Let them eat brownies!

April 15, 2008 11:51 AM

How to make a giant cake out of box mix brownies?

So my baby sister turns 21 this month, and will be having a fabulous cocktail party to celebrate. I'd love to bake her an enormous and beautiful birthday cake but she hates cake. Her baked goods of choice are plain brownies made from the boxed mix. Any bright ideas on how to turn boxed brownies in to a magnificent, multi-tiered dessert?

What I had in mind was like a brownie version of a wedding cake. I was hoping for something clean and classy, but I'm not quite sure how to pull that off with brownies. So far I'm thinking I'll just make several batches of brownies in various sized cake pans and stack them (probably two layers of brownie per tier, just to get some height) and decorate with icing. Can I do better? I've scanned the interwebs for ideas or instructions, but haven't come up with anything as large as I'm trying to get this thing. I'm no professional, but I'm willing to give anything a try. My sister is a real girly-girl, so double bonus points if the finished product is super cute.

posted by rinosaur to food & drink (24 comments total)

One of my favorite bakeries does their brownies in cupcake wrappers, and then ices them with a great fudge icing. You could invest in a cupcake/cake tier, and put layers of differently decorated cupcake brownies on them. That way you could have the flexibility of decorating each kind of brownie with some different girly-girl item - various flowers, sprinkles, things like that. And the cupcake tier could be as cute as you want to make it.
posted by librarianamy at 11:56 AM on April 15 [2 favorites]

I think you're on the right track. Try using one or more springform pans to bake the brownies in. That'll help with getting it out in one piece.

Also, if you're using a smaller pan than the 9x13 that the recipe most likely calls for, the brownies will be thicker. You might need to increase the baking time, or you could just put in less batter.
posted by echo target at 12:12 PM on April 15

My worry with your version is that it will look too much like a cake, especially if you put icing on the sides. I know the whole point of it is to make a brownie version of a birthday cake, but since your sister hates cake her first impression will be "Oh, a cake". Her first impression should be "Yay, brownies!".

What about making a brownie pyramid? Examples here and here. You can still make the same wedding cake shape, but since the brownies will be in individual bricks they will look more like normal brownies.

Also, depending on how soft you make the brownies, they may not stack well. You will probably need to let them cool for quite some time before you try to stack them, too, because otherwise you will just end up with a big ugly brownie blob.
posted by burnmp3s at 12:23 PM on April 15

Usually on the box it recommends adding an extra egg to make the brownies more "cake like."

You can also experiment by adding a little extra flour (1/2 cup?), baking powder (1 tsp?), egg (1 or 2 extra), and vegetable oil (1 or 2 tablespoons) and see if you get the cake consistency with the brownie flavor.

If you just stack the brownies, you'll run into a dryness factor (this occurred also when my mother tried to make a cake out of giant stacked chocolate cookies). Try making the brownies more cake like (as suggested) then stack, and use a buttercream icing. Yum!!
posted by whimsicalnymph at 12:25 PM on April 15

I'm going to vote against icing on brownies, particularly if you're thinking of the usual birthday-cake buttercream. It just tastes wrong. Chocolate glaze might be ok, but your sister loving "plain brownies made from the boxed mix" makes me wonder whether she would want any frosting/icing at all.

As for how to make the brownies spectacular: Could you bake them in variously sized round pans (and also maybe cut out smaller rounds from a square pan)? Then you could stack them from biggest to smallest for a nice effect. You might need cardboard rounds under each layer to help keep them from collapsing in under their own weight. The suggestion for a springform pan here is really good, by the way.

I'm also a big fan of simple dusting with powdered sugar, for a nice finished look. Put the powdered sugar in a wire-mesh sieve and sprinkle it over the top of the brownies. For an even fancier look, put a relatively-hole-y paper doily on the brownie, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and then carefully remove the doily. If you did this with each layer of rounds before adding the next round, I think it could come out really nicely.

For something a little more fun, you could cut out brownies with cookie cutters in fun shapes. For some reason I'm picturing dinosaurs, but flowers or stars or whatever would probably make more sense. Nice cooking stores should have a fun assortment of a-la-carte cookie cutters, or try a craft store that has a baking/candy/cake-decorating section.

I'm trying to work out how you could incorporate shot glasses or martini glasses or something into a brownie presentation (since it's her 21st), but nothing comes to mind yet. I'll check back in if I think of something, but I thought I'd toss that out there in case it inspires anyone.
posted by vytae at 12:27 PM on April 15

I'm trying to work out how you could incorporate shot glasses or martini glasses or something into a brownie presentation (since it's her 21st), but nothing comes to mind yet.

That reminds me, some Chocolate Martinis would probably go great with this.
posted by burnmp3s at 12:31 PM on April 15

I vote for going the cupcake route. I love brownies more than cake, but I don't know that I would love them served as cake. Brownies are very rich, not really the sort of thing you would want to eat a big slice of. Regular box brownies bake up very well as cupcakes, and you could decorate them in a super cute way to please your girly sister. Plus, cupcakes are very "in" right now.

If it were me, I'd probably go for brownie cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, although a mint frosting would be delicious too. Of course, you couldn't go wrong with chocolate frosting!
posted by geeky at 12:37 PM on April 15

You could do brownie sundaes in martini glasses. The logistics may be difficult, since someone will have to scoop a lot of ice cream, depending on the number of guests.

I would buy a cupcake stand ,or a few stands, depending on your guests. Bake the brownies is silver foil cupcake liners or just plain brown paper liners. Silver foil liners can be found at Target and just about everywhere. Decorate with fudge icing, sliced strawberries, chocolate curls, or both. Decorate the cake table with a white table cloth, metallic confetti, curls of chocolate brown and red ribbon, and scatter a few martini and shot glasses around filled with foil wrapped chocolates.
posted by LoriFLA at 12:51 PM on April 15 [2 favorites]

Chocolate curl directions here if you decide to go that route.
posted by LoriFLA at 12:53 PM on April 15 [1 favorite]

Please, do not frost the brownie. A glaze would be acceptable, powdered sugar is great, but anything else will clash with the richness and density that set brownies apart from your garden variety birthday cake. And while you could bake them in cupcake shape, that might not set the right tone for someone who doesn't like cake.

How about making regular brownies (and maybe some butterscotch brownies for variety) and arranging them into a scene or diorama using some props that your sister might like? You could totally do a brownie chessboard, ziggurat, Barbie Dream House, or whatever. They're not all that structurally sound for stacking, but still the possibilities are endless.
posted by expialidocious at 1:28 PM on April 15

Every time I make box brownies, the brownie material at the center of the pan ends up much lower than the edges. Cake, not so much.

So when you stack them, I'm having a hard time envisioning how that'll work without some serious center sag.

So I'm thirding or whatever the brownie pyramid.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 2:26 PM on April 15

This is more of a fun/funny idea than a grand tiered presentation, but what if you made brownies impersonate lots of other foods?

Make a big cheese board with wedges of brownies - and cheese knives, of course, to serve. Surround with grapes and chocolate truffles.

Lay a slab of brownies out like a steak, on a grooved board, with perhaps a chocolate glaze sinking in the way the jus would (if it were actually a steak). Big steak knife to cut off pieces of brownie. Garnish with mint leaves instead of parsley or other herbs.

Make little cubes out of brownies and pile them on a bed of shredded coconut. Maybe toss in a few whole walnuts or pecans. Serve with chopsticks to impersonate a stirfry.
posted by bassjump at 2:36 PM on April 15 [1 favorite]

Is it possible that it's the _frosting_ and extra sweetness that she doesn't like about cake? In that case, frosting would be not a good idea.

I'd suggest maybe making a non-birthday-cake cake, like a spice cake or even a carrot cake. You know your sister, though.

And for fancying it up: carrot cake has it's own less-sweet frosting; but powdered sugar is great if filtered through a symmetric cutout design, cut into a piece of paper, laid onto the surface of the cake or brownies.
posted by amtho at 2:43 PM on April 15

I have a recipe that I know is good and looks pretty as well. It is an oldie but goody for brownie lovers like your sister and me. I just googled and see it is easily found on the internet by entering "Duncan Hines Rich Double Chocolate Cream Torte". I always made it in a single layer cake pan, and it would serve about 10. It definitely LOOKS like a cake, but unless you tell people, they won't think they are eating a brownie mix. You might use this as a basis for your tiered cake idea. Omit the jimmies suggested though. VERY tacky.
posted by LiveLurker at 2:47 PM on April 15

I, too, dislike cake and like the boxed brownies (preferably Pilsbury for me -- the different brands come out very differently). I've tried many recipes for baking them from scratch, and nothing gives as nice a texture and flavor as the Pilsbury mix.

In my opinion, trying to add things to make the brownies "cake-like" or drown them frosting ruins them. I don't want some sugary coating on top of my brownies, and I usually cut frosting off of cake and don't eat it. Stacking them would ruin the top texture on the bottom brownie. Unless you know exactly what your sister doesn't like about cake, you will probably end up ruining some perfectly yummy brownies.

I like the chessboard idea that expialidocious suggested. You could have white cake for the people who don't like brownies, and decorate the appropriate squares with chess piece designs. If you want cute, you could cover the cake bits with pink frosting.

There was a post on the blue a while back about a special pan so you could have all edge brownies. If your sister likes the edge bits (I seem to recall there were heated religious arguments over which was better), it would be cute to use this pan and put decorations in the open areas.
posted by yohko at 2:59 PM on April 15

nthing the cupcakes. i make brownie cupcakes ALL THE TIME and they turn out really well. sometimes i put a smidgen of peanut butter in the center before i bake them, but this just makes the cupcakes ultra rich.

i also really like the idea of cookie cutters. i would have loved to have dinosaur brownies for my birthday. especially with little walnut eyes.
posted by kerning at 3:41 PM on April 15 [1 favorite]

I love the ideas above. Cupcakes and individual cakes are huge at weddings where I live right now, so I think individual brownies dusted in powdered sugar or with some chocolate shavings, arranged in a pyramid or on a cupcake holder, would be great for a birthday party, too, even one on a large scale. The chocolate martinis suggested above are also perfect for a 21-year old!

But if you want some more ideas, here's a few I came up with:
These people will print a photo of your sister on a brownie for you, and you could then use that as a centerpiece.

You could also go for something different, and make lots of small bite-size brownies. Here's the recipe from an actual tea-shop for little brownie cakes. Or you might like these adorable brownie kisses (scroll down for image), with several set in a basket lined with fabric or tissue in your sister's favorite colors.
posted by misha at 4:00 PM on April 15

Get an all-edges pan. From that you'll get building blocks (literally) that retain maximum structural integrity.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 5:43 PM on April 15

Thanks for all the ideas! FWIW, my sister loves frosting, just not the consistency of cake. I was really thinking of using the frosting as accents and small decorative bits, not slathered on like a cake.
posted by rinosaur at 6:02 PM on April 15

This brownie trifle is super good and rich. And you can make it as pretty as you like.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 6:43 PM on April 15 [3 favorites]

The ice-cream "cake" that I make my boyfriend for his birthday might work. I make Ghirardelli brownies, let them cool, and then spread mint chocolate chip ice cream over it and stick it in the freezer for a while. I then make a chocolate ganache, let it cool a bit, and spread it over the ice cream and stick it back in the freezer. Mmmmmm. You have to make sure that the ice cream is frozen really hard and that the ganache is cooled as much as possible while still being spreadable though to make sure that it doesn't melt the ice cream.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 9:14 PM on April 15

Hmmmm... interesting. I'm not sure that the consistency of boxed brownies would be amenable to normal layering, like soft cake would. However, if I had to turn boxed brownies into a dessert suitable for a big bash, and wanted to retain a dominant boxed brownie taste and texture, here's what I imagine I'd try:

Make several batches of gooey brownies. Pull them out of the oven before they look visually "done." A toothpick test should come out kind of sticky (but not wet). Allow to cool to room temperature, then break up the brownies into small pieces, being careful not to smush the softer bits. Use the stiffer bits to form a base on whatever platter or platform(s) you're using. My imaginary confection is square, on a square glass platter.

Whip a pint or two of cold, heavy cream to soft peaks, with a drop of red food coloring for a light pink tinge. Sweeten with a spoon of confectioner's sugar, if you like. Now's the time for a flavor if you like, too (I'm a fan of orange extract for chocolate stuff). Maybe I'd split it so I'd have a batch of pink and a batch of white to play with. Add a bit of dissolved unflavored gelatin and whip it into a more stable state.

Spoon some of the whipped cream onto brownie layer numero uno, taking care at the edges. Repeat with another layer of brownie bits, a layer of cream, and a final layer of brownie bits. This thing would probably take a little while to construct. Put it all in the fridge to keep. Garnish with whipped cream on the top edge, sweet chocolate curls, and fresh raspberries on top and on the side.

Alternatives include making a whipped chocolate ganache to use in place of the plain whipped cream, or adding fudge sauce over the first and second brownie layers. I'm biased because I don't like anything so heavy; for myself, I'd probably add crushed raspberries to the whipped cream layers instead. Mmmmm....
posted by zennie at 9:41 PM on April 15 [1 favorite]

P.S. the filling layers would have to fairly stiff for that to work properly and not fall down. Some experimenting with a test version would be a good idea in any case.
posted by zennie at 9:48 PM on April 15

Can't leave this alone for some reason. A friend of mine thinks my idea would work better without breaking up the brownies, if you just discard the edges. And you could use a cookie cutter to make little individual heart-shaped brownie layer cakes with strawberry cream filling.
posted by zennie at 9:22 AM on April 16