Chocolate Chilli Brownies
Chocolate Chilli Brownies
John Webb
This recipe was developed from the classic brownie recipe when I discovered that 1) there wasn?t enough sugar in the house and 2) my vanilla extract was preserved in 35% alcohol. The cake needed to be Halal for the recipients! Alcohol is considered Haraam/not permissible in Islam. The result went down a storm with its kick of chilli.
Ingredients
200 gm. plain chocolate (70%+ cocoa solids, chocolate preferably chilli flavoured)
200 gm. butter
500 gm. Jaggery (brown sugar if jaggery is not available), grated
4 eggs
250 gm. self raising flour (or plain + 1 tsp. arrowroot & half tsp. bicarbonate of soda)
1 tsp. chilli powder (1.5 tsp. if chocolate not already chilli flavoured)
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. cocoa powder
8" x 12” square cake tin
Greaseproof lining paper
Instructions
Line the baking tin with greaseproof paper, the paper rising above the tin?s rim by an inch or so.
Turn oven on to 180?C/165?C fan oven/350?F/Gas Mark 4.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl above a pan of simmering water (Bain-Marie); ensuring the bowl with the chocolate in it does not have direct contact with the water, so the simmering watering doesn't actually touch the bottom of the bowl* see Notes.
Stir in the grated Jaggery in batches into the chocolate & butter, mix well.
Allow the mix to cool to blood temperature, until you can stick a finger in the mix and count comfortably count to ten. You don?t want the eggs to scramble when you add them!
Beat the eggs lightly and add a little at a time, mixing well between each egg.
Sift in the flour, chilli powder, salt and cocoa powder. Fold in and stir until well mixed.
Pour into the baking tin and cook in a preheated oven, until a slight crust has formed on the outside but the inside is still squidgy, around 45 minutes (the cake will become firmer as it cools). The trick is to take the brownies out of the oven when the cake has moved away from the sides of the tin (beginning to come off the edges) and a crust has formed. When the cake is pierced with a cocktail stick, some crumbs adhere to the stick, but not the raw/wet cake mix.
Score the cake into portions using a sharp knife while still in the tin. This cake is very indulgent so slices can be quite small.
Allow to cool in the tin, then lift out onto a cake board or plate. Cut through to the cake?s base. Enjoy, perhaps with ice cream if served as a pudding.
Notes
*Notes from Mamta:
1. I do this by putting a cup of water in a wok, then placing a trivet or a metal pastry ring in it's centre, and then putting the bowl of chocolate above it, so the water doesn't actually touch the bowls base.
2. Sifting the dry ingredients is important in order to remove any lumps.
3. These pictures were taken by me at my first attempt. The brownies were delicious, scrumptious, but my slicing technique needs improvement; could do better!
