Marzipan brownies

I might be someone who loves sweets (and this blog is proof of that), but even I know there’s a certain limit to be considered: to avoid the risk of eating the marzipan left from the berry muffins I set up to find other delicious recipes to use the marzipan in, and after reading something about a chocolate marzipan cake somewhere – I am getting old and I don’t remember where, sorry – I thought that marzipan brownies would be a fantastic idea; since I wanted fudgy brownies and not cakey ones, I reached for Alice Medrich’s chocolate bible – because I was almost out of dark chocolate, I used her fabulous and super famous cocoa brownies as a vehicle for the marzipan; a tiny bit of almond extract, a sprinkling of flaked almonds and voilà: some pretty good marzipan brownies.

Marzipan brownies
adapted from the amazing Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate

210g unsalted butter
1 ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons (375g) granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups (120g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
3 cold large eggs
¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour
100g marzipan, chopped in small cubes
3 tablespoons flaked almonds

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line the bottom and sides of a 20x30cm (12x8in) baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Butter the foil.

In a medium heatproof bowl, add the butter and set on top of a large sauce pan with barely simmering water. Melt the butter, then add sugar and salt, and stir until well combined. Next add the cocoa powder and stir until mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.
Stir in the vanilla and the almond extract with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread half the batter in the prepared pan. Spread the marzipan pieces evenly over the batter, then cover with the remaining batter. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.
Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Makes 24