Brownie Sundae

Description:

The brownie sundae is a classic American dessert that you can find anywhere, from restaurants to ice cream shops. Both the brownie and the ice cream sundae can trace their origins back to the late 1800’s, although it is not entirely clear when these two dishes were combined precisely. As a fun fact, the ice cream sundae is spelled “sundae” instead of “Sunday” because retailers didn’t want to confuse retailers by advertising a “Sunday Special” and lead them to believe that this dish was only available on Sunday. Below, I have included recipes for several different types of toppings for a brownie sundae. The most classic is probably whipped cream, hot fudge and peanuts, and sometimes caramel sauce. I personally am a fan of peanut caramel sauce in this dessert, which you can sometimes find as an option in restaurants, so I included a recipe for that as well. Feel free to mix and match and even use a different flavor of ice cream - at the end of the day, its about what you like!

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop vanilla ice cream

• 1 chocolate brownie - see this recipe courtesy of Brian Lagerstrom

• Chopped peanuts

Whipped Cream:

• 1 cup cold heavy cream

• 2 tsp granulated sugar

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Caramel Sauce

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

• 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 tbsp heavy cream

• 1 pinch of salt

Regular Caramel Sauce:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Hot Fudge Sauce:

• 2 oz dark chocolate

• 2 tbsp sugar

• 1 pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

To make the whipped cream, add the ingredients to a bowl and whip with an electric beater, using the whisk attachment. Beat until it is thickened and it can hold its shape when you turn the whisk attachment upside down.

To make the peanut caramel sauce, melt the butter and brown sugar in a pan over medium heat. Add the peanut butter and stir until incorporated. Add the heavy cream and cook for 1-2 minutes until the mixture is bubbly and thick. Turn off the heat and stir in the salt.

To make the regular caramel sauce, add the sugar and water to a pan and heat over medium. As it cooks, the water will evaporate and the sugar will eventually start to bubble. Regarding the cook time, this will vary by what heat it is cooked at. You could cook this sauce on medium low heat, and it will probably take 30-45 minutes to caramelize. I personally start it off at medium high heat and turn the heat to medium once the sugar starts to caramelize, which make the whole process take about 10 minutes. It all comes down to comfortability. After a little, the sugar will start to caramelize and turn a light brown color - at this point, add the heavy cream and season with the salt.

To make the hot fudge, heat the sugar and heavy cream over medium heat. Once the mixture starts to bubble, turn off the heat and add the chocolate and salt. Stir until a thick sauce forms.

To assemble the sundae, heat up the brownie in an oven or microwave until soft. Add to a bowl and top with ice cream. Drizzle over your sauces of choice and top that with whipped cream and nuts. A classic way to garnish this is with a dessert cherry on top.

Notes:

• Whenever you are cooking caramel sauce, do not walk away from the stove because it can burn very quickly.

• Be extra careful when cooking caramel sauce because the sugar mixture is extremely hot.