Pennsylvania Kitchen: How to Make Sugar Plum Chocolates’ Organic Espresso Brownies

A simple, straightforward recipe is all about shining the spotlight on your ingredients, without any bells or whistles to muddle up the clarity of the flavors. At Sugar Plum Chocolates (based in Forty Fort, PA) chocolate and nut confections are crafted with that principle in mind: high-quality chocolate, carefully sourced mix-ins and pastry chef-driven techniques go into every product it makes. The business was started by Frann Edley in 1995 in Kingston, PA, along with her son, Neil, who was at the time just a teenager. In the two decades since founding the company, the Edleys have grown the business, gaining a stellar reputation for the quality of their candies, chocolate dessert trays and custom creations, earning the attention of national media, like Womens Day and Bridal Guide magazines.

We met Neil Edley as a guest in our Pennsylvania Kitchen video and recipe series and watched his dedication to his craft in action. In this video, he asked one of Sugar Plum’s employees, Gabby, to demonstrate a gloriously chocolaty organic brownie recipe, complete with eggs from her backyard chickens, organic butter, organic Peruvian cocoa powder, and chopped organic espresso chocolate from Sugar Plum. The addition of espresso is genius — the coffee flavor is actually pretty subtle, and really serves to amp up the chocolate flavor, giving it depth and richness beyond what you’re likely to encounter in traditional brownies. Try a batch at home and we’ll bet that you, like us, will hang on to this technique for many batches of brownies to come!

Watch the video, then head here to check out the full recipe!