Double Espresso Brownies with Caramel Macchiato Mousse

By Christie Vanover | Published September 25, 2011 | Last Updated January 17, 2015

This started off as an experiment, but holy macaroni Batman, I think this is the best dessert I’ve ever made. It’s eyes roll to the back of your head good. It’s I don’t smoke, but I need a cigarette good. You have got to try it!

I might be jeopardizing my cool factor by admitting this, but I just don’t get the Starbucks fascination. I like coffee, but at the cost of $120 a month and 1,500 calories a week it’s not worth it to me.

On top of that, when I walk into Starbucks, I feel like I’ve landed on another planet. I’ve honestly tried to figure out the trendy way to order, but the baristas always look at me funny. I’ve got the sizes figured out, but then there’s the soy, skinny, wet, dry, single, double, etc. The fact that there are websites devoted to explaining how to order legitimizes the fact that this isn’t normal.

But I really do like the flavor of coffee, especially in desserts, so I made my way into a Starbucks today (before the crowd got there) and ordered two drinks. I still didn’t do it right. I asked for a Venti Caramel Macchiato and a Double Espresso. “Do you want a double espresso in your Macchiato,” the lady asked. “No, I want two separate drinks.”

Then, although my sticker said Venti, the lady handed me my drink, and said, “Here’s your Grande Caramel Macchiato.” I didn’t even ask (despite paying an extra buck or so for the Venti). I know Venti is the largest and Grande is like a medium, but I have no idea what the cups look like. When I measured the liquid at home, I confirmed that she did serve me a grande.

Now that I survived the ordering and a reminder that I’m not hip enough to “get it,” I’m ready to move onto what I do know how to do ~ bake.

Since I love coffee-flavored desserts, I decided to bake a couple with Starbucks inspiration. I’m planning a dessert buffet for an awards ceremony, and I figured coffee would add a nice option with the vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and banana flavors already on the menu.

Although this recipe is layered and combined, you can bake the brownies or pudding and serve them on their own. Each is truly delectable…and might I add easy. But if you go all the way and make the pudding into a mousse, you will be blown away. This recipe makes more mousse than you’ll need, but no worries, now I have a lot of mousse leftover, and trust me that is nothing to complain about.