Recipe: Almond Lattice Brownies (using almond paste)

ALMOND LATTICE BROWNIES



"A rich almond paste topping is piped over brownie batter before it is baked."

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.

TO PREPARE THE BATTER FOR THE 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 smooth. 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; set aside.

TO 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 zip-tight 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.

TO BAKE:
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.

Makes 24 brownies
Source: Chocolate! Good Housekeeping Favorite Recipes by From the Editors of Good Housekeeping