Hello friends! As I am still on bed rest there is not much coming out of my kitchen so I have a special treat for everyone. I would like to introduce you to my friend Laura of Baking in Pyjamas. Laura is always baking up delicious treats and has a unique spin to make the sweet tooth in everyone smile. Leave her a comment below to say hello. So, before I completely hijack her post – here’s Laura!

Hi it’s Laura here from Baking in Pyjamas, today I’m guest posting on behalf of Jolena who is on bed rest at the minute, I hope you all along with me wish her a speedy recovery.

This recipe is a first for me on a number of levels. One, it’s my ever frosted brownie, how can that be!! I love brownies and believe my signature brownie recipe ticks all of the vital brownie must haves. It’s dense, rich, intensely fudgy and packed full of chocolate.

The other first for me is that I’m guest posting here. When Jolena asked me to help her out by creating a sweet treat to post on her wonderful blog how could I say no. If you’ve never visited The Ruby Kitchen before then your missing out!

I’ve never been what you’d called a coconut fan but over the recent months I’ve began warming to it a little more. Also I’d been wanting to bake some more brownies but this time instead of just stuffing the insides of them I also wanted to have some kind of topping.

I’m trying to use up my stash of sweets and candy bars that I’ve stashed away in my baking box, so when I spied two multi packs of Bounty’s the idea of coconut brownies came to mind. I didn’t want to stop just at Bounty filled brownies, I wanted to create a coconut icing for them too. I didn’t want a sweet icing, as the brownies themselves are pretty rich.

Swiss meringue buttercream is perfect for such needs, it’s not sweet but it is lusciously light and creamy and a dream to devour. These brownies are packed full of tropical coconut flavour thanks to one of my favourite baking extracts. The smell alone of LorAnn Coconut Baking Emulsion is enough to convert you to love coconut, it smells heavenly. You only need a little but though as it’s quite strong, but it’s subtle at the same time so your not ending up with a nasty chemical taste. I used a dash of it both in the brownie batter and the swiss meringue, you can smell its glorious scent wafting from the brownies make your mouth water instantly.

Also in the coconut swiss meringue buttercream is a tablespoon of desiccated coconut. This adds a lovely little chewiness as well as enhancing the coconut. I simply piped it onto the brownies, but you can spread it on. If you’ve never worked with swiss meringue then you’re in for a treat, it’s so smooth and makes spreading and piping a breeze.

From the coconut enthusiast to the die-hard coconut fan these brownies have got your name on them.

Yields – 24 Brownies

Ingredients

{brownies}

• 200 grams (2 sticks – 1 tablespoon) Unsalted butter, cubed
• 200 grams Dark chocolate 70% cocoa solids or 85% cocoa solids
• 250 grams (1 1/2 cup) Light brown muscovado sugar
• 4 Medium eggs, beaten slightly
• 1/2 teaspoon LorAnn Coconut Baking Emulsion
• 125 grams (1 cup) Plain flour
• Pinch of Maldon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon Hershey Unsweetened Cocoa powder
• 6 Bounty Bars, roughly chopped

{coconut swiss meringue buttercream}

Ingredients

• 3 Large egg whites
• 150 grams (3/4 cup) Caster sugar
• 113 grams (1 stick) Unsalted butter at room temperature, cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon LorAnn Coconut Baking Emulsion
• 1 tablespoon Desiccated Coconut
• Pinch of Maldon sea salt
• 2 Bounty Bars, roughly chopped

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C, 150C(fan) 350F and butter the bottom and the sides of an 8 x 8 inch squared tin with removable base. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter this too. Set aside.
2. In a medium sauce pan set over a low heat melt together the butter and the chocolate. Remove from the heat just before everything has completely melted. Keep on stirring until melted and set aside to cool slightly.
3. In a medium bowl stir together both the sugars, eggs, and coconut baking emulsion. Pour in the melted mixture and stir everything thoroughly together. Sift in the flour, sea salt and cocoa powder and mix together thoroughly.
4. Stir through the bounty pieces. Bake for 25-30 minutes. When the top is set and there is still a slight wobble to the centre that’s when you know it’s ready to pull from the oven.
5. Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack for 20 minute before transfer to the wire rack to cool.
6. To make the swiss meringue buttercream In a medium pan set over a pan of simmering water whisk the egg whites and sugar to temper the eggs until the mixture reaches 140F.
7. Place in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk and whisk until soft peaks begin to form, this will take around 8 minutes then add the butter a cube at a time. Add the coconut emulsion, desiccated coconut and salt, continue to whisk until light and fluffy.
8. Pipe onto the brownies then sprinkle over the bounty bars.

Notes

* Recipe adapted from Delicious magazine.

* These will last for up to 3 days stored in a cake tin with a tight-fitting lid.

* Keep in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.