Like many things, baked goods are better with booze. Either to accompany them or as part of the recipe, you really can’t go wrong. I particularly like using booze in frostings, they can add a lot of flavor, and has the double benefit of not being able to boil off, so you still feel a little naughty when you’re eating cupcakes with booze frosting (doubly so if you’re having that cupcake for breakfast, don’t worry, I won’t tell). But a close runner up to using booze in frosting is soaking fruit in alcohol. Typically you see wine being used for this purpose, and for this recipe, a nice red or a port would be delicious. But I made these brownies on Independence Day, so to add a dose of Americana, I went with bourbon. Specifically I went with Woodford Reserve, as that’s the bourbon we tend to keep in stock, but really, it’s up to you and your preferences. And of course, you can make this recipe just as easily by omitting the booze.
One small note: when I use fruit to infuse booze, I use fresh fruit, but when I’m infusing the fruit with booze, I use dried fruit. Either way works, really, but starting with a dried fruit means it’s absorbing the alcohol instead of replacing natural juices with alcohol, so I find you tend to keep more of the flavor in the fruit and just add booziness to it. But fresh cherries work just fine too, and if you’re omitting the alcohol, fresh is the better choice. Soaking overnight seems like the best plan.
Also, it bears mentioning that combining bourbon and chocolate in this way might make people fall in love with you. Bake at your own risk.
Brownies with Bourbon-Soaked Cherries
Inspired by Cook’s Illustrated- 2c dried or fresh cherries
- 1c bourbon
- ⅓c Dutch-processed cocoa
- 1½ tsp instant espresso (optional)
- ½ c + 2 tblsp boiling water
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
- 4 tblsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
- ½c + 2 tblsp vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2½ cups (17½ ounces) sugar
- 1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) all-purpose flour
- ¾ tsp salt
- 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into ½-inch pieces, or chocolate chips
- Hot fudge sauce (optional)
Soak the cherries in the bourbon for as little as an hour or two, as long as a couple days. I soaked mine overnight, that seemed all that was necessary.
When the cherries have soaked to your satisfaction, adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving about a one-inch overhang on all sides. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk cocoa, espresso powder, and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. (Mixture may look curdled.) Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces. Drain the cherries (reserve the bourbon, it’s tasty and cherry-flavored now!), and fold those in as well.
Scrape batter into prepared pan and, if you want a little extra fudginess, you can pour stripes of hot fudge on the batter, and run a toothpick parallel to the fudge lines to make a pretty pattern. Bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 1½ hours (I know it’s hard to not dig right in, but they’re impossible to cut when they’re hot).
Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Looks AMAZING!