Ten Ways to Fancy Up Your Brownies (or Other Desserts) Remember to put on MUSIC to make it fun! Try The Happy Song!

Here  are ten great ideas to transform your brownies into fancy desserts that will  impress your friends and delight your family.   Again with our partner The Prepared Panty, we used a number of their products for these yummy concoctions.

You’ll want to keep these ideas and recipes handy.  You’ll refer to them often for other  desserts. I used the New York Dessert Brownie mix because it makes brownies that are more cake-like, so they easily cut into nice, neat squares.

1. Sundae Brownies.  Make sundaes out of your brownies with ice cream, whipped cream, a syrup, chopped nuts, and a cherry.
2. Banana Split Brownies. Make it a banana split with sliced bananas, ice cream, whipped cream, nuts, and a syrup. 
3. Strawberry Shortcake Brownies.  Add fresh sliced strawberries and       whipped cream.  Consider Orange Cloud Whipped Cream.  Orange and chocolate is a surprisingly delightful combination.
4. Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies.  Top your brownies with our raspberry dessert sauce or make your own with fresh raspberries.  Add Raspberry Cream Cheese Whipped Cream.
5. Strawberry Cream Brownies.  Top your brownies with a strawberry dessert sauce made with fresh strawberries and a squiggle of Bavarian cream.  Add Strawberry Cream Cheese Whipped       Cream.
6. Chubby Cherry Brownies.  Top your brownies with Chubby Cherry Topping and French Vanilla       Whipped Cream.
7. Peanut Butter Cream Brownies.  Add Bavarian cream, Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce, and Salted Peanut Butter  Whipped Cream.
8. Le Grande Brownies.  Drizzle your brownies with chocolate       dessert sauce and pile them high with meringue.  Brown the meringue with a kitchen torch.
9. Caramel Brownies.  Drizzle your brownies with caramel dessert sauce or make your own       caramel sauce.  Top them with       Caramel Nut Whipped Cream.
10. Mint Brownies.  Add mint chips to the batter.  Top       your brownies with Mint Chocolate Sauce.        Add French Vanilla Whipped Cream.

See all  the Designer Dessert Sauces from Prepared Pantry.  This is what the pros use to make those fancy  desserts you find in better restaurants.

Recipes  for Sauces, Toppings, and Whipped Creams

Orange  Cloud Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups  whipping cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons orange  flavor

1 tablespoon orange zest

Directions          

1. Whip the  cream to soft peaks.
2. Add the sugar, flavor, and zest and continue  whipping.

Lemon Cloud Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

2  cups whipping cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons lemon  flavor

1 tablespoon lemon zest

Directions          

1. Whip  the cream to soft peaks.
2. Add the sugar, flavor, and zest and continue  whipping.

Fresh Raspberry Sauce

Raspberries  alone are not tart and flavored enough for a dessert sauce even when thickened  with a starch. There are two possible solutions: Cooking the fruit down to concentrate  the flavors or adding a jelly for thickness and flavor. This recipe uses the latter.

Ingredients:

12  ounces, about 3 cups frozen, unsweetened raspberries

2/3 cup red  currant jelly

about 1/4  cup sugar

Directions          

1. Thaw  and puree the raspberries.
2. Strain them twice through a sieve/strainer or until  nearly all of the seeds are removed.
3. Place the puree in a small saucepan.
4. Add  the jelly.
5. Cook,  stirring occasionally, until the jelly is completely melted and blended with  the fruit.
6. Sweeten to taste with the sugar while it is still hot.
7. Stir to  make sure that the sugar is dissolved.
8. Let cool.

Yield: About 1 1/3 cups of raspberry sauce.

Strawberry Sauce

Strawberries  alone are not tart and flavored enough for a dessert sauce even when thickened  with a starch.  There are two possible solutions:  Cooking the fruit  down to concentrate the flavors or adding a jelly for thickness and  flavor.  This recipe uses the latter.

Ingredients:

12 ounces,  about 3 cups frozen, unsweetened strawberries

2/3 cup red currant jelly

about 1/4 cup sugar

Directions          

1. Thaw and puree the strawberries.
2. Place the puree in a small saucepan.
3. Add the jelly.
4. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the jelly is completely melted and blended with the fruit.
5. Sweeten to taste with the sugar while it is still hot.  Stir to make sure that  the sugar is dissolved.
6. Let cool.

Yield: About  1 1/3 cups of strawberry sauce.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

Consider this  as a colorful topping for any raspberry dessert.  It’s also a nice  alternative to whipped cream in fruit salads calling for whipped cream

Ingredients:

1/3 cup  sugar

4 ounces cream cheese

2 cups whipping cream

2 drops deep  pink Americolor food color gel or equal (optional)

1 teaspoon raspberry flavor

Directions          

1. Place the sugar and cream cheese in the bowl of your stand-type mixer.  Beat until the sugar is creamed through the cream cheese into a soft, consistent mixture.
2. Add the cream, color, and flavor.
3. Beat until soft peaks form.
4. Hold the  whipped cream in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.  It can  be rewhipped as long as you don’t over-beat it.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

Consider  this as a colorful topping for any strawberry dessert.  It’s also a nice  alternative to whipped cream in fruit salads calling for whipped cream

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar

4 ounces cream cheese

2 cups whipping cream

2 drops deep pink Americolor  food color gel or equal (optional)

1 teaspoon strawberry flavor

Directions          

1. Place  the sugar and cream cheese in the bowl of your stand-type mixer.  Beat  until the sugar is creamed through the cream cheese into a soft, consistent  mixture.

2. Add the cream, color, and flavor. Beat until soft peaks form.

3. Hold the  whipped cream in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.  It can  be rewhipped as long as you don’t over-beat it.

French Vanilla Whipped Cream

You can make  this with or without the cream cheese.   The cream cheese will help stabilize the whipped cream so that it does  not melt as quickly.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup  sugar

4 ounces cream cheese

2 cups whipping cream

1 teaspoon French vanilla flavor

Directions          

1. Place the sugar and cream cheese in the bowl of your stand-type mixer.  Beat until the sugar is creamed through the cream cheese into a soft, consistent mixture.
2. Add the cream, color, and flavor. Beat until soft peaks form.
3. Hold the  whipped cream in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.  It can  be rewhipped as long as you don’t over-beat it.

Chocolate Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

2  cups whipping cream

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips or 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup granulated sugar or to taste           1/2 teaspoon vanilla  extract

Directions          

1. Whip the cream until soft peaks       form.  (See tips in the next section.)
2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for one minute at high heat, stir, and continue heating until melted.
3. Let the chocolate cool for three to five minutes.  The chocolate       should be warm and still liquid but not hot.
4. Stir 1/3 of the whipped cream into the chocolate.
5. Stir the chocolate mixture and the extract (along with the sugar, if used) into the remaining whipped cream.

Caramel Sauce ( this is my personal fav)

Ingredients:

1  12-ounce can of evaporated milk

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

6 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Mix  all the ingredients except the extract in a heavy saucepan.
2. Heat over medium  heat, stirring often, until the mixture boils.
3. Gently boil for eight to ten  minutes or until the mixture thickens.
4. Remove from the heat and stir in the  extract.
5. Cool until the sauce thickens to serving consistency.

Chocolate Sauce

This is an example of a cooked sugar sauce  with corn syrup added to reduce the chances of crystallization.

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

2 tablespoons corn syrup

3 ounces unsweetened baker’s chocolate (for a  very dark sauce, use 4 ounces)           4 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. Measure  the sugar and water into a clean saucepan.
2. Over  medium heat, stir and cook until the sugar is dissolved and the solution  comes to a boil. Cook for one minute.
3. Melt  the chocolate and butter in the microwave in a medium bowl.
4. Very slowly hot syrup into the chocolate mixture. Pour the chocolate sauce back  into the saucepan.
5. Bring the sauce back to a boil. After it reaches the boiling point, cook for       four more minutes. Let cool.

Store in a covered container in the  refrigerator.

Chocolate Ganache

Ganache is a simple  chocolate sauce that is luscious, easy to make, and very versatile. By altering  the ratio of whipping cream to chocolate, you can make it thin for an ice cream  topping, thick like a paste for a sandwich filling between two cookies, or  somewhere in between to drizzle over a cake. Light corn syrup is sometimes  added to create glaze for drizzling.           The following recipe  will yield a thick, paste like ganache. You may thin your ganache with more  cream.
Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into pieces

4 tablespoons butter
Directions

Bring the cream and  vanilla to a boil.

In a medium bowl, pour the hot cream over the chocolate.

Stir until the chocolate is melted.

Stir in the butter.

Let the ganache cool  until it reaches the desired consistency.

Caramel Nut Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

1  cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon caramel  flavor

1/3 cup salted snacking nuts, chopped

Directions          

Whip  the cream, sugar, and flavor together in your stand-type mixer with a whip  attachment.  Continue beating until stiff peaks form.  Fold in the  nuts.

Notes:   Whipped cream will melt as it sits, especially if not refrigerated.  A  half teaspoon Instant  Clearjel per cup of whipping cream will help it hold up.  Whipped  cream can be whipped again to revive it.

Salted Peanut Butter Whipped Cream

Ingredients

2  cups whipping cream

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup salted peanuts, chopped

Directions          

Whip  the cream, sugar, and peanut butter together in your stand-type mixer with a  whip attachment.  Continue beating until stiff peaks form.  Fold in  the peanuts.

Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce

Ingredients

This  is simply a ganache with peanut butter added.

3/4  cup heavy cream

9 ounces dark chocolate wafers

1/3 cup peanut butter

Directions          

Bring  the cream to a boil. In a medium bowl, pour the hot cream over the chocolate.  Stir until the chocolate is melted. Stir in the peanut butter. Let the sauce  cool enough for serving.  If the sauce becomes too thick, reheat the sauce  or stir in more cream.

Mint Fudge Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup cream

12 ounces mint  chocolate chips

3 tablespoons butter

Directions          

Place the  cream in a heavy saucepan.

Add the chips.

Cook and stir until the  chips are melted and the mixture is smooth.

Stir in the butter.

Let cool for  ten minutes before using.  Store in the refrigerator for up to one  month.  Reheat in the microwave before serving again.