Simply Sifted

German Apple Cake

Joanna — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:38:24 +0000

As my grandmother once put it, “Judy (my mother) was never the baker.” However there are three things my mother used to bake, and she did those three very very well, German apple cake being one. This may be *Carola’s recipe, but my mother has been making this cake twenty years. When I drove up to visit my parents at their new home in Boston I was excited to see this cake waiting for me. It brought me back to my childhood and made me feel right at home, even through this was my first visit to their new digs. I guess home is really where the food is for me.

This cake is super SUPER easy to make, not overly sweet at all and you can use apples that may not be super fresh. The apples I’ve been using have been sitting in my fridge since I picked them back in September, which may be a little insane but nobody eating the cake has been complaining. I swear these Mutso apples last forever in your fridge. I’d recommend a green apple for this recipe. You can easily whip this up in under 10 minutes, and then pop it in the oven for an hour. It’s a terrific light breakfast or teatime cake.

*This recipe comes from Carola, a German babysitter who used to take care of my brother and me as wee tots. We’re German too so I consider this a family recipe.

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 apples (any green or granny apples work best)

1 stick butter (just slightly melted)

1 cup sugar

1.5 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp milk

half lemon or lemon juice

1/4 raisins (optional)

Stir eggs, butter (melted), sugar together. Add remaining dry ingredients (baking powder, flour) to wet egg butter mixture. Mix and add milk to smooth out batter. Spray 9 inch pie pan (8inch is fine too). Place dough mixture in pie dish and spread evenly. Peel apples and cut into quarters removing stem and seeds. Draw deep lines in apples without cutting through entirely so the apples can fan out during baking. Place apple quarters firmly into dough. Squeeze lemon juice over the cut apple pieces. Sprinkle with raisins. Cook at 350 degrees for around 1 hour. If the edges start to brown before it is finished cooking place aluminum foil over edges to prevent burning.

Let cool and enjoy!

Homemade Gnocchi

Jessie — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:12:50 +0000

I’m pretty sure that in 2 years this is only the second time I’ve posted a non-dessert food on here. It’s not that I don’t cook, it’s just that I’m not an especially good cook and the the food I make is boring. This gnocchi dinner on the other hand seemed worthy of sharing. I’d been wanting to try making gnocchi for awhile, but assumed it would be too difficult. This weekend I had some extra potatoes around and figured why not? If they didn’t turn out we’d eat frozen pizza. I was so surprised how easily these came together. Don’t be intimidated by the recipe, it’s long, but none of the steps are difficult.

Rolling the gnocchi

From reading reviews of all sorts of gnocchi recipes online my two biggest worries were that they would fall apart in the boiling water and or they would be tough. Neither was an issue – they were sturdy enough to hold up in boiling but were also light and fluffy. I’m excited to try making them again and incorporating more flavor into the dough with different cheeses or herbs. I served my gnocchi with this sauce, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Everyone raves about it, but I thought it was watery and bland. I wish I’d just used a jar of Newman’s Own.

From Epicurious

3 large baking (Idaho) potatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds), scrubbed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, or as needed

1. Place the potatoes in a large pot with enough cold water to cover. Bring the water to a boil and cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are easily pierced with a skewer but the skins are not split, about 35 minutes. (Alternatively, the potatoes can be baked in a preheated 400°F oven until tender, about 40 minutes.)

2. Drain the potatoes and let them stand just until cool enough to handle. (The hotter the potatoes are when they are peeled and riced, the lighter the gnocchi will be.) Working quickly and protecting the hand that holds the potatoes with a folded kitchen towel or oven mitt, scrape the skin from the potato with a paring knife. Press the peeled potatoes through a potato ricer or grate them using the large holes on a box grater. Spread the riced potatoes into a thin, even layer on the work surface, without pressing them or compacting them. Let them cool completely.

3. In a small bowl, beat the egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg together. Gather the cold potatoes into a mound and form a well in the center. Pour the egg mixture into the well. Knead the potato and egg mixtures together with both hands, gradually adding the grated cheese and enough of the flour, about 1 1/2 cups, to form a smooth but slightly sticky dough. It should take no longer than 3 minutes to work the flour into the potato mixture; remember, the longer the dough is kneaded, the more flour it will require and the heavier it will become. As you knead the dough, it will stick to your hands and to the work surface: Repeatedly rub this rough dough from your hands and scrape it with a knife or dough scraper from the work surface back into the dough as you knead.

4. Wash and dry your hands. Dust the dough, your hands, and the work surface lightly with some of the remaining flour. Cut the dough into six equal pieces and set off to one side of the work surface. Place one piece of dough in front of you and pat it into a rough oblong. Using both hands, in a smooth back-and-forth motion and exerting light downward pressure, roll the dough into a rope 1/2 inch thick, flouring the dough if necessary as you roll to keep it from sticking. (When you first begin making gnocchi, until your hands get the feel of the dough, you may find it easier to cut each piece of dough in half to roll it.)

5. Slice the ropes into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Sprinkle the rounds lightly with flour and roll each piece quickly between your palms into a rough ball, flouring the dough and your hands as needed to prevent sticking. Hold the tines of a fork at a 45-degree angle to the table with the concave part facing up. Dip the tip of your thumb in flour. Take one ball of dough and with the tip of your thumb, press the dough lightly against the tines of the fork as you roll it downward toward the tips of the tines. As the dough wraps around the tip of your thumb, it will form into a dumpling with a deep indentation on one side and a ridged surface on the other. Set on a baking sheet lined with a floured kitchen towel and continue forming gnocchi from the remaining dough balls. Repeat the whole process with the remaining pieces of dough. At this point the gnocchi must be cooked immediately or frozen.

To cook gnocchi:
Bring six quarts of salted water to a vigorous boil in a large pot over high heat. Drop about half the gnocchi into the boiling water a few at a time, stirring gently and continuously with a wooden spoon. Cook the gnocchi, stirring gently, until tender, about 1 minute after they rise to the surface. (You can cook the gnocchi all at once in two separate pots of boiling water. If you make a double batch of gnocchi, I strongly recommend cooking them in batches in two pots of water.)

Remove the gnocchi from the water with a slotted spoon of skimmer, draining them well, and transfer to a wide saucepan with some of the sauce to be used. Cook the remaining gnocchi, if necessary. When all the gnocchi are cooked, proceed according to the directions for saucing and serving in each recipe.

When saucing gnocchi, remember this tip: If the sauce is too dense or the gnocchi seem too dry, use some of the gnocchi cooking water to thin the sauce and moisten the gnocchi, as you would with pasta dishes.

I served cooked my gnocchi immediately so I can’t say how well they hold up to the following methods. The consensus in the reviews I read is that they don’t taste as good after freezing.

To precook gnocchi:
Cook the gnocchi as described above, remove them with a skimmer, and spread them out in a baking pan lightly coated with melted butter. When ready to serve, return the gnocchi to a large pot of boiling salted water until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain thoroughly and sauce and serve according to the particular recipe.

To freeze gnocchi:
It is best to freeze gnocchi uncooked as soon as they are shaped. Arrange the gnocchi in a single layer on a baking pan and place the pan in a level position in the freezer. Freeze until solid, about 3 hours. Gather the frozen gnocchi into resealable freezer bags. Frozen gnocchi can be stored in the freezer for 4 to 6 weeks.

To cook frozen gnocchi:
Frozen gnocchi must be cooked directly from the freezer in plenty of boiling water, or they will stick together. Bring 6 quarts salted water to a boil in each of two large pots. Shake any excess flour from the frozen gnocchi and split them between the two pots, stirring gently as you add them to the boiling water. It is important that the water return to a boil as soon as possible; cover the pots if necessary. Drain the gnocchi as described above and sauce and serve according to the specific recipe.

Peanut Butter Blondies

Jessie — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:21:42 +0000

This is a recipe that I decided to make at the last minute when I found out I was having lunch with a vegan friend. I chose it because I had all of the ingredients on hand, it was a bar cookie which is less work than scooping out individual portions, and it was described as appealing to people who like really peanut buttery desserts. I had no expectations and just hoped they would turn out reasonably good. I ended up getting such a huge reaction from my friends and actually had several people describe these as one of the best desserts they’ve ever had.

This recipe got me excited about Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar again. When I first got the book I had really high hopes since I’m such a fan of the authors’ cupcake cookbook. The first cookie recipe I tried from it was great, but the second really wasn’t very good. After my success with this recipe I’m going to put the cookbook back in more regular rotation.

Peanut Butter Blondies

from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

3/4 creamy peanut butter (a commercical no-stir variety works best)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup non-dairy milk (or regular milk if you’re not vegan)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 – 1/2 cup salted peanuts

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease a metal 8 x 8 baking dish.

2. In a mixing bowl use a fork or whisk to vigorously mix together peanut butter, oil, and sugar. Stir in the nondairy milk and vanilla (be careful – it will splash!). Stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Once you the flour somewhat mixed in it’s easier to just use your hands to knead the dough until soft. (My dough never got stiff enough that this was necessary. I just used a rubber spatula.) Transfer the dough to the pan and press into place. Sprinkle the peanuts on top and lightly press them into the top.

3. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes; the blondie edges should be just barely darkened. The top will appear soft and that’s okay. Remove the blondies from the over and cool completely before slicing.

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Jessie — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:16:56 +0000

When I was up in Vermont for Christmas, my mom and I talked quite a bit about baking. She’s a great cook, but absolutely hates baking because she thinks there are too many ingredients, too many steps, too many dirty dishes, and she finds the results unreliable. She recently made these mini cheesecakes from the blog and thought they were way too much work. I would describe the cheesecakes as pretty simple, but requiring a bit of patience when making the little crusts. It was a nice reminder that my perspective on the difficulty level for a baking recipe is a bit skewed considering how often I bake and how much I enjoy it.

This recipe is truly easy and since it is just a doctored cake mix is very reliable. I actually really like yellow cake from a mix, and unlike chocolate cake, think it’s very often better than homemade.

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Topping

1 20-ounce can pineapple, crushed, chunks or tidbits (drained – reserve pineapple juice)
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
24 maraschino cherries

Cake

18-19 ounce yellow cake mix or pineapple cake mix (prepare batter as directed substituting the reserved pineapple juice for water)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Thoroughly grease 24 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
Drain canned pineapple, reserving liquid in a glass measuring cup.
Combine butter and brown sugar. Evenly spoon mixture into muffin cups. Place one cherry in the center of each cup. Top with 1 tablespoon pineapple. (If using pineapple chunks or tidbits decoratively arrange pieces in each cup.)
Place cake mix and eggs in large bowl. To reserved pineapple juice *add enough water to make a total of 1-1/3 cups of liquid. Pour liquid in bowl. Beat for 30 seconds on low. Continue beating for an additional 2 minutes on medium. Divide batter among muffin cups.
Bake for 20 -22 minutes or until the cakes spring back when pressed lightly with your finger.
Allow to rest in pan for 2 minutes and then invert onto serving platter.

Gingerbread Cake

Jessie — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:31:38 +0000

This is my first attempt at making gingerbread and I couldn’t be happier. I’d always been biased against gingerbread thinking it would taste like the very adorable, but often dry and hard gingerbread cookies you see at Christmastime. Last Christmas I got a silicone cake pan that makes 6 small gingerbread cakes so I decided to give it a shot. My criteria for choosing a recipe was that I already had all of the ingredients in the house which is how I stumbled on this one from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.

I have to say I think it’s one of the best cakes I’ve ever made. In addition to the 6 gingerbread men I made an 8 x 8 cake and I’ve eaten the whole thing myself this week. Typically I don’t make recipes more than once, but I’m eager to make this recipe again in different variations. I’m thinking a layer cake with orange cream cheese frosting or maybe in a loaf pan with some raisins and nuts added in.

In addition to being really delicious, the cakes comes together in about 15 minutes and has stayed fresh for five days and counting.

Gingerbread Plus

from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion

note: If you like spicy gingerbread you should increase the spices and maybe add some black pepper as well

3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup corn syrup or golden syrup
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. fresh ginger grated on a microplane or finely chopped
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the sugar, molasses, syrup, melted butter, oil, eggs, and fresh ginger beating until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Then carefully stir in the water; go slowly, as it will want to splash up. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and stir in any of the pastry patches that have gathered there.

Pour the batter into a lightly greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the top of the cake springs backs when pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Sufganiyot aka Jelly Doughnuts

Joanna — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:05:16 +0000

I was first introduced to sufganiyot (the hebrew word for doughnuts) two years ago when a boyfriend invited me to dinner with his aunt and uncle. He failed to mention his whole family would be there, parents, siblings, cousins and both sets of grandparents. I walked into a room of 20 people I had never met already sitting down to Hanukah dinner. Luckily I had baked some driedal shaped sugar cookies so I wasn’t empty handed, but talk about awkwaaaarrd!

Anyway point of the anecdote is his aunt had made these delicious jelly doughnuts, known traditionally as sufganiyot. Fried foods are traditional for Hanukah because of the miracle of the oil burning for eight nights instead of one, and we celebrate by eating many oil rich foods, the most popular being latkes or potato pancakes. I was invited to a Hanukah latke party tonight in Brooklyn and decided to contribute by bringing my own sweet treats to counter the pounds of latke’s my friend Larry would be preparing.

My boyfriend rigged up a jelly injector with a straw and a ziplock bag which ended up working perfectly and we got these fried, filled and powdered in about 20 minutes. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon.

I think Latke Larry had the best reaction to the sufganiyot. (See exhibit A below).

Exhibit A. doughnut delight

And now.. time to make the doughnuts..

See my frying station set up below. I didn’t have a thermometer to check the temperature (350°F) but once I heard the oil popping I started to drop in the dough.

Sufganiyot aka Jelly Doughnuts

Sufganiyot as adapted from food.com

Ingredients

2 (1/4 ounce) envelopes dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

6 tablespoons butter

5 cups flour

oil , for deep frying

1 (13 1/2 ounce) jar strawberry jelly (or other fruit jelly) I used Bonne Maman

confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

Sprinkle yeast over warm water and let stand five minutes or until foamy. I put the yeast and water in a glass measuring cup to make sure it rose. The mixture grew in size from 1/4 up to 1/2 a cup before I added it in the next step.
In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening(or butter) and two cups flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed.
Beat in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for about five minutes or until smooth and elastic. I added an additional 1/2 cup flour til it was no longer sticky.
Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about an hour or a bit longer. I always have trouble with my dough rising in my apartment, I find it’s too cold and dry. My trick it to turn my oven on to 200 for about 2/3 minutes then turn off and add my dough with a damp cloth on top to rise. Maybe that’s cheating but it works.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and gently roll out to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into circles. Let rise again until doubled in bulk. I use my same oven trick again here. I gave them about 20 minutes to rise.
Heat 4 cups of oil in a deep fryer or large pot to 350, til the oil pops. You’ll want about 2 inches of oil on the bottom. Carefully slide doughnuts into hot oil using a wide spatula. Turn the doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Doughnuts are ready when both sides are golden brown. I used tongs to remove doughnuts from hot oil.
Fill with 1 T jelly using a pastry injector, or by cutting a small slit in the side of the doughnut and inserting the jelly with a baby spoon, or makeshift ziplock bag/straw contraption like I did. Roll in confectioners’ sugar and serve to happy eaters.

Snowman Jello Mold

Jessie — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:33:07 +0000

Police are still searching for suspects.

I ate a lot of Jello growing up. At my grandmother’s house we’d either have Jello or apple sauce as a snack and in elementary school I would take Jello single serving cups in my lunch box. I still love the stuff, but virtually never eat it. I got this really cool Snowman cake pan last Christmas and thought it would make the perfect Jello mold.

Pat really hates Jello and he was so disgusted when I suggested that I make this for a holiday party that I was unsure if people would actually eat it, but they did. I think there is something very nostalgic about it, and also the taste and texture is so different than any other dessert. You certainly don’t need a snowman pan to make this. The original recipe is made in a standard 9 x 13 pan.

For the recipe visit The Food Librarian. She’s a Jello expert! If you plan on making this mold definitely start the day before. Each Jello needs several hours to get firm.

White Chocolate Chex Mix

Jessie — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:32:15 +0000

Pat tried this sweet/salty snack mix at a Christmas party a few years ago and wanted to know why I’d never made it. To be honest it’s not really my style – I love to bake so mixing a bunch of ingredients together in a large bowl and calling it a day isn’t that appealing. To Pat, on the other hand, that simplicity was what he liked. This mix is a delivery system for snacks he loves, held together with white chocolate glue. The ease of making it came in handy, when we recently had some friends over, and I’d already baked two desserts and wanted to make a third option that wouldn’t take a lot of time. I looked up this recipe, walked to the store, bought the ingredients, and had it made in less than an hour.

The biggest challenge with this recipe is finding a bowl big enough to mix it in. You’ll want something really large like a punch bowl.

Note: This recipe is sometimes called “White Trash”, but Pat and I both found the name sort of offensive and embarrassing to say so I changed it for the post.

White Chocolate Chex Mix

Adapted from Food.com

7 cups Rice Chex
16 ounces M&M’s plain chocolate candy
2 1/2 cups salted peanuts
2 cups pretzel sticks (broken in half)
2 (11 ounce) packages white chocolate chips (Ghirardelli brand preferred)
1 tsp. Maldon sea salt (or other large grain salt) – optional

Directions:

Dump the cereal, M&Ms, nuts & pretzels in a large bowl.
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Melt very slowly, stirring occasionally, being careful not to burn the chocolate.
Dump melted chocolate over the rest of the ingredients and fold over and over until you have well-coated hunks and chunks.
Spread the whole mess out on parchment paper (sprinkle with salt, if using) and set in a cool place until it sets up, then break it into pieces.
Store in zip-top bags or air-tight containers.

This mix will keep for a week if stored in an airtight container

Bite Size Gingerbread Cheesecakes

Jessie — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:18:00 +0000

Bite size cheesecakes have become one of my party staples. They’re easy to make, adorable, and always a crowd-pleaser. They can also be easily customized by varying the type of cookie crumb you make the base with (graham cracker, Nilla wafer, gingersnap, or Oreo) and adding different flavors to the batter.

Bite Size Gingerbread Cheesecake

Adapted from Bite Size New York Style Cheesecake posted earlier this year

Yield: 40 bite sized cheesecakes

Crumb Crust

3 ounces of finely ground ginersnaps (1/2 box of Anna’s Ginger Thins)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp. sugar
pinch of salt

Cheesecake Filling

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (In the winter you’ll want to leave your cream cheese out on the counter for at least two hours for it to to be soft enough)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 tsp. fresh ginger – finely diced or microplaned
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk

1. If you have a mini muffin pan line it with paper liners. If you do not have a mini muffin pan you can place foil liners on a cookie sheet with sides. This might actually be easier since you could cook all 30 cheesecakes at once. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Stir together crust ingredients and press into bottom of mini muffin liners. You just want the crust to cover the bottom of the liner. You’ll probably have some crust left over (I mixed my leftover crust into the batter). Bake crusts for 6 minutes.

3. Allow crust to cool while you make cheesecake filing. Beat together cream cheese, sugar, flour and zest with an electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla, then eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated. Scrape bowl down between additions. When filling is very smooth use a small scoop to fill mini muffin liners. You want to fill the liners to the top.

4. Bake cheesecakes for 18-20 minutes. (I baked mine 20 minutes and wish I’d taken them out of the oven after 18. I think they would have been a little creamier) The tops will be puffed and slightly cracked when done. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove to wire rack to cool to room temperature. Chill until ready to serve (at least 2 hours).

Grasshopper Brownies

Jessie — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:24:52 +0000

If you like Andes candies you’ll love these brownies. They capture the flavor of an Andes perfectly, but they’re so much more decadent. They’re great for a holiday party, not only because they’re appropriately seasonal, but also because the recipe makes over 50 brownies so you’ll have plenty to feed a large group.

This recipe isn’t difficult, but there are three components and each of them need time to chill. It’s a good idea to make them a day before you plan on serving them.

Notes: This recipe, like many, calls for fine-quality chocolate. I use Trader Joe’s semisweet chocolate chips ($2.29 for 12 ounces) for all of my baking. I’ve always been satisfied with the result. Occasionally I’ve used higher quality chocolates and I’ve never been able to detect a taste difference so it certainly wasn’t worth the increased cost or the effort to have to chop the chocolate. I’ll also use Ghriadelli chips if I can’t make it to Trader Joe’s. I haven’t had good luck with store brand chocolate chips or Hershey chocolate chips. They had a grainy texture.

For white chocolate I like Ghiradelli chips or Trader Joe’s 45% cocoa butter. I’ve had terrible luck with Nestle white chocolate chips.

For both white chocolate and regular chocolate I always melt it in the microwave in 30 second intervals with stirring in between. It’s so much easier than melting over a double boiler and takes less time. With white chocolate it is really important not to overheat it, because it will melt and separate.

Grasshopper Brownies from Smitten Kitchen

For brownie layer
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
10 1/2 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not extra-bitter or unsweetened and no more than 60% cacao if marked), finely chopped
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

For mint ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream (see recipe notes)
10 oz fine-quality white chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons green crème de menthe (I skipped this and found the mint flavor strong enough; compensated for the tinting with a single drop of green color)
1 teaspoon peppermint extract or 1/2 tsp. peppermint oil

For chocolate ganache
1 cup heavy cream (see recipe notes)
10 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped

Make brownie layer:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a 13- by 9-inch baking pan and line with 2 crisscrossed sheets of foil, leaving a 2 inch overhang on all sides. Butter foil.

Melt butter and chocolate with brown sugar in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until combined. Whisk in flour, cocoa, and salt until just combined.

Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake until set and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs adhering, about 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Make mint ganache:
Bring cream to a simmer in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan and remove from heat. Pour over white chocolate in a bowl. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Stir in crème de menthe and extract and chill, covered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 1 hour.

Make chocolate ganache:
Bring cream to a simmer in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan and remove from heat. Pour over bittersweet chocolate in a bowl. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Chill, covered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 30 minutes.

Assemble layers:
Spread mint ganache over top of cooled brownie in a thin even layer using offset spatula, then chill until firm but still slightly sticky, about 30 minutes.

Spread chocolate ganache over mint and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Lift dessert out of pan using foil overhang. Run a heavy knife under hot water and wipe dry, then trim edges of dessert (1/4 inch off each side). Cut dessert into squares and peel from foil.