Spicy Brownies

 

The new ( maybe not so new , but still innovative) rage is sweet and salty-everything from caramels to cookies to cakes- and it's delicious. For some, the thought of combining the two tastes is unthinkable, but if you let your palate experience the flavors, you will understand what I mean. I love the idea of mixing salty pretzels with chocolate, sprinkling fleur de sel on the top of a chocolate frosted cake or, in the other direction, adding chocolate to a sauce for chicken or meat.

This week on Baked Sunday Mornings, the assignment was not actually sweet and salty , but sweet and spicy. I have read a lot about the mixture of peppery spices to sweet dishes, especially chocolate. This was the perfect opportunity to try it for myself. The recipe calls for ancho chile powder, which I cannot find for the life of me ( at least here in Israel) so I did some research on how to substitute. I ground up some sweet chile seeds with a small amount of hot chile pepper seeds and came out with something that tastes great- don't know if it has any resemblance to ancho chile powder but it was worth a try. In any case, ancho chile powder is on my list for my next visit to the States ( adding one more food item to the long list I already have!)

The result is heavenly. The cinnamon flavor comes across quite dominant ( which I love!) mixed with the strong chocolate flavor. That in itself is enough.... but then after chewing and swallowing, you suddenly get that slight burst of spiciness. Not overwhelming, but just enough to let you know it's there, and is it ever out of this world. The texture of the brownies is fudgy and just melts in your mouth. This is a definite keeper!

You have two choices before serving these to people- tell them in advance about the spice or let them find out for themselves. They'll thank you either way!

rich chocolate, ancho chile powder and warm cinnamon

Bon Appetit Blog Envy Bake-Off

I write this blog to keep a record of the things I bake and sometimes to just express myself to open space. I don't  think more than , maybe 8 or 10 people have ever even read my blog but I'm ok with that. In any case , I decided to enter the Bon Appetit holiday baking contest just for the fun of it. I entered this great  and easy recipe for the most delicious brownies ever. They were one of the many wonderful recipes I learned during the pastry chef course I took at the begining of the year.

So, if you happen to stumble onto this blog and like what you see, I'd love it if you leave a comment here and there and give me a vote over here.

Happy weekend!

Chocolate Week

Had some trouble posting this but I think it's all straightened out now. Anyways, as I was trying to say before, the pastry chef course I have been taking is coming down to the finish line. Next Monday we have our final test( gulp!). This past week was the first of two lesson about chocolate. We learned about the origins of chocolate, how it is made, what makes a fine chocolate and how to work with it in baking. Next week comes the candy part. The 4 recipes we made were all quite simple, but very rich and delicious, as well as impressive on the plate. (Not to mention impressive on the waistline!)

Coconut Chocolate-Orange Treat

three layers of a coconut macaroon type with chocolate-orange ganache in between-

total decadence!

Three Chocolate Cookies-

a chocolate cookie with bitter, milk and white chocolate chip pieces

(at home I exchanged the white chocolate chips for peanut butter chips- both were amazing!)

Cremeux chocolate tart-

a delicious base with chocolate, carmelized nuts, butter and a bit of flour (wow!),

a crispy middle and cremeux in between! Hard to describe the incredible flavor.

Coffee-Chocolate Brownies with a cheese and white chocolate topping- just the best!

Recipe for these brownies ( which can also be marbelized instead of having the cheese on top)

For a small square pan( I used an aluminum 25cm x 18 cm)

Brownie mix:

80 g. dark chocolate

80 g. butter

1 tsp. instant coffee diluted in 1 Tblsp. hot water

100 g. brown sugar

60 g. white sugar

2 eggs

60 g. white flour

pinch of salt

20 g. chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 170 C (325 F)

Butter the pan well.

Melt the chocolate, butter and coffee in a double boiler ( bain marie) . Mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix eggs and sugar well and then add to the chocolate mix which has been removed from the heat source. Continue to mix until smooth. Add the flour, walnuts and salt and lightly mix.

Pour into pan and bake 17 minutes.

In the meantime prepare the cheese topping:

30 ml. heavy cream

75 g. white chocolate

100 grams cream cheese (here in Israel I use a soft white cheese that is 9% fat) If you use Philadelphia, be sure it is softened to room temperature.

25 g/ sugar

1 egg

20 g. flour

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt the heavy cream and white chocolate in a double boiler. In a separate bowl mix the cheese, sugar , egg and vanilla. Mix in the chocolate mix. Add the flour and mix well until smooth with no lumps.

As soon as the brownies are finished baking for 17 minutes, take them out and carefully pour the cheese mix on top ( start from the sides and let in fill in towards the middle) and return to the oven for another 15 minutes to set. The top should not brown. Cool completely and cut in to small squares (they are very rich!) I dusted some with cocoa and some with confectioner's sugar and set them on a plate in a checkerboard fashion. Use your imagination!