Mascarpone Brownies

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

 I can't resist these very decadent brownies.

What makes it SO special is adding Mascarpone cheese and European Plugra Butter.  Find both at Harter House Republic Road and Eastgate locations in Springfield.

Mascarpone is a soft, white, fresh, vegetarian,

cream cheese from the Lombardy region

of southern Italy. In fact, it is not cheese at all,

but rather the result of a culture

being added to the cream skimmed off the milk.

The secret to Plugrá European-Style Butter is a slow-churned process that creates less moisture content and a creamier texture when compared to average table butters.This secret becomes yours for higher, fluffier cakes, flakier pastries, unbelievably creamy sauces, rich enviable risottos, sizzling sautés, and extraordinary flavored butters.

When Should I Use Unsalted Plugrá® European-Style Butter?Unsalted butter is ideally used in recipes because it allows you to control the salt content like a professional baker or chef.

When Should I Use Salted Plugrá Butter?Salted butter is best served at the table. Try serving slices on individual plates for guests or whipped in a small ramekin. For decorative effect, stamp slices with a special design, pipe softened butter through a pastry bag, or curl it with a spoon.

Why is Plugrá Butter Better for Baking?
Plugrá butter contains less water than average table butter. Lower moisture helps you create cakes that rise higher, cookies that crisp more evenly, and flakier pastries.


BROWNIES:

1 cup unsalted butter
3 ounces best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
½ cup mascarpone cheese, softened
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp Salt

GANACHE:

6 ounces best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 Tbs whipping cream
3 Tbs unsalted butter

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter an 8-inch square pyrex pan.

2. Place chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl; set aside. In a small glass bowl, melt butter in microwave (take it out before it starts bubbling.) Pour butter over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Sift in sugar and cocoa powder.

3. With a wooden spoon, beat in mascarpone, eggs and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Gently fold in flour and salt.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Place into preheated oven and bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

5. Place pan on cooling rack and let brownies cool 10 to 15 minutes while you make the ganache.

6. Place chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream and butter to just below boiling point, over medium heat. Pour this hot mixture over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds, then stir until smooth. Pour ganache over brownies while still warm, and spread to cover evenly.

7. Let ganache firm up before cutting. It's best to refrigerate them until quite firm. Once the ganache is firm and the brownies have been cut, they do not need to be kept in the refrigerator.


Yield: About 16 brownies

The Health Benefits of Sourdough Bread

At both Harter House locations in Springfield we sell Breadsmith Brand Sourdough Bread.

But also, at Harter House, 1500 E. Republic Road, our fresh Bakery Department also makes Sourdough Bread. I heard a customer raving about our sourdough bread and realized I had not yet tried ours.

Then, my very good friend, Maureen Hayes, Owner of Head to Toe Wellness in Ozark, told me that if I am going to eat bread, sourdough is actually the healthiest choice. So I researched a little and found this information.

(Any excuse to put bread back in my diet.)


This sourdough loaf is not presliced. So be sure to ask our bakery to slice it for you.
(No charge)




I found this info helpful to understand better about the health benefits of sourdough. There's a lot I still don't understand, but I thought I'd share:

(from http://www.angelfire.com/ab/bethsbread/WhatisSourdough.html)

The history of "sourdough" is as old as the history of leavened bread itself. Way back in ancient days (around 6,000 years ago, some say) humans first figured out how to promote the fermentation and leavening of grains to first be brewed into beverages and then, later, to be baked into bread. This probably happened by accident time after time, until someone smart figured it out.
Next our ancestors figured out how to save a portion of the fermented grains to use to "start" the fermentation of their next batch of bread. Since that time, humankind has been using and making "sourdough."

From a scientific perspective, a sourdough starter is a natural leaven - a mixture of grains and liquid (usually flour and water) inhabited by so-called "wild" yeasts and bacteria which leaven and flavor bread dough. These yeasts are the yeasts that thrive naturally on the surface of grains, fruits and vegetables, in the air and in the soil. The bacteria are certain strains of the so-called benign or "friendly" bacteria Lactobacillus, rod-shaped bacteria that can convert simple sugars into lactic and other acids.

To understand more of what a sourdough is, we need to understand what yeast is.
In simplest terms it is a plant. More specifically a fungus, a one-celled life form which digests sugars (such as those contained within the starch in flour) and produces a bit of ethanol (alcohol) and some carbon dioxide (which is what causes the bread to rise). The natural yeasts in a sourdough starter are strains of a yeast family whose scientific name is Sacchraromyces exiges. They are of the same family of yeast as commercial bakers' yeast, whose scientific name is Saccharomyces cerrivasae. The two have what might be called a distant family relationship but differ in one important way. Commercial bakers yeast cannot survive in a very acidic environment whereas natural yeast is very happy to live in such an environment. This is important because the lactobacilli in a sourdough culture produce a lot of lactic and acetic acids (which are what gives sourdough bread its flavor). The acids create an environment too acidic for commercial bakers' yeast, so only natural yeast can live with them.

In a healthy sourdough starter, yeast and lactobacilli thrive in a harmonious symbiotic relationship. This means that they do not compete for the same food and the yeast may actually help feed the lactobacilli. In turn, lactobacilli produce an acidic environment that the yeast like but which is inhospitable to other organisms. Thus the acids in the culture act as a sort of "antibiotic" so that lactobacilli contribute by providing a protective environment for the yeast.

Lactobacilli help bread rise, too. Just like yeast, they digest simple sugars found in flour and produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. In addition, the lactic and acetic acids that they produce flavor the bread with a rich complexity of flavors, sometimes giving it a sour tang.

Our Sourdough Bread made fresh at our Harter House Bakery has that wonderful "sour" taste. I think it is amazing!
I topped my sourdough bread with Plugra European Butter found at Harter House World Flavors.