Chef Avishek Singha Shares 3 Desserts For The Holiday Season

The holiday season is the most anticipated moment of the year when the whole world celebrates festivals like Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas, and the New Year. Now we are at the peak of this season and eagerly waiting for Christmas. On all kinds of occasions, desserts are always an integral part of our celebrations. 

Be it cakes, pastries, pies, puddings, or mithais, the sweetness of these treats always adds more fun to our festivities. Brownies and blondies are another delicious dessert that is loved by all. Besides being easy to prepare, the best thing about these treats is that both of them can be easily stored or carried in a tiffin box or container.  

So, if you are looking for some simple yet delicious desserts for your holiday festivities, here are three recipes shared by Chef Avishek Singha, Executive Pastry Chef, Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield:  

Red Velvet Oreo Brownie 

Ingredients 

• 2 eggs  
• 115 g unsalted butter 
• 200 g of granulated sugar  
• 10 g of vanilla extract 
• 21 g cocoa mass  
• 2 g salt 
• 15 g of red food colour 
• 4 g white vinegar  
• 94 g all-purpose flour  

For Oreo cream cheese frosting 

• 250 g cream cheese 
• 80 g icing sugar  
• 6 g oreo, crushed 
• for chocolate ganache 
• 250 g amul cream  
• Belgian chocolate 

Method

• While you're making the brownies, spread out the butter you'll need for the frosting and ganache so it can come to room temperature. 
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line an 8 by 8 baking tray with aluminium foil, leaving enough overhang on the sides to lift the brownies out of the pan. Set it aside. 

To make the brownies 

• In a small bowl, beat the two eggs together. Set it aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter by microwaving it for 30 seconds at a time. Add vanilla extract, sugar, cocoa powder, vinegar, food colouring, and salt. In that order, mix each of those components into the batter. 
• After whisking in the eggs, gently mix in the flour until fully combined. Do not overmix. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake the brownies for 22–24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few small, moist crumbs.  
• After letting the brownies cool for half an hour at room temperature, place them in the refrigerator to finish cooling. 

To make the frosting 

• With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high until light and creamy—about 1 minute. Beat on medium until smooth after adding cream and confectioners' sugar. 
• To make the frosting spreadable, stir in one additional tablespoon of cream. For the frosting layer to remain nice while cutting into the brownies, you want it to be thick. Crushed Oreos are folded in. After the brownies have cooled, remove them from the pan and spread the frosting over them. Stick them in the refrigerator as you prepare the ganache. The icing on the brownies should be just barely set. 

Make the ganache

• Break up the chocolate into small pieces in a medium bowl. Either use a microwave or a burner to bring the heavy cream to a boil. Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, pour boiling cream over it and whisk. One tiny piece at a time, cut in the butter and whisk until smooth. 
• Drizzle over brownies with frosting. Let it cool for a minimum of half an hour prior to slicing.

Caramel Blondie 

Ingredients 

• 150 g unsalted butter 
• 200 g white chocolate, chopped 
• 2 g salt 
• 200 g brown sugar 
• 3 eggs 
• 300 g of plain flour 
• 100 g light brown musca do sugar 
• 100 g caramel

Method 

• Set the oven's temperature to 180˚C (or 160˚C for fan ovens). 
• Add the butter, sugar, half the white chocolate and caramel to a pan and heat gently until fully melted. Allow the blend to reach room temperature. Transfer the leftover caramel to a bowl, along with the dash of sea salt, and stir until the texture of the caramel softens. 
• Add the eggs to the cooled butter and sugar mixture, ensuring the egg is well combined before adding the next. Sift the flour into a large bowl and pour in the sugar and egg mix. Gently fold in all the ingredients until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps of flour. 
• Stir into the blondie mixture the remaining white chocolate chunks. After pouring half of the blondie batter into the prepared tray, use a teaspoon to drizzle half of the salted caramel in long stripes over the brownie mixture. With caution not to disturb the caramel underneath, spoon the remaining blondie batter on top and level it out. 
• Once more, arrange the remaining caramel in lines on top, then use a skewer to gently swirl the caramel and blondie mixture. After baking for 60 to 75 minutes, the centre should wobble very slightly when you shake the pan, and the top should be somewhat crispy. Let it cool completely in the tin, then cut it into 20 squares. 

Peanut Butter Blondie

Ingredients 

• 227 g of unsalted butter 
• 175 g chocolate chip 
• 150 g all-purpose flour  
• 50 g cocoa powder 
• a pinch of salt  
• 200 g sugar  
• 220 g brown sugar  
• 3 eggs  
• 5 g vanilla essence  
• 110 g peanut butter  

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8x8-inch square baking sheet with parchment paper and coat it with baking spray. 
• In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Remove from the heat and whisk in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Continue whisking until fully melted. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool for a few minutes. Mix the cocoa powder and flour in a separate basin. Add the salt and stir. 
• To the melted chocolate, whisk in the sugars, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the flour mixture until well combined. Add the remaining half cup of chocolate chips and fold. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread the batter to the edges of the pan. 
• Using teaspoonfuls, scatter the peanut butter over the batter. Swirl it into the batter with a screwdriver or knife tip. 
• Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or 35 minutes for a really fudgy middle, or until the centre doesn't jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken. After 25 minutes, wrap the brownies in foil. After 25 minutes, the peanut butter appears to be browning. Let the brownies cool in the pan completely before slicing.