Just in case you haven’t had enough sugar this Christmastime, or perhaps you want to make some unusual treats for the New Year, here’s a yummy little recipe I found on the Kikkoman website: Double chocolate brownies with soy caramel sauce. I love salted caramel, so I figured caramel sauce with soy sauce in it would be pretty nice, and it is. The brownies are really easy to make, but the sauce does take a certain skill which I was lacking a bit (my sauce just didn’t thicken like it should have done). Still, I had a go, and they were really tasty!
Double chocolate brownies with soy caramel sauce
Ingredients for the brownies
- 200g butter, melted
- 100g dark chocolate, chopped
- 100g milk chocolate, chopped
- 80g plain flour
- 40g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 eggs
- 200g dark brown sugar
- 80g caster sugar
Ingredients for the sauce
- 300g caster sugar
- 50ml water
- 150ml whole milk (I used semi-skimmed)
- 150ml single cream (I used Elmlea, which is a bit healthier than cream)
- 30ml Kikkoman soy sauce (醤油)
Brownie Method
Place the chocolate into a bowl, pour the hot melted butter over and stir (make sure the butter is really hot and the chocolate is broken up really small, otherwise it won’t melt). Leave to melt for a few minutes, stirring occasionally to redistribute the heat.
Heat the oven to 175C. Cream the sugars and eggs with an electric mixer, until the mixture is pale, light, and ribbony.
Stir in the chocolate and butter mixture, then sift in the flour, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. Fold together until smooth and well combined, but do not overmix.
Line a baking tin with lightly greased baking paper and pour in the batter, smoothing the top with a spatula.
Bake for about 25 minutes, then check the consistency: if the middle of the brownie batter still wobbles when shaken, keep cooking in 5 minute intervals until the batter is solid and a thin crust is forming on the top and sides of the brownies. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.
Sauce method
While the brownies are cooling, heat the milk and cream together in a saucepan until simmering.
Place the caster sugar and water in another saucepan and cook on a medium heat. When the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and avoid stirring to prevent crystallization.
As soon as the sugar turns a rich golden amber, quickly bring the cream and milk to a boil and pour into the sugar, whisking continuously to combine. Be careful because the caramel will foam up dramatically (You’re not kidding!! I made a bit of a mess doing this bit.).
Remove the caramel from the heat and stir in the soy sauce. Leave to cool slightly to allow the mixture to thicken.
To serve, spoon some of the warm soy caramel sauce on top of a brownie.
The Kikkoman website has loads of really great recipes, so if you’re interested in cooking I highly recommend checking it out.
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I’ll be back in January with a new recipe. If you have any suggestions, or perhaps you would like me to try one of your recipes from a book or website, please leave a comment below or get in touch! All the recipes I try on this blog have some connection to Japan and, because I don’t eat meat, they need to be vegetarian or pescetarian. I’m particularly interested in helping to promote Japanese recipe books, so do let me know if you have one I might like!
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