Who doesn’t love a good chocolate cake? Okay, this was supposed to actually be brownies, but I have yet to find an actual brownie pan that I like. The one we have from Calphalon is labeled as a “brownie pan” but for some reason it’s just a tad too long and not quite deep enough for those thick (let’s be real, they’re deep-dish), fudgy, not-quite-cooked brownies that I like to make. “I prefer my brownies crunchy and hard around the edges,” said NO ONE EVER.
One of my solutions to this very serious issue is to make all my brownies in a round cake pan. It makes cutting them a bit more difficult, and I’ve sometimes used cookie cutters to get them out in shapes other than triangles, but at least the thickness issue is fixed.
Last night I wanted to make something for our small group from church, and I had one of those “what do we have in the pantry that I can use up?” moments. Turns out we had almost an entire bag of Hershey’s Kisses that were begging to be used up. So I decided to make a kiss cake! When I sliced it up later, I was pleased to find that each pie-slice shaped brownie had at least one or two semi-softened kisses tucked cozily beneath the surface. I decided to add a little bit of cinnamon to the batter to make it a tad spicy, almost Mexican-chocolate style (minus the cayenne), and I dusted the finished cake with a bit of powdered sugar. I served it alone, but I’m sure it’d also be amazing with ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream!
- 30 Hershey’s Kisses candies, unwrapped
- 2/3 cup shortening
- 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- Powdered sugar, for dusting top of cake
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom of a 8″ cake pan. Remove wrappers from chocolates and set aside.
- Beat shortening, brown sugar, granulated sugar, water and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs and beat well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon until well combined. Gradually mix into the wet mixture until just blended.
- Stir in chocolate kisses.
- Spread in cake pan in one even layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until top of cake has a slightly “toasted” appearance and toothpick comes out clean (it will be slightly springy still, but that’s okay! Don’t overbake!)
- Cool completely. When ready to serve, invert cake pan onto a plate and gently invert again onto the presentation plate.
- Dust with powdered sugar and cut into pie-shaped slices.
Claire Tastes 
this is magnificent, particularly because you incorporated my favorite spice of all time. a little hint of cinnamon makes this unbeatable.
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thanks grace! I’m so glad that you love cinnamon as much as I do! I thought it added a bit of “fiesta” (or should I say “siesta”?) 🙂
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