Dark Chocolate, Clove and Cinnamon Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
| 21/4 cups unsalted butter, plus extra | ||
| 10 ounces chocolate with 70 to 80% | ||
| Cocoa, plus extra to serve | ||
| Heaped 1/2 cup granulated sugar | ||
| Packed 2/3 cup soft light Demerara sugar | ||
| 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk, beaten | ||
| Pecan nuts | 1 Cup (16 tbs), crushed (for greasing) | |
| All purpose flour | 1/2 Cup (16 tbs) (for greasing) | |
| Baking powder | 1 Teaspoon (for greasing) | |
| Sea salt | 1 Teaspoon (for greasing) | |
| 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus | ||
| Extra to serve | ||
| Ground cloves | 1/4 Teaspoon (for greasing) | |
| 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus | ||
Directions
1 Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square cake pan, then line with baking parchment.
2 Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Once completely melted, set the chocolate aside to cool slightly.
3 Put the butter, granulated sugar and Demerara sugar into a food processor and blend on a high setting about 5 minutes, or until they form a smooth paste.
4 Slowly add the eggs, a little at a time, to the butter and sugar mixture and blend on a low setting until everything is incorporated. Give the mixture a final blast on a high setting 30 seconds, then transfer to a large mixing bowl.
5 Slowly fold in the melted chocolate, then add the nuts and sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, cloves and cinnamon. Fold everything together using a large metal spoon, then scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Smooth the top with a metal spatula and bake 20 to 30 minutes until soft and gooey in the middle and just cracking on the top and sides. To test if the brownie is baked through, insert a skewer into the middle, pushing right to the bottom. It should come out with a little of the yummy, goey brownie clinging but not totally coating it. If the skewer is completely coated, put the brownie back in the oven and test it again every 3 minutes until baked.
6 Remove the pan from the oven and leave the brownie to cool 30 minutes in the pan. Flip the brownie out of the pan onto a cutting board, peel off the baking parchment and cut into squares. Serve hot, warm or cold with a generous sprinkling of cocoa powder and a sprinkling of cinnamon, to taste.
The recipe is excerpted from the book Mighty Spice, written by John Gregory-Smith. For more information please visit his website www.johngregorysmith.com
2 Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Once completely melted, set the chocolate aside to cool slightly.
3 Put the butter, granulated sugar and Demerara sugar into a food processor and blend on a high setting about 5 minutes, or until they form a smooth paste.
4 Slowly add the eggs, a little at a time, to the butter and sugar mixture and blend on a low setting until everything is incorporated. Give the mixture a final blast on a high setting 30 seconds, then transfer to a large mixing bowl.
5 Slowly fold in the melted chocolate, then add the nuts and sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, cloves and cinnamon. Fold everything together using a large metal spoon, then scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Smooth the top with a metal spatula and bake 20 to 30 minutes until soft and gooey in the middle and just cracking on the top and sides. To test if the brownie is baked through, insert a skewer into the middle, pushing right to the bottom. It should come out with a little of the yummy, goey brownie clinging but not totally coating it. If the skewer is completely coated, put the brownie back in the oven and test it again every 3 minutes until baked.
6 Remove the pan from the oven and leave the brownie to cool 30 minutes in the pan. Flip the brownie out of the pan onto a cutting board, peel off the baking parchment and cut into squares. Serve hot, warm or cold with a generous sprinkling of cocoa powder and a sprinkling of cinnamon, to taste.
The recipe is excerpted from the book Mighty Spice, written by John Gregory-Smith. For more information please visit his website www.johngregorysmith.com
Chef
