Rocky Road Cakes

The marshmallows, nuts and chips that top these chocolate brownies not only look delicious, but also stimulate your senses with a variety of flavors and textures. This makes these cakes especially tempting when you need to work up an appetite.
Ingredients

1 cup minus 1 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 marshmallows
2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1/3 cup chopped dark or semisweet chocolate or large chocolate chips.
Directions

1. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil coated with cooking spray. (Leave enough overhang so that you can remove the brownies from the pan along with the lining). If you do not plan to rest the dough at the end of Step 3 before baking, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt thoroughly in a small bowl.

3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan until sizzling. Remove from heat and add cocoa, then sugar (the mixture will resemble a mass of very dark brown sugar). Add egg, egg whites and vanilla. Mix gently until smooth and shiny. Stir in flour mixture until smooth. Then stir about 50 more times. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. The dough will be very fine in the pan. If you have time, cover the pan and refrigerate for a few hours or up to 12 hours. (This will hydrate the cocoa powder and flour and bring out all the flavors.) Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking; Preheat oven to 350°F.

4. Cut marshmallows into quarters using a buttered knife. Distribute the pieces over the dough by pressing them down. Scatter the nuts and chocolate (or chips) around the marshmallows.

5. Bake the brownies until the marshmallows are golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes. (If you find a place to test for doneness that doesn't have any melted chocolate or marshmallows, a toothpick should come out with a little wet, sticky batter stuck to it. Brownies in a metal pan will bake faster than in a glass pan; if you're not sure, bake for a few minutes longer to make sure the brownie is done in the middle). Let the brownies cool completely in the pan on a wire rack for 2 hours. Lift ends of pan and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 16 cakes.

ACTIVE: 20 minutes
TOTAL: 3 hours
AHEAD: Prepare brownies in step 3; store in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours. Store your brownies
in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

CHOCOLATE BUBBLES: Do not cut until fully cooked!
Nutrition information

SERVES 16: ONE (2-INCH) CAKE

Calories 190, fat 8g (sat 3g), cholesterol 22mg, carbohydrates 29g, sugars 20g (19g added), protein 3g, fiber 2g, sodium 60mg, potassium 89mg.