Better than Brownies Chocolate Frosted Cake Bars

By Cdreamgirl

Ingredients

• Frosting:
• 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 cups (400 g) sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsps vanilla
• 1 cup (140 g) flour
• 3/4 cup (about 80 g) cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon, optional
• 1 cup nuts, whole or coarsely chopped, or more, as desired
• 1 1/2 cups (about 200 g) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped or chips
• 2/3 cup (165 ml) heavy whipping cream
• 2 Tbs (30 g) unsalted butter, softened

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from lifesafeast.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

(Here I must give the quantities in the cookbook: 2 cups chocolate chips, about 12 ounces/340 g; 1 cup/250 ml heavy whipping cream; 2 Tbs/30 g unsalted butter. I felt these quantities would give too much frosting. I also found that 12 ounces chocolate would come to much more than 2 cups. So I cut back on all ingredients.)

Prepare the Chocolate Brownie Cake Bars:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk or beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding the vanilla with the last egg. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt (and a teaspoon of cinnamon, if desired) and gradually beat or stir into the batter. Fold in the nuts.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until just set in the center. Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before frosting.

Prepare the frosting by melting the chocolate with the cream in a microwave; stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the softened butter; it may look curdled and greasy but continue to stir or whisk vigorously until it turns into a very smooth, creamy, glossy frosting, just a couple of minutes.

Immediately spread evenly over the chocolate cake. Allow to set before cutting into bars.