French Silk Brownies

French silk brownies are delicious homemade brownies! These chewy brownies are topped with layers of creamy chocolate mousse and rich whipped cream for the ultimate brownie!

What do you do when you love a pie’s filling but aren’t big into pie crust? You trade the crust for brownies and end up with an incredibly delicious mash-up like these French Silk Brownies.

These French silk brownies aren’t difficult to make, but they do require quite a bit of time between the cooling and chilling times. The time is time well spent, though, because the combination of fudgy brownies, fluffy chocolate silk, and whipped cream make these some of the best brownies ever!

I get a little nervous about feeding my family anything with raw eggs, so the chocolate layer doesn’t have any raw eggs (or any eggs at all) in it. The chocolate filling is so light and fluffy and delicious that I don’t think you’ll miss them.

Ingredients

• Butter – I use salted butter. If you’re using unsalted butter, increase the salt to 1 teaspoon.
• Granulated sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Large eggs
• All-purpose flour
• Unsweetened cocoa powder – I’ve used Dutch-processed and regular unsweetened cocoa powder. Either one will work.
• Salt
• Miniature marshmallows – I find miniature marshmallows easier to work with, but full-size marshmallows will work.
• Semi-sweet baking chocolate – It’s important to use baking chocolate so that it will melt nicely.
• Milk – Any milk from skim to whole milk will work.
• Heavy whipping cream

How to make French silk brownies

Brownies

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Turn heat to low, and stir in sugar. Let cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Let mixture cool for about 5 minutes.

Whisk in eggs until combined.

Add flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Whisk in until just incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading batter as needed. Bake for 20-30 minutes.

The edges should look done, but the center should still look shiny. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with a few fudgy crumbs.

Cool brownies completely in the pan.

Chocolate mousse

To make the mousse, heat marshmallows, chocolate, and milk in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until completely melted and smooth.

Cool melted chocolate mixture completely. It’s important that this mixture is completely cool. Otherwise you will end up with liquid mousse.

In a separate bowl, beat whipping cream to stiff peaks. Fold in cooled chocolate mixture.

Spread mousse evenly over brownies. Cover, and chill brownies for at least 30 minutes.

Whipped cream

To make the whipped cream, beat cream and sugar together with a stand mixer or electric mixer in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form. Spoon whipped cream over the chocolate layer. If you’d like more tips on how to make whipped cream, check out this post.

Brownies can be served at this point, or you can chill them for cleaner cut lines. Top with chocolate shavings or chocolate curls, if desired.

Cover, and chill leftover brownies.

Storage

Cover and store any leftover French silk pie brownies in the refrigerator. The brownies will keep for up to 4 days when properly stored.