Chocolate Cherry Cordial Brownies
I promise you this:
- I will never stop playing around with recipes for brownies.
Now how’s that for a conviction?
Those who are near and dear to me know that my principles regarding chocolate and brownies are firmly committed. Infallible. Some might even say absurd. (I must never be without a hidden stash of brownies in the freezer.)
But wouldn’t you like to have a few of these Chocolate Cordial Brownies tucked away in your freezer right now?!
These brownies, with their contrasting chocolate and cherry layers, are both pretty and playful. When biting through that thin layer of chocolate glaze over the top, to reach the creamy cherry buttercream, it truly reminds me of sinking my teeth into a sweet cherry cordial. (My aunt Patsy makes the best homemade cherry cordials ever!)
You already know how much I love the chocolate and cherry combination:
So it should come as no surprise how much I adore these Chocolate Cordial Brownies, too. The brownie base is moist and fudgy, absolute perfection. It could easily stand on its own. But when tempted by a pretty-in-pink maraschino cherry buttercream and a glazing of dark chocolate…why would it ever want to?
Chocolate Cherry Cordial Brownies
Ingredients
for the brownie base:
- ½ c. 1 stick unsalted butter, diced
- 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 1.5 c. sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt
- ¾ c. all-purpose flour
for the cherry cordial buttercream:
- 1 10- oz. jar maraschino cherries drained, juice reserved
- ½ c. unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 c. powdered sugar
- 1 T. heavy cream
- 1 T. reserved maraschino cherry juice
- 1 tsp. pure almond extract
for the chocolate glaze:
- 2 1- oz. squares semi-sweet chocolate
- 2 T. unsalted butter
Instructions
for the brownie base:
- Preheat oven to 325° F.
- To achieve ultra clean cuts, prepare a pan with a foil or parchment paper liner. Fold a long piece of heavy foil into a 13" wide strip and place inside a 9” x 13” metal baking pan, leaving overhang on 2 long sides. Spray foil with nonstick spray. If you’re not looking for perfect brownie cuts, simply spray pan with nonstick spray and eliminate the foil lining.
- Stir butter and chocolate in large heavy saucepan over low heat until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time. Whisk in vanilla and salt, and then sift flour over. Stir to blend well. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
- Bake brownies until puffed and dry-looking and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist batter attached, about 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack.
for the cherry cordial buttercream:
- Coarsely chop the cherries. Place a paper towel on a dinner plate and spread the chopped cherries out on top of it. Gently press another layer of paper towel on top of the cherries, soaking up excess juice. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar, cream, cherry juice, and almond extract. Beat on medium-high until fluffy, another 1 to 2 minutes. With a spatula, fold in the chopped cherries. Spread over the cooled brownies in an even layer and then place pan in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
for the chocolate glaze:
- On the stovetop over medium-low heat, or in the microwave, gently melt together the chocolate and butter. Take care to not let it scorch. Drizzle over the chilled cherry buttercream layer, and then quickly and gently spread the glaze to an even layer. The glaze will be thin. Cool until glaze hardens.
- If you lined the pan with foil, use a knife to cut around the edges of the pan and loosen any areas that might have gotten stuck. Grab the 2 long foil edges and gently lift brownies from the pan. Place on a large cutting board and cut into squares.
- To achieve clean cuts, dip your knife into a tall glass of warm water after each cut, and then clean off the knife blade before cutting again. The bars cut best when they are chilled.
I made exactly as in the recipe but mine were a lot thinner than in your photo. The base was excellent but the center was beyond sweet and also the chocolate topping wasn’t sufficient to cover the icing. I won’t make again but may use the base for a different topping
I had the same issue. Wondering if a metal 9×13 is the correct size pan.
Hi, Brenda! I was wondering if you might be able to give me some advice. I just put the cherry buttercream on the brownies, but I really don’t like how it looks and I’ve had this same problem with another recipe. I read the directions carefully, put everything in with the correct amount in the order it was supposed to be and it looked pretty nice and fluffy when I was done mixing it! But the problem is that whenever I began to scrape it out of the bowl, the powdered sugar started to separate from the rest of the ingredients making it a very grainy, runny mess and the last time it didn’t set or dry completely. Is there something I might be doing wrong? Or is there any substitute I could use for powdered sugar?
I just finished making these! Can’t wait to taste them later! I had a little bit of a hard time getting the middle layer to be so smooth, so thought I would use 5 oz. chocolate and 5 Tbsp. butter instead of 2 each. Glad I did! I had just enough to cover it well. I think my buttercream layer was just too stiff – maybe my butter was too cold.
Good Luck! You just made my day! Can’t wait to try them!!
Hi!
Any luck with your aunt’s cherry cordial recipe? We’re heading into candy making season! =)
In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!
Lisa
I am working on it. I have purchased the ingredients, wish me luck! It will probably still be a couple weeks before I get a recipe up. :)
Thanks! Can’t wait to try those too! :)
Hi! I’ve made these twice! What a treat! Both times I got rave reviews! I passed your site along to send your recipe. Any chance you will be posting your aunt patsy’s cherry cordial candy recipe? They are my favorites and I’ve never had/made homemade!!
Thank you so much for coming back to let me know how much you like these, Lisa! I’ve put a call into my aunt about that recipe…I’ll keep you posted. ;)