Brownie, Vanilla Ice Cream, Raspberry Sauce

Let’s just contemplate this for a moment, ok?

A perfect brownie.  Vanilla ice cream.  Raspberry Vanilla Sauce.  It doesn’t get much better.

When we went to the apple orchard last week, they also had raspberry bushes.  The line to get cider and donuts was very, very long, and instead of waiting impatiently, I convinced my teenager to help me pick raspberries.  The bushes were short, and picked-over, but we managed to get a few cups of small berries. 

What do you do with small, sad berries?  You make a sauce!  I turned to Bittman for inspiration

but of course I had to do my own thing…

In my head was a silky, sweet/tart raspberry sauce with a hint of vanilla. 

So…I made a syrup and cooked it over medium for 5 minutes until the spoon left an obvious trail (and I was bored).  Added the raspberries and cooked for another 5 minutes – still looking for a slight trail, then mashed the mixture through a sieve.  This took 10 minutes. 

I have some dollar store spatulas that I use for things like this, because I don’t care if they get broken or stained.  It’s important to use a different tool to scrape the outside of the sieve.

Now I have 2 cups of sauce that I could just eat with a spoon, but it’s nice to share.  My diet plan menu this week isn’t going to be destroyed by the 32 calories in two tablespoons.   What’s a good backdrop for this gorgeous red sauce?  Vanilla ice cream!  And why not go all the way and put it on top of a brownie?  Yeah…so much for 32 calories…but that’s what the exercise tracker is for!

So, I made Best Brownies.  I love these brownies.  They are me-proof.  I made them in one bowl.  I only had 1 1/3 cups of flour in the open bag, and didn’t feel like opening the new one, and even though the recipe calls for 3.5 oz of chocolate, I always use 4 (what am I going to do with that extra half ounce?).   Real bakers everywhere are weeping, and I’m sorry for that.

I cut a big square of brownie, scooped vanilla ice cream (and carved a divot while the ice cream was still in the scoop), and drizzled the sauce.  The villagers were storming the kitchen with their forks, but they know they have to wait until after the picture is taken!

 Best Brownies, Raspberry Vanilla Sauce, your favorite vanilla ice cream.  Just do it.