Alphabake: I: Ice Cream Sundae Brownies

I had a very lovely Valentine's Day this year. I got to spend it with my boyfriend whom I've been with since forever. His name is Stomach. We went on our traditional Valentine's double date with our two best friends, Ice-Cream and Brownie. This year those two had some big news: THEY GOT HITCHED!!!

What actually happened was that I made a lovely 'singles' meal with my roommates. The menu included a hearty salad and pasta dish with a scrumptious batch of Ice Cream Sundae Brownies ( la pièce de résistance ) for dessert. And please understand that these are not regular brownies with a scoop of ice cream on the side--the ice cream gets included in the batter, creating an even more fudgilicious and decadent texture...AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

This week I opted to not make the letter 'I' recipe I had previously selected from one of my cookbooks. I did not find it particularly interesting and it was not as fitting for Valentine's Day as these brownies. Instead I decided to adapt a recipe I found on another food blog called Picky Palate. It is a really easy, time saving recipe because it uses brownie mix from the box which was great since I was planning on making multiple dishes that evening. I made a few changes from the blogger's original recipe:

1) Her recipe requested more oil and an extra egg than the instructions on my box of brownie mix. At first I was not sure if we were using a different type of mix or if she made these changes in order to adapt the recipe to the inclusion of the ice cream. She also did not include any water (because of the ice cream) but I added a little bit otherwise it would have been impossible to mix.

2) I chopped a block of chocolate into big pieces instead of using chocolate chips. The chocolate doesn't really melt in the brownies so it was nice finding big chunks of it when taking a bite.

3) I didn't add any chocolate fudge sauce. I didn't have any available and although this might have been a tasty addition, the brownies were so fudgy and barely baked on the inside as is.

4) She used Ben and Jerry's Phish Food ice cream. I used a triple chocolate flavour but I think you can really play around with that if you want to.

5) I topped them with a sprinkle of icing sugar--do it!

These were so amazing paired with raspberries. They are the perfect comfort food for winter and I suggest you don't wait until next Valentine's Day to try them. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 box brownie mix
1 egg (or 2 if requested on your box of brownie mix)
2 Tbls canola or vegetable oil
3-4 Tbls water
Heaping ½ cup of ice cream(eg. triple chocolate), softened slightly
Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with foil and lightly coat with oil.

In a large bowl combine the brownie mix, egg, oil, and water until combined. The mixture should be very thick so add the water gradually. Stir in the ice cream and chocolate pieces. Pour the mixture into the baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Let cool completely. Remove foil from the baking dish, sprinkle with icing sugar, and cut into squares.