Bourbon Caramel Brownies

Let me tell you about my FAVORITE holiday of the year.  It involves Spring weather, show-stopping hats, bourbon,  and very fast horses!  It’s The Kentucky Derby and just around the corner!

Here’s why the Derby is so so great whether you’re in Louisville Kentucky or not – it’s not just the greatest two minutes in sports – it’s an all-encompassing celebration of Southern food, cocktail, and style.  Y’all, we’re lifestyling!

While flocks of people to Churchill Downs every May for Mint Juleps, horses, and Southern-style hat fashion, for years I’ve been celebrating the Derby with my dear Kentucky friend Whitney.  We’ve gone full out with hats and  floral head pieces, piles of chicken, rows and rows of Mint Juleps, potato salad, betting, and of course…. we’d all rowdy cheer for the horses, but only after singing My Old Kentucky Home.  It’s like, for this one day a year, if you have a Mint Julep in hand, you’re an honorary (very proud) Kentuckian.

We have very good reason to celebrate the 144th Kentucky Derby this year.  We’re alive and thriving, reason number one!  Reason number two, there’s a incredible amount of iconic Southern food to celebrate whether or not we’re at Churchill Downs cheering.  Consider the Kentucky Derby your next party inspiration because it’s not just a race, it’s totally a lifestyle!

We’re making brownies today to celebrate the upcoming Derby and a little more caramel never hurt anyone, I’m sure of it!

For our Derby-inspired menu I made:

Grilled Pimento Ham and Cheese Sandwiches!  Think, melty pimento cheese, crunchy grilled bread, and salty ham in one bite!

and

Sweet Potato Potato Salad with Yogurt and Mint!  A very playful spin on traditional potato salad that’s lightly sweet, tangy and bright with a hint of that Derby’s iconic mint.

But let’s get to making these brownies because friends… there is bourbon… there is caramel.  If you make these – I swear, it’s like we all win.

Brownies are, no matter how many fancy baking techniques you might learn, always one of the most satisfying things to make.

It starts with a homemade double boiler:  a pan of shallow simmering water, and a heat proof bowl for butter.

To the butter we’ll add semi-sweet chocolate chips.

If you don’t have chips, but you have a bar of semisweet chocolate you can coarsely chop…. go for it! There’s no wrong way to chocolate here.

We’ll also add a good dose of unsweetened chocolate to melt along with the butter and chocolate chips.  All of the chocolate will add richness and balance.

Stir until melted and glossy.  It’ll only take 5 minutes or so.

A double boiler help ensure that the chocolate won’t burn or seize as it melts. The steam heat is more gentle and guarantees a good melt.

To the melted chocolate and butter we’ll add a cup of granulated sugar.

The mixture may seem grainy and it’s stirred together. Not to worry! That’s normal.

Whisking in two eggs, one at a time, will solve that grainy problem.

The eggs will smooth the mixture to thick and glossy.

Set the chocolate mixture aside, and we’ll stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

It’s time for all that glossy chocolate to make its way into the dry ingredients.

Fold the batter until there are no hidden pockets of flour or cocoa powder and then spoon it into a parchment lined square pan.  Set aside because it’s time to whip up a caramel swirl!

I’ve found that if you add straight caramel to these brownies, they’re disappear into the brownies, offering sweetness, but no distinct swirls.  We’re in it for the swirls.

We’ll add some stability to the bourbon caramel so it has something to sit with in these brownies.  Cream cheese, powdered sugar, and add egg yolk will help support the caramel swirl.

Start by whipping together the powdered sugar, cream cheese, and egg yolk.  The mixture will be thick, but smooth.

This caramel is made from scratch by simmering water, sugar, and corn syrup until the sugar begins to brown and… you guessed it – caramelize!  Once the mixture simmers to a deep amber color, we’ll remove it from the heat and quickly whisk in butter and heavy cream.  The fat is what gives caramel it’s lusciously pliable richness.  And!  To finish off the the hot caramel: a generous pinch of sea salt and a big splash or two of bourbon.

You may remember making caramel for the Salted Caramel Cheesecake Pie.  It seems intimidating but if you can boil water, you can boil sugar for caramel – I promise.

The caramel needs to be made ahead of time and allowed to cool before it whipped into the cream cheese mixture.

The whole concoction will be pale and thick, undeniably delicious… and we’ll add an extra splash of bourbon because we’re in it to win it.

Now, this is a generous amount of caramel sauce for this proportion of brownies.  This isn’t a mistake.  We’re living large.

Spoon the caramel on top of the unbaked brownie batter.

And use a butterknife to gently swirl the two together.

I like to leave big streaks between the two batters so all of our hard work and bold flavors shine through. We’ve come so far; let’s not muddy these brownies.

The brownies will bake in a low oven for about 45 minutes – until the jiggle has settled in the center and the top looks dry.

Now the hard part.  The brownies need to cool to room temperature before they’re removed from the pan and sliced.

Warm brownies are a fight with to slice and we don’t want to fight.

Slice into generous nines or smaller sixteens.  Whatever feels right for your gathering.

Look at this swirl, maintained!

These brownies are dark and fudgy, the caramel has depth with more than a trace of bourbon.

I might suggest making a double batch!  They’ll be hard to keep at a Derby party.  In my experience, anything bourbon related flies off the buffet spread… and since there’s chocolate involved too? These will be a goner.

I genuinely, sincerely, truly CAN NOT WAIT to see your Kentucky Derby inspired recipes.

And don’t forget we have two deliciously savory recipes for you to find inspiration from too!

Sweet Potato Potato Salad with yogurt and mint + Grilled Ham and Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

Really! I hope you enjoy this, and every Derby Day and much as I do!

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