Bleeding Heart Brownies

 Romantic or not, who wouldn't want a bleeding heart brownie?  I whipped this up pretty quickly; and I recommend making it at least a day in advance to really bring out the cherry flavors.

 

The cast:

Software:

1 box brownie mix, plus added ingredients*

1 jar maraschino cherries, drained, syrup reserved

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tb sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract (not pictured)

2-3 Tb hot water

Red food coloring

 

Hardware:

Mixer or mixing bowl

1/4 sheet size baking sheet

cooling rack

heart shaped cookie cutter

parchment paper

 

 To get started, mix your box brownie mix per the directions, substituting the reserved cherry syrup for water.  Preheat your oven according to box directions.

 *Some recipes call for egg or oil, use your substitutes as you see fit if you are vegan or avoid oil

 Chop the cherries and add to your brownie batter.

Tear off a piece of parchment paper to line your baking sheet.  Make sure to press in the corners of the pan.

Pour the brownie batter into the pan.  Use a spatula to spread evenly, making sure to get into the corners.

Place the pan into the oven.  Set the timer for a little more than half of what the box indicates for the largest pan size.  For example, a 13x9 pan takes 24 minutes, I set my timer for 15 minutes.  I used a 10x16 pan, if you are using a larger pan you may want to set the timer for less and keep checking until it's done.

Once the brownies are done, lift the parchment paper out of the pan and set on a cooling rack.  While that cools, let's make the frosting.

I first add the powdered sugar, sugar, and vegetable shortening to the bowl.  Mix together until the texture resembles large crumbs (this is where I started using a whisk, and using a stand mixer is probably best.)

Add the vanilla extract and hot water, and whisk until the mixture has a creamy consistency.  This one was still a little thick, but because I was wrapping up my brownies to give away, I wanted a thicker frosting.  You can add another tablespoon of hot water if you want your brownies to "bleed" more.

Add your food coloring.  I used 7 drops of plain red food coloring to achieve this pink frosting (it's darker than what is pictured.)  You could probably get a darker red color by using a Wilton coloring, I just used what I had on hand.

Use your cookie cutter to start cutting out heart shapes.  Since the frosting is sandwiched between two heart shaped brownies, try to get an even number of brownies.

I had to get a little creative with my spacing.

Since most in my house weren't eating sweets (email me if you want the nutritional info.  you really don't though.) I was individually wrapping these to give away.  Place one of the brownies...

                                       

Place frosting on top...

Place another brownie on top, and smoosh slightly to let the frosting bleed out.

Since my pan was too small, my brownies were very thick and I only made four sandwiches.  The taste is very rich and delicious.  I didn't taste the cherry as much the night I made them but the cherry taste was more pronounced the next day.