Oktoberfest Brownie Trifle

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One of my favorite German dishes is Sauerkraut with Pork Hocks (my mom is a master at that!), and while I know many eat it on brats – who knew there were so many other things to do with sauerkraut?

So Krrrrisp Kraut wanted to see what I could do with a bag of sauerkraut and using their recipe inspiration of Sauerkraut Brownies, I made an Oktoberfest Brownie Trifle that (work with me here…) sort of looks like a beer.  Okay I know technically Oktoberfest is over, but it’s still October so I think I can still get away with that theme for this post.

(alright it’s not in a beer mug <– I don’t have one, and it’s a fairly dark lager, but if you try hard you can see it)

OKTOBERFEST BROWNIE TRIFLE

Ingredients

3/4 cup salted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
16 oz. of Krrrrisp Kraut or Silver Floss Sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
1 cup water
Coconut Pecan Icing
Whipped Cream or Cool Whip
Mini Marshmallows

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray a muffin/cupcake pan with cooking spray or use paper liners.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Stir in sugar until well blended, about 2 minutes.  It will have a thick consistency.

Remove from heat and beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

In a medium bowl sift the flour and cocoa together.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, stirring until combined.

Now comes our secret ingredient (psst.. don’t tell those who are eating it until AFTER they’ve consumed the sweetest beer they’ve ever had) …

In a blender, puree Sauerkraut with 1 cup of water.  Drain, then squeeze until the water is removed.  It will sort of be like a combination of mashed potatoes and apple sauce. 

Mix Sauerkraut into batter.

Scoop mixture into muffin cups (it may be a bit runnier than other brownie batter if your sauerkraut still had some excess water in it) and bake for 30 minutes.

For the glass size shown I used 2 cupcakes.  Cut the cupcakes (I used quarters) so that one piece fits into the bottom of the glass or mug.  Then spoon some Coconut Pecan Icing on top of that piece and continue to layer the brownie and icing not quite to the top.

When you still have a bit of glass showing top the trifle off with whipped cream or cool whip (I actually used white icing but it was far too sweet in addition to the coconut pecan icing) – and then garnish with mini marshmallows for your ‘draft foam’.

Both my parents immigrated from Germany, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled there many times in my life.  And you could have the chance too, in the “Grrrreat Germany Getaway”, where there is over $32,000 in Cash and Prizes up for grabs, including a Grand Prize trip for 4 to Germany through Trafalgar Tours, sets of Travelpro Atlantic Optima luggage, Travelpro Austen House Travel Sets and CASH!  For a chance to win visit http://greatlakeskraut.com/sweepstakes.index.html or on Facebook www.facebook.com/KrrrrispKraut.  The contest is open until October 31, 2011.

Disclosure: I received a gift card and travel accessories as a thank you from Great Lakes Kraut for taking the time to let you know about the sweepstakes and sharing my recipe with you.