Rich chocolate gluten-free brownies with sugar-free German Chocolate topping. A low carb dessert lover’s dream!
This is the final instalment in my Viking Cruise series and it was meant to come much earlier. But the holidays got in the way, so better late than never! Check out Part 1 (Hungary) and Part 2 (Austria) if you need to refresh your memory.
One of the things that Viking does very well is to time the cruise so that you are asleep during much of the “boring parts” of the Danube. So after leaving the beautiful town of Melk and the gorgeous scenery of the Wachau Valley in Austria, we arrived in Passau, Germany the next morning. This colourful, hilly town is at the confluence of three rivers: the Danube, the Inn and the Ilz. Being surrounded by water on several sides, it’s has sustained some major floods over the years. The town hall, or the “rathaus” has markers going up a least 20 feet, showing the high water marks. The last major flood was in 2013 and there was still visible damage on the houses in the town.
We had the opportunity to hear the impressive (and impressively loud!) organ played in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and then we sat down with a few friends to enjoy authentic German sausages and beer at a small beer garden in town. We had been told to return to the ship by 3pm so that we could head on our way to our next stop at Regensburg, and this is where our tour went a little awry. We headed back to the ship on time, only to see a sign saying that because of low water concerns, we wouldn’t be heading out until 9pm that evening. So we had a few extra hours to enjoy Passau, and my husband and I decided we would go for a run to get a little exercise and work off our sausages.
It was an unbearably hot day, very still and humid, but later that afternoon it really seemed like it was going to rain. Dark clouds gathered and the wind picked up and everyone hoped this meant some more water for the Danube. But it was not to be, the rain held off and the skies cleared up. And the next morning, we docked not in Regensburg, but in a little town called Vilshofen, and from there we were bussed to our tour. We had quite a quick morning tour of Regensburg, which is a shame because it’s a lovely place and I would have liked to explore it a bit further.
But we were off to Kelheim for lunch, where I had what might have been the best meal of the trip at the Schneider Weisse brewery: a gorgeous roast pork with the most perfect piece of crackling on top. I wish I’d taken a photo of that for my fellow pork lovers! After lunch was a boat tour of the Danube Gorge and a visit to Weltenburg Abbey, another gorgeous Monastery. I will admit to feeling a little “abbeyed out” at that point. You see so many striking buildings and churches and monuments, you start to weary of them a bit and they all begin to run together in your head. Still, I wouldn’t change the tour up to that point for anything.
We were bussed back to our ship, which was still docked in Vilshofen, and there we received the bad news. The water in the Danube was simply too low to continue. We were meant to have a tour of Nuremberg and then fly out the following day, but they could not risk sailing any further.
Here’s where it gets complicated. Because some people had very early flights out of Nuremberg, Viking said that they were willing to bus all of those people the three hours to Nuremberg and put them up in a hotel. The rest of us, however, were not given that option. We were to stay aboard the ship in Vilshofen. We could still tour Nuremberg if we wanted, but it required a 3 hour trip there and a 3 hour trip back to the ship. Otherwise, we could explore the (tiny) town of Vilshofen, and finally be bussed to Nuremberg for our flights on the final day.
My husband and I tried to make the best of it, but we were frustrated with our options, neither of which were particularly appealing. We were surprised that Viking was not willing to put up everyone at a hotel in Nuremberg, given the low water situation. We decided not to be bussed back and forth to Nuremberg for the tour, because we would have make the 3-hour journey yet again on the last day to catch our flights. I will confess, it was not a great end to what had been, to that point, a great trip. It felt like quite a letdown and I was left feeling somewhat disappointed.
Friends and family ask me now would I do a Viking trip again, even with this snafu? Yes, I would. Not right away, because organizing care for our three little ones was a bit of a logistical nightmare. But I would absolutely consider another tour in the future. Overall, Viking does a great wonderful job of everything. The food was amazing, the city tours were well run and informative, and the crew members were always helpful and courteous. And cruising slowly up or down large waterways is a spectacular way to see the world (as long as those waterways contain enough water!). And for this busy couple of three young kids, it was such a wonderful way to spend some time along together. Our Romantic Danube trip is one I will hold in my heart for a long time to come.
For a low carb recipe to symbolize Germany, I waffled between Bavarian Cream (because we were in Bavaria, after all) or German Chocolate. German chocolate won out because, well…pecans, caramel, and coconut. How can you not go with that? I’d never made German Chocolate before but it was so easy to make a low carb version. These brownies were heavenly and now I am addicted to German Chocolate topping. Expect to see it again soon!
German Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients
Brownies:
- 1 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1 cup Swerve Sweetener more if you like it sweeter
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 5 large eggs
- 1/4 cup to 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 cup salted butter cut into 4 pieces
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2/3 cup chopped pecans lightly toasted
- 1 tsp coconut flour
- 1 1/2 ounces sugar-free dark chocolate melted
Instructions
Brownies:
- Preheat oven to 300F and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan well.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter and unsweetened chocolate together over low heat, stirring until smooth. Add to almond flour mixture.
- Stir in eggs and vanilla extract until well combined. Add just enough water to make the batter pourable. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and smooth the top.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until just set in the center. 25 minutes for more fudgy brownies, 30 minutes for more cakey brownies. Remove and let cool completely.
Topping:
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, egg yolks, sweetener, and butter. Cook until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, coconut, and pecans. Sprinkle surface with coconut flour and whisk briskly to combine (this helps the butter not settle out).
- Spread topping over cooled brownies and drizzle with melted chocolate. Let set 20 minutes before cutting into bars.
Notes
Total fat: 17.49g
Calories from fat: 157
Cholesterol: 73mg
Carbohydrate: 5.27g
Total dietary fiber: 2.97g
Protein: 4.29g
Sallie says
I do not like almond flour could you use coconut flour in this recipe?
Carolyn says
No, this is an almond flour based recipe. Please google a coconut flour one, and then you can use my topping. Hope that helps!
Sandy Baker says
Still a thick cake batter after 32 minutes at 350 tested with an oven thermometer at the start. Added the water, 1/4 increments, total 1/2 c used. Wellbees flour. Have already frosted it. Was so excited. Have it in oven again 300 to see if it can be salvaged.
Tiffany says
Ugh you missed out on an amazing town. We went to Nuremberg in October and it was amazing! The Nuremberger sausages and the kraut and beer 🤤 I’m glad I ran across this so now I know to check the river levels before thinking about taking a last minute deal.
I’m also excited to try this bc German chocolate is my husband’s favorite.
Susan Roberts says
Hi Carolyn,
I needed a large batch of this frosting for a 2 layer G.C. cake so I made a double batch.
I followed the recipe but after I added the coconut and pecans and coconut flour, the butter continued to separate out. So I added 1 more tsp flour and transferred the batch from the hot saucepan to a wide corning ware dish and laid it on top of a cake rack over an ice pack to get it cooled quickly. I also spread it smooth on top so there were not little valleys for the butter to gravitate toward. So far success. It is perfect in color, taste, texture. Will be frosting a 2 layer 9 inch G.C. cake.
Thanks for everything!
Carolyn says
So glad it worked out in the end. Small batch and larger batch doesn’t always translate.
Karen says
Hey Carolyn,
Did you ever do the Bavarian Cream? I would love that recipe. My Mom used one from Knox gelatin which, in the chocolate version, also had a bag of chocolate chips… It was my Dad and my favorite dessert. Keto wise, the heavy cream, good sugar free chocolate and sugar free sweeteners could probably make a memory for me. My Mom set a small bowl aside for Dad’s “breakfast” the next day before molding or piping the rest.
Made your thin mints today. Looking for a brownie recipe and saw these. So glad I found your site.
Carolyn says
I have not, but now I need to revisit that idea!
Holly says
Hi Caroline, I am a long time follower and I realllly want to make these for my bday this week but I need to be dairy free. I read through each Q&A here and saw where someone asked about coconut milk instead of cream for the icing (I do eat grass-fed butter so I would use that). I also can’t have gums as you recommended to thicken it but I did just order some Glucomannan (Konjac powder). I figured you may know a little about that b/c I know you’re type 1 and it’s low carb. Any idea if it would work and a guess as to how much to use? Thank you so much!
Holly says
Please help! I hope you see my comment and respond. Thank you!
Carolyn says
I somehow missed the earlier one. I have tried gluccomannan, although not in this recipe. But I think it would work.
Holly says
Any idea how much I should use? I’m just not familiar and I googled it and there’s not much out there for this type of thing…thanks again
Carolyn says
You only need about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon
Stacy says
I made these for my husband’s birthday today and can’t figure out what went wrong with the frosting part!! I ended up with basically a coated pecan/coconut mixture. It’s not spreadable. Help!!!
Carolyn says
Sounds like you cooked it until it was too thick. Did you use a different sweetener by chance? Or use too much coconut flour?
Barbara says
I made these for my brothers birthday this week and they were delicious. I only used 1/4 cup of water and I doubled the topping. I used Valrhona cocoa powder for the first time and the depth of chocolate flavor it added was amazing. I’ll never use Hershey’s cocoa powder again. I used the direction time for fudgy brownies and they really were like fudge especially the next day.
Thanks again Carolyn for another great recipe. My freezer is full of your delicious goodies.
Cindy from Texas says
Just made these. They are outstanding!! Double the icing and they are perfect. Huge hit at our house!
Jeff says
Made these tonight, they were awesome!
Mary Reindl-Frey says
Can you freez these? They are delicuous!
Carolyn says
I don’t know, I didn’t try. I can’t see why not!
Joan Springer says
yes, they freeze just fine.
Amelia says
What would be your recommendations for dairy-free recipe? Coconut oil and coconut milk?
Carolyn says
Yes but you may need some xanthan gum to help thicken it.