Dulche de leche Choco brownies

24th of every month is the sweetest day of our lives. Its a day that reminds us of the birth of our daughter, Vaanya. Today, it has been 2 years and 3 months of our lives full of joy and sunshine. She is growing sweeter and smarter each day. She surprises us with her knowledge that she gains from observing her surroundings and warms our heart with her very sweet words. She loves to sing her nursery rhymes esp when Vishal strums his guitar and she makes it  a point to include me in the fun. She picks up her Santa toy and swings it from side to side while singing her favourite 'Jingle bells'. Even though its not Christmas, Vaanya makes her's and our's Christmas everyday. In her ultra sweet broken pronunciation she sings the entire song in rhythm.

Today the 'Sweet day' on our blog is celebrated with double the sweetness as it is also our Amma's (Vishal's mother) birthday. She is the most amazing, caring, selfless and loving person that I know and I truly feel blessed to be called her daughter(-in-law). What I love about her, besides many more things, is her way of giving quality time to each and everyone. This also includes the number of animals we have as pets at our home in Allahabad. Today we wish her a world of happiness and lots of joy and countless birthdays to come and wish to express how much she means to everyone in our family.  

Dulche de leche was on my to-do list for a long time. I finally took the sinful plunge and could not stop myself from licking it non stop. These brownies were a must on the list to use the dulche de leche. This batch of brownies turned out a typical cakey type and extra yummy with the swirls of the sinful Dulche de leche.

Dulche de Leche - Adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients : 

• 1/2 can (200 gm) Condensed milk (I used Milkmaid)

Procedure :

Preheat oven to 220 degree Celsius.

Pour condensed milk in an ovenproof glass dish (I used a Treo square dish)

Place this within the baking tray of the oven and add hot water till it reaches halfway up the sides of the glass dish.

Cover the glass dish with an aluminium foil and bake for 1 hour.

You will need to check the water level and keep adding hot water.

The condensed milk at the end of baking time should have become very thick and turn brownish.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Once cooled down, you may transfer to a tight fitting lid bowl and refrigerate till used.(Mine was good for 2 weeks till I used it all)

Dulche de Leche Choco Brownies- Adapted from David Lebovitz. I halved the original recipe and reduced the quantity of butter, chocolate and eggs.

Ingredients :

• 50 gm unsalted Butter
• 50 gm dark chocolate, chopped in small pieces
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup sugar, powdered
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup dulche de leche, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure : 

Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius.

Line a Square or loaf pan. I used my 9X4 loaf shaped pan.

Melt butter in a pan or microwave in 10 secs interval till melted. Mine was at room temperature and therefore melted in 10 secs. 

Add the chopped chocolate pieces and stir well till all the pieces have melted.

Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth.

Add egg and stir in the sugar, vanilla and the flour.

Mix well so that all the ingredients get incorporated well.

Pour half the batter in the prepared tin. 

Drop spoonfuls of half measure of dulche de leche on the brownie batter.

Drag with a knife to give a swirl effect.

Spread the remaining brownie batter over.

Top with spoonfuls of the remaining dulche de leche and use a knife to swirl it.

Bake for 25-30 mins or till the center feels just slightly firm. 

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Slice in squares and serve.

Notes:

• If you want to make Dulche de leche in the pressure cooker, check here . The only problem is that you will have to use the entire jar. 
• Once refrigerated Dulche de leche gets very thick. To use it, microwave in 10-15 secs interval till thin or add hot cream to it and mix well.

This recipe is part of the KFB Blogging Marathon. Find what my other dear friends are making for the marathon in the following links :
A Homemaker's Diary
Silence Sings
My Food My Life
Recipe Junction

This post is also linked to Little Thumbs Up   hosted by Yen from Eat your heart out

 

Happy Brownie Eating
Amrita