Salted Caramel Brownie Trifles with Whipped Cream | Land O'Lakes

This past summer, we attended a 50^th wedding anniversary party for our neighbors. Being married for 50 years is a huge accomplishment, and they are such a fun couple! It was a potluck, and someone brought a brownie trifle with fudge sauce and whipped cream that was to-die-for. I knew I had to make it one day, but I thought I would change the fudge sauce to a salted caramel sauce.

I made the most amazing and simple homemade salted caramel sauce that I know you’ll love! Making my own caramel sauce has been on my bucket list for a long time, but I was scared. I know it was a little unreasonable to be scared, but I conquered it! (If you have never made it before, please do. You can do it!) And the best fudgy brownies! Both recipes are made with Land O Lakes^® Unsalted Butter.

It’s officially the holiday season, so I always have tons of Land O Lakes^® Butter on hand for baking and cooking. I love the Flavor Protect Wrapper^® it comes in because it stays fresher longer. And I have to admit, I actually get twitchy when I’m down to only one box of butter!

Let’s start with making the caramel sauce. Cut the butter into cubes and let it sit on the counter to come up to room temperature.

Add sugar and water and mix. THEN turn the heat on. Once the heat is on, you do not want to mix, or the sugar will crystalize. Swirl the pot a little bit. 

You can use a brush with water to break down any crystalized sugar on the sides.

Once it starts turning an amber color, add the butter. Turn the heat down to low.

Be careful when adding the butter and the heavy cream, it can bubble up a little bit.

Whisk vigorously until well blended.

Add the heavy cream.

And whisk again.

Add the vanilla and sea salt and whisk again.

Caramel! It took me three times, but I finally got it. I didn’t whisk the ingredients when I needed to because I thought mixing was good enough. Don’t make the same mistake, so make sure you whisk vigorously until well blended.

To make the brownies, chop up bittersweet chocolate.

Save yourself some time by covering your bowl in plastic when melting it in the microwave.

Whisk in the cocoa powder, hot water and chocolate until it’s completely melted. Add the melted butter and whisk.

Add sugar and whisk. Then, add the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula. 

Add the dark chocolate chips and mix just to combine.

Pour the batter into a foil-lined baking dish that’s been sprayed with baking spray.

Once the brownies cool, cut them into bite-sized pieces and layer them with whipped cream and salted caramel. It’s seriously amazing.

I pretty much know that I’m going to have homemade caramel sauce in my refrigerator at all times. It’s a must-have in my house now!

This is my fifth and final post for Kitchen Conversations this year, and I have loved working with Land O’Lakes. Since all our Land O’Lakes recipes are made with butter, I had to do it up big. For this post, we’re sharing recipes for the holidays, and this Salted Caramel Brownie Trifle will be the perfect dessert for your holiday dinners. You can make the trifles a day ahead and keep them refrigerated until serving.

 

Ingredients 

Caramel sauce
· 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
· 1/4 cup water
· 1/2 cup Land O Lakes^® Unsalted Butter (1 stick), cubed, room temperature
· 3/4 cup heavy cream, room temperature
· 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
· 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons sea salt 

Brownies
· 1/2 cup Land O Lakes^® Unsalted Butter (1 stick), melted and cooled
· 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
· 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee granules
· 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
· 1/3 cup hot water
· 3 large eggs, beaten
· 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
· 2 cups granulated sugar
· 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips
· Whipped Cream *or you can use store-bought 
· 3 cups heavy whipping cream
· 3 teaspoons granulated sugar
· 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions
 

Salted Caramel Sauce

Put sugar and 1/4 cup water in a stainless steel saucepan that has a heavy bottom and high sides. Mix to combine and then turn heat to medium high.

Swirl the pan, but don't stir! Cook until the sugar turns to a caramel color, about 13-14 minutes. Be sure to watch carefully so it doesn't burn.

Turn the heat down to low. Add butter (it will be really hot, so be careful) and whisk until thoroughly combined. Again, being careful, add heavy cream and whisk thoroughly.

Remove from heat and add vanilla extract and salt (add more salt if you like it salty) and whisk thoroughly. Allow to cool completely before putting into an airtight container and refrigerating.

Brownies

Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil. Spray the foil with baking spray and set aside.

Melt the butter and set aside. Whisk flour and salt in a small mixing bowl.

Add cocoa powder, espresso powder, and chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Add hot water and whisk together until chocolate is melted. Add butter and whisk thoroughly. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and whisk until thoroughly combined. Next, add sugar and whisk until thoroughly combined. Add dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula just until combined. Don't over mix.

Add chocolate chips and mix in using the rubber spatula. Pour the batter into prepared pan. Spray an offset spatula with baking spray, and spread the batter so it's even and the top is smooth. Bake for 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and place on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Picking up foil on both ends, remove from pan and place on baking sheet and allow to cool for at least 2 hours.

Cut the brownies into square bite-sized pieces.

Whipped Cream

While the brownies are baking, add the whipped cream ingredients to a large glass mixing bowl and mix on medium high speed with an electric hand mixer until cream has stiff peaks, at least 4 to 5 minutes. Store in the refrigerator until needed.

Assembly

Layer brownies, salted caramel sauce and whipped cream in small trifle bowls or one large one. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to one day.

Tips
Melt the butter in a bowl covered with plastic wrap in your microwave. Melt in 8 to 10 second increments or use melt function.

The Little Kitchen has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes^® Butter for their Kitchen Conversations blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.