (I think I kind of failed at this. Oh well.)

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set and brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan.

Cool completely in the pan before slicing it.

I’ll let you know now, waiting for the brownies to cool completely could be used as a form of torture. They smell so good, and this just seems like a dessert that would be best when still warm.

The ladyfingers keep these brownies really fluffy and the taste of tiramisu is absolutely there. I wish I was able to make the top a little more pretty but the taste more than makes up for that!

Don’t forget to enjoy these brownies with a cup of Barista Prima’s House Blend to get the most out of your dessert. Yum!