The Baked Spicy Brownie

O.k., for true, now... does this not look like the most moist, delicious thing ever? :)

For Valentine's Day, we decided to cook our own dinner and splurge instead on... dessert!  Since first hearing about an innovative new bakery in Brooklyn's Red Hook district, I became kind of hooked, myself!  Baked (read all about them here) is the newest place on my list of bakeries that is as interesting on the outside as it is on the inside.  This place was started by two young guys - one a baker, one a fledgling entrepreneur, who wanted to open up a hip, lodge-like coffee house with top of the line baked goods and friendly service.  This is no Magnolia Bakery knock-off with frou frou cupcakes - this is serious baked goods with hard core spices, top of the line chocolate, and, well... "manly" stuff! From what I was soon to find out, they truly "delivered" -and I mean...delivered as in look at what I ordered for us!  ^ ^ ^  

From the moment I started talking to the friendly staff, I knew this place was classy.  I spent a good ten minutes on the phone deciding exactly what I wanted, when to order it to ensure the straight from the oven freshness, and how to have it all wrapped up for a perfect Valentine's Day present for us.

("Get Baked!" wrote owners, Renato and Matt in my special signed recipe book :-)  

When we tried Baked's exclusive "spicy brownie" we just knew we had to make it for our little sis for her upcoming birthday.  We rounded up the ingredients for you above... (oops - ignore that bag of cayenne pepper - don't use that unless you want to blow your tongue off - or use a teeny pinch... we used New Mexico chili powder instead!)

Here it is, (with my own spin incorporated:)

THE BAKED SPICY BROWNIE (slightly modified)

*Makes 9 big or 16 medium brownies

*Preheat oven to 350°.

Ingredients:

·         3/4 cup all-purpose flour

·         1/4 tsp. salt

·         1 heaping T. dark cocoa powder (King Arthur Flour's is amazing)

·         ¼ to ½ tsp. of New Mexico Chili Powder

·         1/2 tsp. cinnamon

·         5 ounces coarsely chopped dark (60 percent) chocolate

·         1 stick unsalted butter , plus more for pan

·         3/4 cup granulated sugar

·         1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

·         3 large eggs

·         1 1/2 tsps. pure vanilla extract

·         1/4 tsp. freshly grated ginger

Butter and sugar an 8" x 8" pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cocoa powder, chili powder, and cinnamon.

Configure a double boiler (fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water and fit a bowl on top without letting it touch water; bring water to a boil). Place chocolate and butter in bowl and stir occasionally until both are completely melted and combined, about 6 minutes. Turn off heat, but keep bowl over water and add both sugars. Whisk until completely combined and remove bowl from pan. Let stand until room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Add eggs to chocolate-butter mixture and whisk until just combined. Add vanilla and ginger; whisk to combine. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or the brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle flour-cocoa mixture over chocolate mixture. Using a spatula (do not use a whisk!), fold the dry ingredients into the wet until there is just a trace amount of the flour-cocoa mix visible.

Pour batter into pan and smooth the top with the spatula. Bake brownies for 27 to 30 minutes; brownies are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool brownies completely before cutting and serving.

To use the exact amount of chocolate drops, I used my Escali scale.  I just love this thing - I got it with a gift certificate to my favorite baker's catalog...The Baker's Catalog!  (That would be King Arthur Flour, folks - please see here.) 

Use a good double broiler set up to do your melting - OR, you can use a good stockpot on low heat (just be careful to monitor for burnage.)

I used King Arthur's black cocoa for this recipe.  It is amazing stuff and lent itself really well to this spicy treat.

Fresh ginger lends an additional subtle but spicy kick!

Be careful to fold gently when you get to this stage.  As Matt and Renato describe it:  

"fold the dry ingredients into the wet until there is just a trace amount of the flour-cocoa mix visible."  This helps preserve the texture for  your brownie.

As is my mantra - butter and sugar your pan.

A good trick for thick batters:  After filling your pan, take hold of both sides and lightly tap a couple of times flat onto a safe countertop.  This helps air bubbles rise to the surface and evens out the top of your batter.

Another great trick: 

Make an instant rack sturdy enough for a heavy pan of brownies to cool - just remove a cool burner cover from your stove then move your brownies away from your hot oven and onto the cover for the big cool down!

(Now that's one moist, spicy brownie, mmmmm.)

Wait...what's that you say- too hot in this kitchen?  No worries - just leave out the chili powder, ginger and/or cinnamon to please your palate! :-)

I cut the pan into nine big squares and wrapped these spicy brownies up in pretty brown parchment paper from our health food store (see here), tied up with linen string.

The brownies fit perfectly into this recycled salad container from the local health food market. These boxes are waxed inside and meant to hold liquidy contents, so with a light washing inside it's nice and fresh for a re-use!  Start thinking in this direction with all those recyclables that we all go through - salad containers, ice cream cartons, soup cups, nut cartons and boxes...the list goes on.  With a little "Homemade" sticker (from Michaels - see here) and some cute ribbon or string, you've got yourself a nice little eco-friendly box of delight :-)

Happy "Baked" Birthday, little sis!  So glad you enjoyed these :-)