This fudgy, rich dark chocolate brownie cake is loaded with two kinds of chips and decorated with a simple dark chocolate drizzle. An easy dessert to feed a crowd!
Let's talk about Easter being THIS Sunday. Huhhwhaa? I'm sure just a second ago it was February and I was snacking on Valentine's Day candy. In a snap those chocolate hearts turned into chocolate eggs...and I'm totally okay with it. Gimme gimme springtime.
At a time when many people are on vacation or looking forward to some time off, my job is turned up to 11 in terms of workload and deadlines so I won't be taking any time off. It ain't easy being an accountant in the early spring! I can tell you now that my coffee consumption will go up this week, along with my Foo Fighters listening (motivational tunes!). What else will I be leaning on to get me through this week? Slices of this fudgy dark chocolate brownie cake, covered in a simple dark chocolate drizzle!
This brownie cake is a snazzed up brownie recipe, baked in a 9"-round cake pan, and cut into slices. It doesn't take much more work than preparing a typical brownie recipe, but is fancied up to feed a crowd. Maybe you're having a crowd over for Easter Sunday and haven't decided on a dessert yet? This one is for YOU.
Or maybe you'll be cooking for a crowd of two and decompressing from a crazy work week. This one's also for me you. 😉
I adapted this brownie recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Art & Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet/Sur La Table. No kidding, sometimes I read it leisurely before bed because it's chock full of such useful baking info, such as why certain techniques work and variations on recipes to suit your preferences. Then I dream of baked goods all night long, of which you'll hear no complaints from me because dreaming = no calories.
Let it be known: this brownie cake is fudgy to the extreme! I recently learned (per the above cookbook ) that fudgy brownies are the result of first melting the butter and chocolate together before adding the rest of the ingredients. Contrast that with cakey brownies, which begin with the butter and sugar being creamed. We’re 100% fudgy brownie fans over here so that’s the way I’ve written this brownie cake below, but feel free to switch up the steps if cakey is more of your thing!
Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownie Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 ½ cups dark chocolate chips, divided
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9" round cake pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium-sized, microwave-safe bowl, add butter and 1 cup of dark chocolate chips. Melt in 20-30 second intervals on half-power in microwave, scraping the sides and whisking between intervals, until butter and chocolate are completely combined and smooth. Alternatively you may also use a double boiler to melt butter and chocolate.
- Transfer butter/chocolate mixture to a mixing bowl and add sugar. Whisk until sugar is thoroughly mixed in. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Add vanilla extract and whisk again. Add flour, salt, and espresso powder and whisk until dry ingredients are fully mixed and batter is smooth and a bit shiny. Stir in remaining ½ cup dark chocolate chips and semisweet chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared 9" round cake pan and bake for 24-30 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let brownie cake cool in the pan for a few minutes before decorating, and then fully before slicing. To decorate, I melted about ¼ - ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips, adding melted chocolate to a plastic bag and snipping a corner to pipe the drizzle. Decorate as you like!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
Food Safety and Nutrition DisclaimerCan't get enough of chocolate in large-scale? I can't blame you! Check out this peppermint mocha cookie cake, too.
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Nisreen says
This looks so good! It’s my friend’s bday in a few days and I am searching for brownie cake recipe as she loves brownies. Will definitely be making this one!
Alyssa says
Thank you Nisreen, hope you enjoy!!
Nisreen says
She loved the cake!! Thanks for such an easy and yummy recipe Alyssa!
Alyssa says
Yay! Thanks for letting me know how it went, Nisreen. 🙂
Hazel says
Good day, Alyssa! I've been drooling over this recipe for a very long time and I've finally had a taste of these just today! It's actually my first time to bake and it turned out splendid! Everybody loved it! Even my picky eater loved every bit of it. I just had a few difficulties while baking because maintaining the 350 degrees was difficult with the kind of oven that i have plus the windy area.
I only used a bar of dark chocolate for this omitting the semi sweet chocolate chips, but it still turned out sweet which was a very big plus.
We're going to bake this one again tomorrow with 50% less sugar and butter.
It's been such a long time since I've eaten such a great tasting brownie. It's decadent, moist and fudgy, just like what you said! However, due to different factors, the edges of my brownie somehow turned crispy, but still very chewy at the same time. The center was great! Moist, soft, decadent, fudgy and every bite was so chocolatey that all of us couldn't help but really munch into it!
Thank you so much!
Alyssa says
Hi Hazel! Thank you so much for your comment. I'm so glad the recipe turned out for you! I'm a huge fan of dark chocolate so I will have to try out your variation. I bet it is delicious. The very edges of my brownies do tend to be a bit crisper (but still chewy like you said), so it sounds like you did everything just right. Again - thank you so much for letting me know your experience! 🙂