I haven’t been doing much baking this month. I blame the weather. It’s during the hot summer days that the need for cookies and cakes, unless they are ice cream sandwiches or ice cream cakes, dies down. And recipes such as “Meringue Topped Mocha Brownies with Raspberry” don’t help. If a dessert has this long of a name then it should be complicated to make. But the truth is that it’s not and the reward for the work is worth the extra effort. First of all, making meringue may be one of the most rewarding things you can do in the kitchen. All you need is egg whites and sugar whipped into this silky and light as a feather substance. Mocha does not get any simpler than combining chocolate and coffee. Raspberries, mocha, and meringue are a great combination of flavors because they all bring something new to the table.

I love how this recipe is easy to play around with. You start out with one set of ingredients and by making simple adjustments you end up with so many different flavors. Everyone is happy and you may stumble upon some pleasant surprises.

Meringue Topped Mocha Brownies with Raspberry (adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home To Yours):

Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter a 9×13 inch pan and dust all over with flour.  Whisk 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup finely ground walnuts, 1/2 tsp. salt and set aside. Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of only just simmering water. Put 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, into the bowl and top with 4 ounces semi-sweet ,coarsely chopped, chocolate. Stir frequently until just melted and remove the bowl from the pan of water.

Working in the bowl of a stand mixer, rub 1 cup granulated sugar and 2 tsp. grated orange zest together with fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add 4 large eggs and beat on medium-high speed until pale and foamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 2 tsp. instant coffee granules. Reduce the speed to low and blend in the melted butter-chocolate mixture. Still working on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients, stirring just until they disappear into the batter. Scrape the batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with 1 cup raspberries evenly over the batter. Set aside while you make the meringue.

In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat 3 large egg whites,at room temperature, with a pinch of salt until they are foamy and just turn opaque. Increase the speed to medium-high and add 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a slow, steady stream. Whip the whites until they form firm but glossy peaks. Gently spread the meringue over the brownie batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the meringue is browned and the brownies pull away from the sides. Transfer the pan with the brownies to a cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature. At this point you can dust the brownies with powder sugar and cut the brownies into desired size bars.