Delectables with Dan Presents: Spooky Brownies (Pumpkin Patch & Graveyard)

It's that time of year again when spooky treats rain supreme! This was a small test run for a brownie that I'm wanting to do for my bakery. God, so much more work does into opening a bakery than I thought. These brownies will be smaller than the ones that I'll be selling. This is a peanut butter and dark chocolate brownie iced with either cute little pumpkins or topped with a dark chocolate skull. And best of all? It's vegan! 

I used a box mix for this trial run, but the one I'll be selling will be completely homemade and will also come in a lower sugar version! 

YOU WILL NEED: 

2 icing bags

orange and green food colouring 

1 large round tip 

1 small slant tip 

1/4 cup chocolate chips 

skull mould 

1 1/2 teaspoons vegan butter 

1 box of brownie mix 

3 tablespoons peanut butter 

1 cup unsweetened applesauce 

1/4c veggie oil

3/4c water 

In a large mixing bowl, you're going to pour in the brownie mix. Add in the water, oil and applesauce. Blend well with an electric mixer on medium speed. You're going to want to get it all blended before you add in the peanut butter. It just works out better if you do it this way. Depending on what type of peanut butter you're using, you may need to add a little bit of water. You want it to be thicc, but not too thicc. You all know what I mean.
Add in your peanut butter and hand stir it in. I like to hand stir the peanut butter in. If you choose to use a mixer, use it on low speed. Make sure that the peanut butter is evenly distributed throughout the brownie mix. You don't want chunks of peanut butter in there. I should stop to mention now that I used smooth peanut butter for this. I always use the smooth. Why? Despite my love for all things chunky, I don't dig chunky peanut butter. And I'm one smooth motherfucker. 

Line your baking dish with aluminium foil and spray with non-stick baking spray. Pour in the batter and put into the oven to bake for 20-25 minutes at 350F. A little less time for non-stick pans. While your brownies are cooking up it's the perfect time to get your icing in order. We'll move onto the chocolate skulls right after. In two medium-sized bowls add in 3-4 tablespoons of icing. You're not going to need a lot for this. We're just icing pumpkins, not Rosie O'Donell's arse. Put in 2-3 squirts of food colouring and whip. If the colour is not what you desire, add a little more. Each brand of food colouring concentrates are a little bit different; you know your baking materials. Set to the side. Didn't take long, did it? No, I didn't think so. 

We're going to be melting the chocolate chips down and pouring it into the mould. I usually just use a spoon to spoon the melted chocolate into the mould. Over very low heat, you're going to heat your chocolate chips and vegan butter. Keep stirring. You don't want it to stick to the bottom of the pan. Even if you're using non-stick it can be a little tricky to work with. It should take about 15 minutes to ensure that the chocolate is completely and evenly melted. I used a mini skull mould, so if you're using a slightly larger one, you may need more chocolate in order to completely fill the mould. Once the moulds are full, put them in the icebox so they cool down quicker.
Make sure that the brownies are completely cool before icing them or you will just have a complete mess. Start with the pumpkins. I guess I should have said earlier that the large tip was for creating the pumpkins, but I assume you guys are smart enough to figure that one out on your own. Start in the centre of the brownie and ice around in a circle, slowly moving up to create a fat circle of icing. I did mine so they had a cute little curl to them. Do that with as many brownies as you want. I was restricted on time that's why there are only 4 brownies featuring the chocolate skulls. If you want to do more brownies featuring them, you will need more chocolate, obviously. Once you have created your little pumpkins, taking the green icing with the slant tip, create little leaf by applying a small amount of pressure and flicking your wrist upward. Cute! The skulls should sit in the icebox for about 30 minutes before you attempt to pop them out of the mould. Make sure they are set before popping them out, otherwise you'll have a giant mess on your hands. Using some of the leftover orange icings, plop a small amount of it in the centre of the brownie, this will stick the chocolate skull to the brownie. Once you've done this and carefully placed each skull on top, take the green icing and create little tentacles around the skulls using the same technique you used to create the leaves on the pumpkins. Gives a cute little spooky vibe to it. Just get ready for the Valentine treats we're gonna do this year. You're all going to love that! Writing this blog just gave me an idea for them. Maybe I won't wait until February to do them. We'll see. Now you've got a cute little treat for any Halloween get together! You can skip the skulls and keep them for a cute harvest treat throughout the next month as well.