More Brownies... Chilli Chocolate

A little later than planned, I have finally managed to sit down and write up my other brownie recipes. As I talked about in my marshmallow brownie post, a few friends and I have been raising money for charity by selling brownies. I can now safely say that it was a success - we sold out and made £142 for charity in two days. It was a little eventful as I had promised to sell on Wednesday and Thursday, thinking that we wouldn't sell them all and would need a second chance... how wrong I was! We pretty much sold out on Wednesday and I hardly had any ingredients left... and this was a problem as I live in a small village, no supermarket in sight. So I sent round an SOS text calling for brownie makers and my friends returned my plea, appearing at school the next day with their arms full of tins. I scraped together enough ingredients to make one more batch, and together we fed the masses!

The recipe here is for Chilli Chocolate brownies, they were the slowest sellers but they received praise when people were brave enough to try them. I'd say that 1tsp of chilli powder makes a mild brownie, just a subtle tingle, whereas 2tsp is fairly fiery for a brownie (but it still definitely classes as a dessert - and I'm not a huge chilli lover so serious fans could perhaps take more). I would advise that you add about half a tsp at a time and taste the mixture before you cook it - you should still be able to feel a slight tingle from the raw mixture, the heat didn't get much stronger having been cooked. The addition of the cinnamon seems to balance the heat, it gives a deeper warmth rather than just a shallow heat.

Recipe adapted from Mary Berry's Chocolate Chip Brownie recipe in herBaking Bible.

Ingredients:

Makes 12

140g margarine

190g caster sugar

2 eggs

40g cocoa powder

50g self raising flour

1 - 2 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp cinnamon

Chilli flakes, to sprinkle on the top

Method:

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees c fan (or 180 without fan)
• Beat together the marg and sugar until pale.
• Add the eggs and beat again.
• Add all of the remaining ingredients and ensure all is thoroughly combined.
• Pour into a lined baking tin (20cm by 20cm square if possible) and cook for 30 - 40 minutes (you want the top to be crisp and to feel solid, but not sponge-like - when pressed, the brownie should give, but not feel like liquid (=undercooked) or spring back (=overcooked).
• Leave to cool in the tin before cutting into squares.

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