The Christmas baking continues. I’ve been having a lot of fun trying out new recipes and decorating my desserts for this festive season. Today’s dessert decoration would be the classic santa hat. It is super easy to make and takes less than 10 min to decorate.

I combined two recipes to make the ultimate chocolatey  dessert. First I made a chocolate brownie cake in a square cake tin. After the cake has cooled down, I made a chocolate fudge using condensed milk to spread over the cake. For the santa hat cream, I wanted to use whipping cream however the weather in Singapore is too hot and humid that it’s hard to make the cream without it melting. So I decided to use cream cheese frosting instead.

The chocolate fudge santa hat brownies were a hit amongst my friends last night. This pretty tray bake makes the perfect party dessert because it is simply irresistible.

Nutrition per slice (serves 16)

Ingredients

For the brownie cake

1. 100g unsalted butter
2. 100g caster sugar
3. 50g brown sugar
4. 125g dark chocolate (I used Lindt 90%)
5. 2 eggs
6. 100g plain flour
7. 0.5 tsp baking powder
8. 10g cocoa powder
9. 0.5 tsp salt

For the fudge

1. 200ml condensed milk
2. 250g dark chocolate (I used Lindt 90%)
3. 10g unsalted butter
4. 0.5 tsp salt

For the santa hat

1. 16 strawberries
2. 50g cream cheese
3. 10g unsalted butter
4. 0.5 tsp vanilla essence

Directions

Preparation time: 1 hour
Baking time: 20-30min or when the skewer comes out clean

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees
2. Grease a 20inch square cake tin
3. Place the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar and chocolate in the a saucepan and melt gently on a low heat until it is smooth and lump-free
4. Remove the pan from the heat and leave it to cool
5. Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk with the fork until light and frothy
6. Add the eggs, and sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly
7. Place it into the oven to bake for 20-30min or when the skewer comes out clean
8. Leave the cake to cool

To make the fudge

1. Using a double boiler, combine the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate and butter
2. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth
3. Spread gently over the cake then cover lightly with the ends of the plastic wrap
4. Chill in the refrigerator until the fudge is firm

To make the santa hat

1. Prepare a pipping bag with a round nozzle
2. Cut of the ends of the strawberries
3. Cut the brownie fudge up into 16 slices
4. Place the strawberry on each of the slice
5. Using a mixer, whisk the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence until smooth
6. Place the cream cheese frosting into the pipping bag and pipe around and on top of the strawberry to create the santa hat

And there you have it! Your pretty santa hat fudge brownie is ready to be served!