Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Frosting

I love these brownies. I don't normally like a lot of frosting and I'm not big on white chocolate but this brownie and frosting combination was the bomb.  The brownies were moist and fudgy and the white chocolate frosting was a perfect complement.  I couldn't taste the white chocolate that much against the powdered sugar but it was perfect as both a visual and flavor pairing to the red velvet brownie. 

One challenge is cutting these cleanly so that the red velvet brownie crumbs don't go everywhere and "contaminate" the pristine white chocolate frosting.  You need to completely wipe off your knife after every slice or else your next cut will get red crumbs on the frosting.  It won't affect the taste but it's just prettier without it.  Although I did that, I still got some stray crumbs in the frosting and that was because when I cut down, some crumbs still adhered when I brought the knife up.  You can see Lizzy's brownies are much more pristine than mine.  Regardless, these were excellent in taste and texture - two thumbs up.  This goes on my list for what to serve at my next dessert party. 

1 stick (1/2cup) butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350. Line 8 x 8 pan with nonstick foil or regular foil. Grease regular foil with cooking spray if using. 

In a small bowl, mix cocoa powder, food coloring and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla to form a paste. Set aside. 

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then add second teaspoon of vanilla. With mixer on medium, beat in cocoa paste. Add flour and salt, and mix just until combined. 

Spread in pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool before frosting.

Frosting: 

1 stick ( 1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 ounces white chocolate, melted

1/2 tablespoon milk (remember to add this!)

Cream butter with mixer till fluffy. Add vanilla. Slowly mix in powdered sugar, then white chocolate. Add enough milk to reach desired consistency. Ice cooled brownies or pipe a star of icing on individual brownies.

Recipe Source: http://pastrychefbaking.blogspot.com/2011/04/red-velvet-brownies-sweets-for-saturday.html