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A rich almond paste topping is piped over brownie batter before it is baked.
Prep: 25 minutes plus cooling
Bake: 25 minutes
Makes 24 brownies
FOR THE BROWNIES:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick)
4 squares (1 ounce each) semisweet chocolate
4 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
FOR THE ALMOND LATTICE TOPPING:
1 tube or can (7 to 8 ounces) almond paste, crumbled
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9-inch baking pan.
Prepare Brownies: In small bowl, combine flour and salt.
In 3-quart saucepan, melt butter and semisweet and unsweetened chocolates over low heat, stirring frequently, until slnooth. Remove from heat; stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs; stir until well mixed. Stir flour mixture into chocolate mixture just until blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
Prepare Almond Lattice Topping: In food processor with knife blade attached, pulse almond paste, egg, sugar, flour, and vanilla until mixture is smooth, scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
Transfer almond mixture to small ziptight plastic bag. With scissors, cut bottom corner of bag on diagonal, 1/4 inch from edge. Pipe almond topping over brownie batter to make 10 diagonal lines, spacing them 1-inch apart. Pipe remaining topping diagonally across first set of lines, to make 10 more lines and create a lattice design.
Bake until toothpick inserted 2 inches from edge comes out almost clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack.
When cool, cut brownie lengthwise into 4 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 6 pieces.
Each brownie: About 220 calories, 4g protein, 28g carbohydrate, 11g total fat (5g saturated), 46mg cholesterol, 100mg sodium.
