Complexity: ★★☆☆☆
Today's recipe is a three-in-one! Isabelle is the mayor's hardworking secretary in New Leaf, so I felt like making a selection of treats, something that might be served on a platter at a Town Hall meeting! Isabelle is also shown to have a bit of a sweet tooth, given that her coffee preference is mocha with lots of sugar.
The first recipe is Mocha Brownies. Coffee has been a feature in the Animal Crossing series ever since the introduction of the Roost café in Wild World. In New Leaf, each villager was given their own coffee preference, and as previously mentioned, Isabelle's favourite happens to be sweet and chocolatey mocha. So, I turned her favourite drink into a dessert by making rich, fudgey brownies infused with espresso!
The second treat is Apple and Cinnamon Coffee Cake. Coffee cake felt like an appropriate addition to this platter: despite its name there is no coffee in the cake, rather it is a cake intended to be eaten with coffee. Since coffee is such a popular drink in the world of Animal Crossing - and is typically a drink served in an office environment - some coffee cake also felt appropriate for Isabelle. This coffee cake contains apples, a nod to the various fruits found in the Animal Crossing series. In fact, one of Isabelle's roles in New Leaf was to gift the player a non-native fruit.
The final dessert on this platter is inspired by a popular snack called "puppy chow." This snack mix is made with Chex cereal, coated in chocolate and peanut butter and then tossed in powdered sugar. I couldn't resist using it in Isabelle's recipe given that she is a dog! I adapted puppy chow into a bar, a-la the classic Rice Krispies treats - by using gooey melted marshmallow to stick it all together. The marshmallow mixture is infused with chocolate and peanut butter, so it retains all the flavours of puppy chow, and the bars are tossed in powdered sugar as a finishing touch. Just like the actual snack mix, you could toss some M&Ms or pretzel pieces into the bar!
INGREDIENTS
Mocha Brownies:
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate, melted
½ cups white sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ½ tbsp instant espresso powder
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake:
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp nutmeg
¾ cup apple sauce
1 cup Greek yogurt
3 tbsp maple syrup or honey
2 cups peeled, cored, and chopped apples
¼ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
"Puppy Chow" Bars:
¼ cup unsalted butter
3 cups miniature marshmallows
2 tbsp cocoa powder
½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup peanut butter
4 cups Chex or a similar cereal
½ tsp salt
½ cup powdered sugar
PREPARATION
For mocha brownies:
Preheat oven to 375°. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with tinfoil and grease with butter or cooking spray.
Melt together unsalted butter and chocolate using the double boiler method, in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water.
Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Mix with sugar, vanilla, espresso powder, oil, and eggs.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Add to chocolate mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes.
Leave to fully cool in the pan before turning out and cutting into squares.
For apple coffee cake:
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with butter or cooking spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
Add half of the flour mixture to the mixer on low speed. Add apple sauce, then the remaining flour mixture. Add yogurt and maple syrup. Stir in apple pieces and add batter to prepared pan.
In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Drizzle in the melted butter, whisking constantly, until a coarse crumble is formed. Sprinkle on top of the batter.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes (depending on variance in oven temperature). Leave to fully cool in the pan before cutting into squares and serving.
For "puppy chow" bars:
Grease a 9-inch baking pan with butter or cooking spray.
In a large pot, melt together butter and marshmallows over medium heat, taking care not to burn. Stir in cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and peanut butter, further heating until a smooth mixture is formed.
Stir in Chex until fully coated and stuck together. Pour mixture into prepared pan and allow to cool and harden for about 15 minutes.
Turn out and cut into squares. Dust with powdered sugar.
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