Chipotle Chocolate Brownies

This weekend's treat was a taste of Spain through a trip to Casa Iberica at Fitzroy. They sell all the wonderful things that Spain or South America has to offer... it was love at first sight.

The main aim was to get that paella pan (caldero) but who would not wander beyond the shopping list after seeing all sorts of other things - especially dried chillies. And not just ordinary chilies, but ancho and chipotle chilies - for someone who likes it HOT this is an extremely wonderful find.

delightful!

So, since the paella recipe didn't really require these chilies, had to find an excuse to use it. For dessert perhaps? I did have my eye on a spicy brownie recipe so the best bet was Chipotle (all time favorite) made its way to be dry fried and blitzed in a spice grinder.

Chipotle is a fully ripened and smoked jalapeno - and there's something about how they smoke this thing that makes it smell heavenly, and have such deep flavor. This recipe is a combination of a few of my favorite things :) The challenge is to add the spice without overpowering the flavors of chocolate, which still remains to be the star of this show (or so I say to myself).

Spicy Chipotle Brownies

250g dark chocolate melted with 100g butter

1 cup plain flour sifted

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground dried chipotle chilies

1 teaspoon ground cloves

pinch of salt

1 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1 cup sultanas soaked in (a couple of shots of) tequila (in keeping with the Spanish theme)

1/2 cup almonds, bashed (or roughly chopped, or "coarsely ground") :p

Melt the chocolate and butter in a bain marie (or in the microwave, if preferred). Meanwhile, mix the flour with the spices and salt in a separate bowl, and set aside. Whisk eggs with sugar until sugar has melted and well incorporated, and add to the melted chocolate. Combine wet and dry ingredients, fold in sultanas (remove excess tequila) and almonds. Place in a square (or rectangular) brownie tin lined with foil and bake in a 180C pre-heated oven for around 15-20 minutes - don't overbake or it will become too dry.

Serve with a sprinkling of icing sugar with a dash of the chipotle powder.