red velvet brownies

a sliced red velvet brownie with swooped frosting, photographed straight-on

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Ingredients

For the frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar [120 g]
4 oz cream cheese [115 g], at room temperature
2 Tbsp unsalted butter [30 g], at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract [10 g]
1 pinch salt

For the brownies:

Butter for greasing the pan
1¼ cup flour [160 g]
3 Tbsp cocoa powder [20 g]
½ tsp baking powder [2.5 g]
3 large eggs [150 g]
1⅔ cup sugar [335 g]
½ tsp salt [5.5 g]
⅔ cup canola oil [140 g]
2 Tbsp liquid red food coloring* [30 g]
2 tsp vanilla extract [10 g]
1 tsp white vinegar [5 g]

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Instructions

Make the frosting: Combine the powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or a stainless steel bowl with a hand mixer). Mix at very low speed until the powdered sugar incorporates, and then increase the speed to medium-high and beat for about 3 minutes, until there are no more lumps and it’s very light and fluffy.
Chill the frosting for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator, until it’s stiff enough to hold its shape, but still very spreadable.
Bake the brownies: Preheat the oven to 350° F [180° C].
Butter or grease an 8×8-inch pan (20×20 cm), and line with parchment (all the way around if you’d like, or just the bottom).
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Set aside.
Combine the eggs, sugar, salt, oil, liquid food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together slowly, just until it’s fully incorporated and no longer streaky. Do not incorporate air by beating it.
Once combined, add the flour/cocoa mixture, and fold together until there are no large clumps of flour (don’t over-mix).
Pour into the pan, smooth out the top, and bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick or paring knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let it cool in the pan at room temperature for about 20 minutes, then trace around the edge with a knife to loosen it. At this point you can freeze it for about 1 hour in the pan, until the entire thing is chilled (but not frozen). This will help it slice more cleanly, but you can skip this and just let it cool to room temperature instead. Remove from the pan by gently inverting it, remove the parchment, and place right-side-up on a serving dish.**
Decorate the brownies once they’ve cooled: Dump all of the frosting into the center of the brownies. Use an offset spatula to work the frosting almost to the edges. Then make a few swoops in it with the spatula. Slice into 16 pieces.

Notes

* I developed this recipe with liquid food coloring because it’s easily accessible for most folks who read this blog. But if you have gel coloring, you can totally use it here instead. You’ll just need to use much less. Add it gradually to your wet ingredients until they’re deeply red.

Also note that natural food colorings will not dye your cake as dramatically as artificial colorings. This won’t affect the flavor, so feel free to use a natural food coloring, but adjust your expectations accordingly. And don’t use a bunch of extra liquid coloring to compensate, or it will throw off the amount of moisture in the recipe.

** If you let it chill for too long, it’ll stick to the pan a bit when you try to remove it. If so, just let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes until it’s easier to remove from the pan, and re-trace around the edges.

Find it online: https://cardamomandtea.com/12738/red-velvet-brownies/