Four-Part Harmony Brownies

This ain't yo momma's brownie



The four secret ingredients in these brownies will make you want to sing! 



I wanted to bring my choir an easy-to-make treat for a long day of rehearsing, so brownies seemed like a good idea.  I'll admit it - I was planning to use a mix - but I looked at the ingredients on the box when I was at the store, and just couldn't bring myself to buy it.  I quickly found a basic recipe online (on my phone, in the middle of Target, thanks to the wonders of technology and all that), purchased the ingredients I didn't have on hand already, and scurried home to make a delicious pan of brownies from scratch.

But since I'm...well, how I am...I had to modify the recipe to suit my whims and preferences. 



My version yields a velvety, dense chocolate brownie that is crunchy on the outside and full of rich, gooey goodness on the inside.  These brownies have an exotic flavor, thanks to the addition of muscovado sugar, cinnamon, coconut oil, and fleur de sel; however, I wouldn't call them "salted cinnamon coconut brown sugar brownies" because the flavors are subtle, playing a supporting role to the chocolate and making a basic, classic dessert just a little more sophisticated.

I'd use an obvious choir metaphor about all the parts blending perfectly in tune, but why embarrass myself?

Read more after the jump...

Plum Tarte Tatin

I'm wild about tartes tatin.  A tarte tatin (tart ta-TAN, except you don't pronounce the "n") is a French upside-down fruit tart in which the fruit is baked in caramel with crust on top, and then flipped over so the crust is on the bottom and the fruit is on top.

A brief history of tartes tatin can be found here.  (As a side note, I want to be a culinary historian when I grow up.  How cool would that be...for me?)



Traditionally, a tarte tatin is made with apples, but there are skads of recipes on the internet using other fruit. I had a a bunch of plums from the CSA and a sheet of puff pastry to use - and a few hours to kill - so I decided to tackle plum version.  I'd already ventured into tarte territory a few weeks prior with a wonderful savory tomato version, so I was ready.



The result was delightful, and a wonderful balance of tart (not tarte) and sweet.  I brought to work so I wouldn't eat the entire pan on my own.  My coworkers kept going back to the pan to sneak tiny pieces throughout the workday. 

(As another side note, I don't care for pie, and this is basically pie, but I love it.  Maybe because it's puff pastry instead of pie crust.  Except that I love pie crust.  But not pie.)

Click through to read on for the recipe.