Mascarpone Brownies- On Waiting

Waiting and patience has never been a strong point for me.  I want it now and I will probably not wait until that safe point, the one that's just past what the directions say. I also do not see a reason to toss a perfectly good half-empty tub of mascarpone just because we're going out of town and "it'll probably go bad."  Who's to say it actually will?

But if you're willing to toss it, then I will come to the rescue.  Mascarpone is a resource that is not only precious, but not very renewable as it can run up the grocery bill. So while my laundry was doing its thing in Nic's working facilities, I decided to both pay them back and use their resources.  See, I'm totally hip on this whole green thing.

I made mascarpone brownies.  Hello people, mascarpone- soft, creamy, deliciously smooth and buttery cheese in a brownie.  A deep, dark fudgy like you only see in food pictures brownie.  Also made in one (one!!) bowl.  I was merely doing a good deed.

The brownies were obviously phenomenal, which I probably don't need to tell you except for one thing. That whole waiting bit? Yeah wish I'd given it more thought. The one bowl (!) concept involves melting chocolate and butter, then adding eggs. There was nothing in the directions about pausing for cooling time and I was running around between holiday engagements, so I tossed my sense to the wind and threw the eggs in almost immediately. Stirred in the rest, baked, cool, sat down to enjoy. And hit a few tiny bits of hard dried egg white. Which didn't really mar the brownie, but were kind of disconcerting to find. So heed my advice and practice your waiting skills.

Mascarpone Brownies
Makes 12-16

1 cup unsalted butter

3 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup white sugar 

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

3 large eggs, at room-temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9x9 pan.
2. In glass mixing bowl melt butter in microwave on full power. Stir in chocolate and mix until combined (a few additional seconds in the microwave may be needed).
3. Add sugar to chocolate/butter mixture until combined. Heat for an additional 30 seconds on high, remove and stir until it looks shiny. It will still look a bit grainy. NOTE: hard pause before the next step. You're welcome.
4. Add marscapone, vanilla, eggs and mix until smooth.
5. Dump in the dry ingredients and stir just until combined, making sure to scrape all sides of the bowl. (I don't see the point of sifting much, just be sure to fluff up your dry ingredients before measuring.)
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top to ensure even baking. Bake for 40-50 minutes until tester comes out clean.

Update:  the mascarpone actually did go bad while I was away.  Blast