Dulce de Leche Brownies

My mom and my neighbor were not the only people who decided to employ my baking skills during my stint at home over break. My sister, who also works at a school, requested some goodies for the students she spends her days with. While I questioned her wanting to give school children sugar in the middle of the day, it didn't stop me from finding the perfect treat for the kinder : brownies.

But these grade schoolers were getting more than your (kinder)garden variety chocolate treat.
Dulce de leche brownies by David Lebovitz are far from elementary, am I right?

Chocolate Almond Upside-Down Cake

While still home on break, I turned to another of my recipe books, Chocolate and Vanilla by pastry chef Gale Gand and  Lisa Weiss, for some excellent recipes that illustrate the versatility of those two classic flavors. Not in combination, mind you. The book is literally split between vanilla and chocolate--you need to turn the book over to switch from one to the other. Each flavor gets its own introduction and historical background, followed by a group of recipes employing the flavors in all their forms, from Dutch-processed cocoa powder to vanilla beans.

One of the recipes that I've become particular fond of celebrates the classic combination of  chocolate and almonds. The Chocolate Almond Upside-Down Cake is a dark, moist chocolate cake that is topped (once you flip it over)  with rich caramel and toasted almonds. omgah so good. Gale Gand flat out rejects the traditional upside-down cake with those cherries and pineapple all up in it. Blah. This cake looks much better. Dark and sexy, even, to use my friend's words.

Sweet, salty victory! Simply Divine's Build a Brownie Contest

I WON I WON I WON WOOOOO!

Back at the beginning of the semester my friend Tessa sent me a link and told me I had to participate in a contest--a brownie flavor creating contest. Tessa knows me well. And she had heard about the contest because she follows the blog of the bakery running it: Simply Divine Brownies. Based in Fort Andross, Brunswick, Maine, Simply Divine is run by Tessa's former grade school teacher and was going to randomly select a winner from among the brownie flavor entries who would receive a tray of his or her flavor brownies as a prize!

That same day I submitted my flavor: brownies with a layer of caramel and sprinkled with smoked sea salt. I called it the Obamabrownie because I happen to know that smoked salt caramels are our president's favorite candy. Such a classy guy.

As luck would have it.... I was one of three winners. "VICTORY SCREECH!" (You have no idea how completely and utterly surprised I am that this is the first Spongebob reference to show up on here.)

It looks like the crew at Simply Divine will even be selling the "Obamabrownie", which they have renamed Opposites Attract. Very cute. And very true. Sweet and salty together wins big. As do I!  Updates to come as soon as I get that tray of 45 brownies ;)

All of the above are Simply Divine's pictures of the creation of Opposites Attract