Cooking With Wine – Red Wine Brownies

Welcome to our blog series on cooking with wine in which we continue our culinary adventure with a recipe for our Red Wine Brownies. Decadence is a perfect way to end dinner with your Valentine!

Before we begin, there’s one thing that we find really handy and that’s to know a few things up front. First, how long will it take to prep, cook, set aside, refrigerate, etc. before it’s ready to eat? Second, how many people will it serve? Lastly, the grocery list.

Nice to know details

As a general rule, allow for:

• 15 minutes preparation
• 40 minutes cooking
• 10 minutes set aside
• 16 squares

Grocery List

• Bittersweet chocolate (6 ounces)
• Unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
• Granulated sugar (1 cup)
• Large eggs (2)
• Red wine (a bottle of Carménère or Zinfandel)
• Chopped walnuts (1/2 cup)
• All-purpose flour (1 cup)
• Sea salt (1/2 teaspoon)
• Pomegranate (1)

Prepare the chocolate

• Place 6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl
• Add 1/2 cup of unsalted butter
• Heat at half power for 30 seconds
• Stir
• Heat again at half power for 30 seconds
• Stir
• Repeat heating until chocolate melts during stirring
• Set aside to cool slightly

Make the batter

• Place 1 cup of granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl
• Add 2 large eggs
• Mix until thoroughly combined
• Add cooled chocolate mixture and 1/4 cup of wine
• Mix well
• Add 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts, 1 cup of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
• Mix until just combined

Bake the brownies

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Grease an 8-inch square baking pan
• Transfer the batter to the baking pan and spread evenly
• Bake 35 minutes
• Test by inserting a toothpick into the center (it should come out with moist crumbs)
• Bake another 5 minutes if it’s not quite ready
• Cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes

Serving

• Cut into 16 squares
• Garnish each square with remaining 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts
• Cut the pomegranate in half and firmly tap the outside to release the seeds over the brownies

Pairing

We recommend serving this decadent dessert with the remaining wine. It’s always best to serve the same wine used during cooking. This always helps to enhance both the flavours in the dish and also the wine.

Tips

• If you prefer pecans, you can substitute them for the walnuts
• This recipe also works great with shredded coconut instead of nuts
• You can substitute the pomegranate seeds with fresh raspberries
• Sprinkle a little icing sugar in the shape of a heart on the serving plate

We hope you enjoy this Cooking With Wine – Red Wine Brownies.