happy dance!

If you're looking for a fool proof brownie recipe that will quite simply change your life, this my dear friends, is it! Although this chocolate square may look like you're typical brownie, you'd be mistaken for thinking so! You see, this lil' treat has made best friends with some wild cherries, raspberries and blackberries. As you bite into this dense chocolate mixture, you'll find slightly tart cherries and juicy berries popping in your mouth. Oh yeah, get ready for your taste buds to do a little happy dance!

The Chirpy Birds Black Forest Brownie

1 lb of unsalted butter

1 lb plus 12 oz of semi sweet chocolate chips - save 12 oz for later {I always prefer Ghiradelli}

6oz of bittersweet chocolate

6 extra large eggs

3 tablespoons of dried instant coffee

2 tablespoons of Vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups of granulated sugar {I like to use my vanilla sugar, shown here}

1 cups and 1/4 cup of all purpose flour - save this 1/4 cup for later use

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1 1/2 cups of chopped wild cherries and berries {you can use organic frozen if they're not in season}

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter a 12 x 18 inch sheet pan

Melt together butter, 1lb of semi sweet chocolate and bittersweet chocolate over a double boiler. Make sure that the chocolate and butter mixture never get too hot, continually stirring. Take off of the heat before the entire mixture is melted, the warmth from the bowl should be enough to heat the remaining few unmelted chips. Allow to cool slightly.

Bring together eggs coffee, vanilla and sugar. Be sure not too beat, the secret to keeping this recipe so dense and delicious, is by minimizing the amount of air that gets into the batter. Once chocolate mixture is almost room temperature add to egg mixture! But remember, if chocolate butter mixture is too hot, it will scramble the eggs and give you a lumpy mixture!

In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt and then fold into chocolate mixture.  Chop berries and cherries together, leaving some pieces larger than others and incorporate fruit mixture with juice into batter. Toss 12oz of batter with 1/4 cup of flour and add to brownie mixture. {This will stop the chips from sinking to the bottom of the pan}  Fold mixture together but keep mixing to an absolute minimum! You want it to be JUST incorporated not fully mixed!

Bake for 20 minutes and then take out brownies and rap the baking sheet to bring any air bubbles to the surface.  Bake for another 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. This is one of the most important parts of baking these brownies - you can't let them over bake so keep your eye on them and test them frequently! As soon as that toothpick come out clean then they're ready!

Allow to come to room temperature and then refrigerate. Once completely cooled cut into desired squares!

Then invite your pretty girlfriends over, share some red wine and a sweet treat.  There's no better accompaniment! 

xo tash