Cricut Cake Machine and Mascarpone Brownies with Ganache

Sunday, seems so long ago, we went to Michaels for some packaging material. Once we walked in, there was a woman giving a demonstration for something called Cricut Cake.

This machine is an electronic cutter for cake and confection decorating. The original machine was for paper crafting and I’m not into that so I had no idea about the interesting features of such a thing. Greg even stood through the entire demo and asked more questions than I did. Bizarro land. I think it reminded him of a CNC machine and his career.

The Cricut Cake device takes edible sheets of paper and cuts out shapes of fondant and such. I’m still hazy on any details…I’m not a cake decorator but if I were and I had at least $1,000 to spend, I would consider purchasing this machine and many of its accessories. Check out the http://www.cricut.com/ website (at that link) and tell me if you’ve heard about it. I’m curious because I hadn’t until last weekend. Pretty nifty.

I’m sure it wasn’t that long ago that I posted a dessert but it feels like it to me so today I’m providing a gem of a brownie recipe from Une-Deux Senses. No ordinary brownie, these have mascarpone mixed in the batter and a ganache topping. I halved and adjusted the amount of chocolate. (I thought it could use more.)

I don’t work very often with this Italian, creamy cheese. For one, it’s hard to find around here and another reason is that it can be pricey. I think the cheese is worth it for a recipe or two every so often. Difficult to explain, it’s one of those ingredients that you just need to try and this brownie recipe is the way to go. Mascarpone is also used in tiramisu and other Italian dishes. How do you use it?

Mascarpone Brownies with Ganache from Une-Deux Senses
Makes 8 to 10 (halved the recipe)

Ingredients:
½ cup butter
3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup mascarpone cheese, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
¼ cup flour
pinch of salt

Ganache:
3 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 ½ tbsp unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 325. Butter a square cake plan (8-inch recommended).

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and bring it near a boil. Add the chopped chocolate to a mixing bowl and pour the melted butter over the top. Mix until smooth. Sift the sugar and cocoa into the mixture. With a wooden spoon, stir in the mascarpone, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the flour and salt, then pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack and cool completely.

When cool, make the ganache by bringing the cream and butter just below a boil in a saucepan. Pour over the chopped chocolate and allow to sit for 30 seconds before stirring smooth. Pour over the brownies, spread evenly, and wait until the ganache becomes firm before cutting and serving.