Salted Caramel Stuffed Latte Macchiato Brownie Mooncakes
Featuring a delightfully indulgent coffee-flavored dark chocolate brownie on the outside and luscious sweet and salty caramel on the inside, these Salted Caramel Stuffed Latte Macchiato Brownie Mooncakes offer a sophisticated twist on the traditional dessert. A memorable treat that will undoubtedly steal the spotlight at your next gathering!
Recipe by: Joan Repato
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Yield: 14 Mooncakes
Prep Time: 20 minutes (Salted Caramel), 30 minutes (Brownies)
Bake Time: 14 minutes (Brownies)
Assembly: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Sea Salt Caramels
100g Granulated sugar
30 ml Light corn syrup
25g Water
57g Unsalted butter
60g Heavy cream
2g Flaked sea salt (Joan used Maldon Salt)
*See recipe notes
Latte Macchiato Brownie Balls
345g Sombra 54% Dark Chocolate
3 (107g) Egg whites from large eggs, room temperature
10g Latte Macchiato Flavor Paste
Special Equipment and Assembly
Small loaf pan
Small saucepan with lid
Candy thermometer
Heat resistant rubber spatula
#60 Cookie scoop, or tablespoon
Fine sieve
50g Mooncake Molds
For garnish: Cocoa powder, sifted
Instructions:
Sea Salt Caramels
1.) Prepare a small loaf pan by spraying it with oil. Place a piece of parchment paper larger than the pan in the bottom, then spray the parchment paper as well. Parchment liner will help remove the slab of finished caramel from loaf pan. Set aside while you make caramel.
2.) In a small saucepan, place sugar, light corn syrup and water. Gently stir and ensure that sugar is completely wet. Cover your saucepan with a lid.
3.) Place saucepan on stove over medium heat and bring to a boil (with the lid on) to create steam in the pan. The steam will melt any sugar crystals that may have formed on the sides of the pan. Keep the lid on for about 2 minutes.
4.) Place heavy cream in a microwave safe cup and heat for 30 seconds.
5.) Remove lid from saucepan and place a candy thermometer in the pan. Cook sugar until it reaches 320°F. Remove from heat.
6.) Carefully add butter and a third of warm cream (20g) slowly to cooked caramel sugar (sugar will bubble as you add the butter and cream). Continue adding the remainder of warm cream.
7.) Return saucepan to medium heat and continue cooking caramel until you reach 240°F for a soft caramel consistency. Remove from heat. **See recipe notes
8.) Pour caramel into the prepared small loaf pan. Allow caramel to cool for about 25 minutes.
9.) Once caramel has cooled, sprinkle the Maldon flaked salt over your caramel. Continue to cool caramel for 3 more hours in the refrigerator.
10.) Remove cooled caramel from the refrigerator, and remove from loaf pan; turn it over onto an oiled silpat placed on top of a cutting board. Peel off parchment paper that was on the bottom of the caramel.
11.) Cut the caramel into 14 equal pieces, about 14 grams each. Roll each piece into a ball. Refrigerate caramel balls until you are ready to assemble mooncakes.
Latte Macchiato Brownie Balls
1.) Preheat oven to 350°F.
2.) Prepare an 8x8" brownie pan by spraying it with oil and lining it with parchment paper.
3.) Melt dark chocolate over a hot water bath or in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring chocolate with a rubber spatula. Continue until chocolate is melted and smooth.
4.) With a hand whisk, vigorously whisk in room temperature egg whites into the melted chocolate (it is very important that the egg whites are room temperature, as the chocolate might seize if the egg whites are cold). Continue whisking until egg whites are completely combined with the chocolate and the mixture is smooth.
5.) Pour batter into prepared brownie pan; use a rubber spatula to scrape out all of the batter into the pan.
6.) Bake at 350°F or about 12-14 minutes until brownies look shiny, crinkly, and slightly cracked. Brownies will rise in the oven but will sink back down when removed. Allow brownies to cool for about 30 minutes, and start cutting and portioning the Sea Salt Caramels while brownies are cooling.
7.) Once brownies are completely cool, scrape out baked brownies into a bowl and crumble them. Add the Latte Macchiato Flavor Paste and mix well with a rubber spatula.
8.) Separate the Latte Macchiato Brownie mix into 14 equal pieces (about 30 grams per piece), using a #60 cookie scoop or a tablespoon. Roll each piece into a ball.
9.) Cover brownie balls with plastic wrap until ready to assemble mooncakes.
Mooncake Assembly
1.) Take one Latte Macchiato brownie ball and place it between two pieces of plastic wrap; flatten it with your palm until it is about 2 ½" in diameter.
2.) Take one side of plastic wrap off and place a salted caramel ball in the center of the flattened brownie.
3.) Bring the sides of the brownie up to enclose the caramel ball in the middle and seal by rolling the brownie into a ball. Use the plastic wrap to assist you in forming the ball. Remove the rest of the plastic wrap.
4.) Roll brownie ball in sifted cocoa powder, remove excess powder and place inside your mooncake mold. Press down onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
5.) Repeat steps 1-4 until all mooncakes are molded.
6.) Move mooncakes onto a serving platter and serve immediately. If saving for later, ***see recipe notes.
A decadent delight: Rich Latte Macchiato flavored brownies dusted with cocoa powder reveal a center of gooey salted caramel.
Recipe Notes:
*In a rush? Instead of making salted caramel from scratch, you can swap it out for our ready-made Caramel Cream from Isigny.
**Caramel consistency: If you want firmer caramel, cook the caramel up to 245°F and then remove from heat, instead of 240°F.
***If saving your mooncakes for later, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. If freezing, can be stored for up to 3 months. If serving from frozen, allow mooncakes to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Serve at room temperature.
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