Rolo Brownie Trifles

I love TV night. I celebrate my favourite guilty pleasure shows with 3 lovely ladies practically every week. It’s a fun time where we laugh, catch up on the week’s drama and, of course, eat. This week I volunteered to do the dessert because baking is clearly what I am most comfortable with. I scoured the Internet to find something a little more special than the average brownie recipe. That’s when I came across Bakingdom’s adorable website with this gem. My pictures do not do this dessert justice. This individual trifle recipe is decadent and rich – a perfect guilty pleasure treat. You simply can’t go wrong with Rolo candies, brownie, gooey salted caramel, and chocolate whipped cream! Everything in this recipe is made from scratch. You could easily make this with a box brownie recipe, store bought whipped cream and caramel sauce. It would probably taste pretty good, but not as good as this.

You will need:

For the Rolo Brownies:
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 rolls of Rolos Candies (about 18 candies), quartered, plus 2 1/2 more rolls, chopped (leaving one whole Rolo per trifle for garnish.)

For the Salted Caramel:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp corn syrup (or agave syrup)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1-1/2 tsp sea salt, crushed

For the whipped cream:
2 cups heavy cream
3 tbsp white sugar
1 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, combine the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter.

Once melted, remove from heat and whisk in the sugar until combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Stir in the vanilla.

Whisk in the dry ingredients until combined and pour the batter into a greased 8″ x 8″  glass baking dish.

Evenly distribute the Rolos over the top of the batter.

How amazing does this look? It’s not even cooked yet and I want it all.

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs clinging to it. Allow brownies to cool completely before serving or cutting into bite sized pieces.

While the brownies cool you can make your caramel sauce.

Place the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small saucepan, stirring to combine.

Without stirring, bring to a boil over high heat, swirling the ingredients in the pan occasionally.

Continue boiling until the mixture reaches an amber color, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and very carefully (the mixture will quickly expand and sputter) add the cream in a slow steady stream, being sure to stir constantly.

Should look like so.

Once combined, add the salt and butter and continue stirring until both are completely melted and combined. Cool to room temperature before using.

Now while that cools, time to make your decadent whipped cream!

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, whip the heavy cream and cocoa powder on medium high speed until it starts to thicken.

Looking good!

Reduce speed to low and sprinkle the sugar into the cream. Turn mixer to high and continue whipping until firm peaks form. Stir in vanilla.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Now to assemble the trifles:

 Layer the bottom of your trifle dish or glass with whipped cream.