Party of 11: Giant Brownie Pops

Reading back over last week's post about the Bestest Chocolate Brownie Recipe Ever, I might have sounded like a deranged, brownie-obsessive maniac. Well, hopefully you're about to understand why only the bestest brownies would do for these Giant Brownie Pops.

A while ago, I came across this video featuring the amazing Purefections chocolate shop and well, the Brownie Pop and the P2C2. Enough said, right?

Unfortunately though, it became clear that a trip to Quincy, Massachusetts from Sydney, Australia for the purposes of eating chocolate, no matter how fabulous, was a little indulgent - even for me. And shipping them - if possible - would probably result in a chocolate, caramel, peanut butter massacre, which no one should have to see in this lifetime.

So I decided to have a go at making them myself. The P2C2 turned out brilliantly. So brilliant in fact, that a large cookie tray's worth was gone before I'd had a chance to take any photos or make note of how I put it together. Fortunately for my Party of 11, I'll have to make more and post it some time soon.

Today was Giant Brownie Pop day and well, brilliant again - if I do say so myself. Really simple, not too many ingredients and although I'm not a fan of recipes with so many stages, these can be done in part and finished off whenever you have the time.

The most difficult part of making these was deciding how to flavour, shape and decorate them. There's so many possibilities. They would be great flavoured with some booze and given as bonboniere or party favours for adults, or coloured and sparkled up for kids parties. They're also calling out for Easter and Christmas decorations when the time comes.

In the end, I decided to go with ready made vanilla frosting because I really just wanted to get on with the construction of the pops. As an added extra, it went with the brownies perfectly and they tasted delicious. I also decided to go green this time as I was shopping for St Patrick's day stuff this morning and well, two birds one stone!

Try them your way and let me know how you go!

Giant Brownie Pops

Ingredients

A batch of the Bestest Brownies Ever
1 cup of Betty Crocker ready made frosting, or homemade buttercream icing or ganache
2-3 blocks eating chocolate
Extra chocolate, nuts, sprinkles etc for decoration
Strong, long lollipop sticks or dowels

Instructions

Start with a tray of the Bestest Brownies Ever - or whatever you have on hand. Shop bought brownies would even be fine for an extra shortcut. However, you want them to be chewy and cakey as opposed to gooey, so if you're cooking them, leave them in the oven for a few minutes extra to make sure they're cooked through.

Cut the brownies to the size (and shape) you want. You can see below that I got 6 out of my tray and they were huge. That's a large baking tray they're sitting on. I wouldn't go any larger than that as they get pretty heavy on the stick when you add all of your extras. Plus, they're pretty rich and calorific -but if you're worried about that, you've already read too far into this post!

Next, melt two rows of chocolate in the microwave, dip the tip of the stick into it and stick it into the brownie, going in about half way.

Next add the frosting.

Place the frosted brownies into the fridge to set a bit. This will ensure that the sticks stay in place and the brownie stays together when you're dipping.

When the brownies are cold to the touch and the frosting is slightly hardened, take them out and melt the rest of the chocolate. Put it into a deep jug or bowl, and allow it to cool a little bit too.

Now, the next step is messy, I'm not going to lie.

My dipping needs more practice - thankfully you can go again when they've hardened!

Anyway, holding the brownie by the stick as close to the edge of the brownie as you can, dip it into the chocolate, then let the excess run off and place onto a tray lined with baking paper. The chocolate will spread a bit on the paper, but you can just cut that off when its sets later. Double dip if you want that cool crack when you bite into them, as shown in the video.