Ladies (and gentlemen, if you’re interested!), what could be better than combining sweet treats with chic style? I love the excitement and indulgence of both, which is why I was thrilled when I recently received a copy of Rachel Shifter Thebault’s Sweet Chic to review.
The idea behind this book is charming; Rachel compares her baking philosophy to the advice given by many fashion experts: start with a few wardrobe staples (think little black dress, that perfect pair of jeans, or your favorite oversize handbag), and then accessorize your little heart out to dress it up or down and completely alter the look. This strategy is applied to the recipes in this book; by starting out with a basic recipe or technique and applying a few alterations you can have virtually endless results.
Vanilla cookies are compared to the crisp oxford shirt, chocolate cake is compared to the little black dress, and caramel is compared to the “it” bag. Brilliant and so adorable.
One of these fudgy brownies and a tall glass of milk are a match made in heaven.
Thumbing through the book (which by the way, has many pictures of these oh-so-tempting sweet treats), I saw several recipes I wanted to make. Peanut butter and chocolate thumbprints, ice cream sandwiches, and salt and pepper chocolate are a few of the many things that called to me. In the end I decided on fudgy brownies because really, it doesn’t get much better than a good brownie.
I had some fresh red raspberries that I wanted to incorporate into the dish and I thought a raspberry fool would be a nice way to do it. A fruit fool is a traditional English dessert of pureed fruit folded into sweetened whipped cream. For my recipe, I crumbled these lovely fudgy brownies and used them as my base.
There aren’t many things that can’t be improved with chocolate…but a plain old berry fool is still pretty tasty even on its own.
I did make a few changes to the original brownie recipe in the book…the biggest alterations I made were to scale back the recipe a bit, use all brown sugar (for a truly sublime fudgy texture), and add of a bit of cocoa powder (because I love the deep chocolate flavor it gives to brownies). Oh, and I added literally just a pinch of espresso powder, a trick I learned from Ina Garten a while ago; it’s completely optional, and you won’t be able to taste the coffee – it just helps accentuate the flavor of the chocolate.
And no worries if you don’t want to crumble these brownies to use as the base for fool; make them any time you want a small batch of brownies!
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 oz good-quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (if using chips, about ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon)
- ½ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 pinch espresso powder (optional)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 cup red raspberries, pureed
- For the brownies, preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper and lightly spray the paper with nonstick cooking spray.
- Melt together the butter and chocolate in a microwave or double boiler; cool slightly. Stir in the brown sugar and vanilla, then beat in the egg until light and fluffy. Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and espresso powder and stir until just combined, being careful not to over-mix. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the brownies are set in the middle, about 20 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through.
- Once completely cooled, crumble the brownies and place the crumbles in 1 large trifle bowl or 6 individual serving bowls.
- Whip the cream to soft peaks, then whip in the powdered sugar. Gently fold in the raspberries, leaving a few streaks of white, if possible.
- Spoon the cream/raspberry mixture onto the crumbled brownies and serve immediately.
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of Sweet Chic (Ballantine Books; October 2010); as always, opinions are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links to products I believe in, which means that even though it doesn’t cost you anything extra, I will receive a small amount of money from the sale of these items, which helps me keep this site alive – thank you for helping to support An Edible Mosaic!
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
Fashion and food are a perfect pair! Those brownies appear to be crazy fudgey (and have me craving chocolate). Lovely photographs!
the book sounds SO cute and the dessert looks amazing! A desserty parfait- I love it!
Love all the calories :) Pretty Pretty pictures Faith.I love the fool..creamy & fruity!Love the first picture–such a fluffy cream topping..yum!
come teach me how to take GORGEOUS yummy foodie photos like you! kthx!
This is absolutely an awesome, droolworthy post!! Between the brownies and the raspberries, I am in heaven!
Beautiful photography too!!!
Oooh, brownies plus cream plus raspberries? I am in heaven. Who needs dinner when I can have this instead?
// Ladies (and gentlemen, if you’re interested!), what could be better than combining sweet treats with chic style? //
How about sweet treats with power tools? Ha!
Steve, Too funny…and I’m sure my hubby would agree, lol! I knew all the gentlemen wouldn’t be interested. ;)
Faith,
It’s like the sequel to Devil Wears Prada. Everything sweet an sexy!
Lovely recipe.
Cheers
Hegs
Your brownies look fudgy and delicious and topped with the raspberry fool it’s an elegant, irresistible dessert. Love the new look!
Mmm, your dessert looks amazing. I love the combination of raspberries and chocolate, and love how you took the recipe and idea and made it your own. It looks like a cute book, too.
What a stunning fool! The homemade brownies make it all the more special. I love the book! Such a cute idea.
Yowsers, this looks WAAAAAAY to good!! ;)
The book sounds wonderful and your treats certainly look delicious! Those are incredibly fudgy brownies!
This looks so good ..lovely pics Faith ..can’t stop drooling :D
Mmm the brownies would add such a fudgelicious aspect to the dessert (is that even a word?). And salt and pepper chocolate sounds great! :)
This is one gorgeous dessert ~ so apt for summers! Nicely taken pics Faith.
US Masala
That is a cute book-love the premise! I have never loved any from-scratch brownies I’ve made, so I will add this recipe to my “to try” list. I really aim to have a favorite from-scratch recipe for each type of cake and brownies, despite my affinity for mixes.
That fool looks so scrumptious! A great combination.
Cheers,
Rosa
That book sounds like good fun, throw in the brownie desert and you’ve got a housewife coming over to play :)
*kisses* HH
wat a great combo of flavors..
Tasty Appetite
It sounds like a great book!
The addition of brownies here makes this over the top delicious! Looks so pretty and wonderful!
Looks so divine! How can you not love that? Your pictures make me so hungry :)
Looks fantastic. Great idea to use the brownies with the fool. The book sounds fun.
Have a great weekend!
They look so good and super-chocolaty! Alone or with cream and raspberries, your brownies are a delightful treat!
Your photos are stunners. It is impossible not to like this dessert. I can’t wait to give this a try. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Blessings…Mary
The brownies are fabulous and like the idea of making another sweet treat with those brownies. Lovely clicks and a great review.
Your intro rocks , totally!
And those brownies are certainly very fudgy and delicious made even better with all those pretty berries!
I agree the comparisons are so brilliant and super cute!
Lods love and super weekend buddy dear!
This looks so delicious! That cookbook looks great too! Definitely will be trying this soon =) The berries and whipped cream with the brownie is such a delicious idea
I can almost taste the brownies…you can tell so much about a brownie by the texture! Looks kind of PERFECT!
But then, I’m ridiculously crazy over anything brownie/chocolate!
Sounds like a great cookbook, both sweet treats look scrumptious.
Wow, Faith these desserts look incredible! The pictures of the brownies are sublime… And what a fun sounding book – I know what I’m putting on my Christmas wish list ;-)
faith you are a master in the kitchen! that dessert looks to die for……hope you have a great weekend!
Those look just lovely! I wish I could take a bite right now ;)
I’ve added your blog to my bloglovin’ a while ago and now read up on your posts starting from May. I’m definitely gonna keep following, even if I’m a vegetarian, most of your recipes come in very handy (and tasty)!
Sounds like such a cute cookbook! I love the idea of comparing food to clothes…two of my favorite things to shop for!
You did some beautiful things with these brownies! the idea of using them as a base for a fool is quite genius!
oh I need that in my life – YUM!
What a super sweet post! I love that raspberry fool!
Oh what an adorable concept for the cookbook, fashion. Kind of funny as I have a guest here for the weekend and tomorrow we are going to the fine arts museum: the showcase expo now is Fashion by Jan Paul Gauthier. I would try to make one recipe idea from an outfit lol. And no fooling that dessert you made looks awesome.
SO gorgeous! Awesome job :)
I’ve never made a fool before, but this one sure looks like it would be the one to start with! It just looks so refreshing and fluffy… I don’t know why I haven’t already started making it!
I adore berry fools! Perfect easy summer dessert.
The book looks like a fun read, Faith. Fashion and cooking. Love it.
Combining the brownie with raspberry fool is a delicious idea.
Chocolate and berries pretty much equal heaven in my book. Thank you for sharing with me. I’m eating a bagel and enjoying your blog. What a perfect way to start my Sunday! I hope you have a wonderful day.
Your photos are wonderful, and the recipes rock!!!!
Faith.
Incredibly fudgey indeed. Love your alterations, coffee and chocolate are a perfect match. Your photos are simply stunning.
Wow!
Bravo
This is such a pretty treat & the book sounds wonderful. Tasty & chic is always good.
What a DELICIOUS dessert!!!
Holy moly! Are you trying to kill me, girl?! This looks and sounds absolutely amazing! Little black dress or not, I’d eat this any way it was assembled. In fact I’d eat so many I’d probably wouldn’t be able to fit my own little black dress. Teehee. Another wonderful creation, Faith!
the brownie looks incredibly moist! i’ve always used white sugar but i think ill try out this recipe as it looks great :)
Love those brownies :) Also love the adorable straw….can’t wait for mine to get here!
Oh my does that look wonderful! The brownies alone make me happy…looks like such a fun book :)
what a unique cookbook premise! i’d love this even if it wasn’t compared to wardrobe necessities, but that’s a nice touch. :)
Great combination for a dessert. Anything with fresh raspberries and chocolate must be delicious.
What a dish, browni is awesome.My brother loves it very much. in other words he is mad for it.i will surely prepare i for him.
I find that sometimes cookery books can all get a bit samey so it’s very refreshing to read about this one which sounds like a really fun new idea. And those brownies look sinfully good :)