Sour Cream Topped Brownies

Something on my Christmas list that most people would probably laugh at was Black Cocoa from King Arthur.  It may seem silly but living in Canada King Arthur products aren't easy to come by, actually they are impossible. I had seen different recipes in the blogosphere using this uber-dark cocoa and was intrigued.  Especially since I am a fan of all baked good chocolate, especially brownies.  I happily received this specific, albeit odd, request from my Christmas list and have pretty much been hoarding it until I knew what to do with it. I mean this cocoa is like gold to me and I just don't want to waste it on anything.

Yesterday a brownie craving struck and I recalled seeing a recipe for Black Cocoa Brownies, or Ebonies, on the King Arthur site. It was pretty straightforward recipe and I set about making it.  As I was mixing the batter I thought about cheesecake brownies, one of my favorite brownie varieties. Unfortunately I didn't have any cream cheese but I did have sour cream.  So I mixed up a cheese cake like filling with the sour cream and topped these dark chocolate beauties with the mixture.  I was excited at the prospect of how the tangy sour cream would work with the rich brownies and set about waiting for them to bake and cool.

Sour Cream Topped Brownies or Ebonies
adapted from King Arthur Flour

2 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup butter - melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsps vanilla
1 cup plus 2 Tbsps unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup black cocoa
1/4 dutch-process cocoa
1 cup full fat sour cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups of the sugar, 3 eggs, the melted butter, vegetable oil & vanilla until smooth.  Carefully stir in 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, salt and cocoas. Stir until just combined.
2. Spread batter into a lightly buttered 9x9 pan. In a medium bowl mix the sour cream, 1 egg, 1/2 cup sugar and 2 Tbsps flour.  Pour on top of the brownie batter and spread in an even layer.
3.  Place the pan in the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool before cutting.

These brownies were delicious, perfectly decadent with just a bit of tang.  The black cocoa gave them gorgeous dark color and flavor.  You can easily sub regular cocoa for the black cocoa and I'm sure they'll be delicious.  But fi you can get your hands on some black cocoa, I say go for it.  It's a really unique ingredient that I look forward to using again.

Enjoy!