If you were dateless this past Valentine’s Day, dames, take heed.
You have 361 baking days until next Feb. 14.
And you have a secret weapon, courtesy of Amy Westerman, 27, of Maumelle: her recipe for Man-Catcher Brownies.
Full of chocolate, caramel, nuts and marriage potential, these aren’t just any brownies.
“This dessert recipe is so good that it’s prompted at least two proposals. I can’t promise a wedding, but y’all be careful. Don’t give these to just anyone.”
So says the introduction to the recipe, published in a two-page spread in this month’s Ladies’ Home Journal. Westerman, a high school Spanish teacher, learned the recipe from her mother, Susan Hilterbrand (who jokingly said she wanted her $200 share when she learned LHJ paid her daughter $400 for it).
“When I was 7 years old my mother, Susan, met my future stepfather, Larry,” Westerman told LHJ. “They had been dating for about a month when she made him a batch of caramel-nut brownies - a recipe she’d come up with herself. Larry took one bite and blurted, ‘Oh my gosh, I love you!’ It was the first time he’d said anything like that, and it was sort of a joke - but then he followed up with, ‘Actually, I really do love you, and I’ve been wanting to tell you that.’ After they got engaged, Larry renamed the recipe Man-Catcher Brownies.”
And the brownies’ sweet mojo aided Westerman’s love life too.
“I made these brownies for my husband, Drew, early in our relationship,” she told the magazine. “I’d say the recipe definitely worked its magic, since we’ve been together for 11 years. He’ll never admit it was the brownies. But I know better.”
Westerman discovered a love for cooking, baking with her mom as a child and then in college watching the Food Network at - of all places - the gym, bargaining with herself after she ran enough miles on the treadmill, “I’m going to make that Paula Deen cake!” She began researching Internet recipes, mastering the basics, re-creating restaurant dishes and inventing her own recipes.
When she’s not working or cooking, Westerman participates in Roller Derby. In 2012 she merged her two pastime passions, making a tryout video for the Next Food Network Star: “I made creme brulee on my roller skates. I was like, ‘This is the best video ever! I’m getting on the show !’
“I didn’t get contacted at all.”
It wasn’t a loss, however.
“I thought, ‘That was so much fun, maybe I should just make cooking videos because I like it,’” she says. “So my 2013 resolution was make a You-Tube cooking channel. I think that’s the first resolution that ever worked out in my entire life.”
Westerman’s channel, found at youtube.com/becomeyourownfavchef, features videos of her preparing foods like Best Fried Pork Chops, Mango Quinoa Thai Salad and Bacon Date Pecan Rolls (note: they contain dates; they are not necessarily guaranteed to get you dates).
Her absolute favorite video recipe? Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes, inspired by the Cheesecake Factory. She calls the restaurant’s appetizer “the best thing I’ve ever eaten inmy whole life.” And after about five attempts, she says, “I have nailed this recipe. It’s so good and pretty and you can’t get it in Arkansas.” Watch her make it at tinyurl.com/k64m9on.
And what better to have for dinner after some Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes than some Man-Catcher Brownies?
I had to make the dessert for myself. Super simple (not even an egg to crack!) and gloriously gooey, the brownies delighted.
Do I believe they could be effective in snagging a man? Sure. That is, if you can part with them. I really just wanted to keep them all to myself.
However, I did share with my boyfriend … after a heavy Mexican dinner. Shortly after, he dozed off. In this case, they were Sleep-Catcher Brownies.
Below is the recipe, as printed in Ladies’ Home Journal with my notes in italics/ parentheses. To see Westerman make them, visit tinyurl.com/l27u853.
Man-Catcher Brownies
30 Kraft caramels, unwrapped (Because the average bag contains 35 caramels, you can eat five while cooking!)
2/ 3 cup evaporated milk, divided use (What to do with the rest of the can? I took a Facebook poll, and answers included “put in oatmeal,” “add to mashed potatoes” and “make creamy tomato soup.” My favorite answer, and what I likely will do: “Cover it. Keep in the fridge for a long time. Take out and throw away.”)
15.25-ounce package German chocolate cake mix
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Heat oven to 350 degrees and line the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment. Melt caramels with1/ 3 cup of the evaporated milk in a small saucepan, stirring mixture occasionally; set sauce aside.
Stir together cake mix, melted butter, and remaining 1/ 3 cup evaporated milk to form a dough. Press 11/ 3 cups of the dough into the pan in an even layer. Bake until puffed but not cooked through, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven and pour caramel sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle chocolate chips over caramel in an even layer.
Top with remaining dough, crumbled into bits and scattered. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and return to the oven. Bake until brownies are puffy and set, 10 to 11 minutes more. Cool completely and cut into squares.
Makes 16 brownies.
Stir up an email: [email protected] What’s in a Dame is a weekly report from the woman ’hood.
Style, Pages 23 on 02/18/2014