Espresso Chili Chocolate Brownie

Despite all the different brownies I have baked and bought this classic by Donna Hay remains my favourite. But even when something is your favourite, you still need to mix it up a little.  When Sarah returned after lunch with a tray of eggs she was hinting at something, and I don't think it was my Spinach and Cheddar Muffins!  Jonny also hinted that it would be cool if we called him round to help eat some baking this evening, and Wil was looking a little sad with the container that once held brownie sitting on the bench, all washed, dried and ready to be put away. So I guessed that the smart thing to do would be to rustle up a tray of brownie, before all my people mutinied on me.

I didn't have a whole lot of my favourite chocolate on hand to make my regular brownie, and I was in the mood for something different but the only recipes I had in my 'to try' pile involved lots of other tasty ingredients that weren't in my pantry. I turned to my trusty source, and picked a basic chocolate brownie recipe from Donna Hay that I then decided to add to and make my own.  Continuing on from last night's theme of chili and chocolate I decided to make an espresso chili chocolate brownie. I did so by using mocha dark chocolate and adding some espresso to the butter and chocolate as it melted together.  I then substituted about 1/2 cup of the regular cocoa with some of the cocoa camino chili chocolate powder from my pantry, and added a good few shakes of chili chocolate powder for good measure.

It was pretty tasty as far as standard brownies go, but the chili and espresso were barely evident so I think I'd have to rejig this recipe before I tried it again.

200g dark chocolate, chopped
250g butter, chopped
1¾ cups (310g) brown sugar
4 eggs
⅓ cup (35g) cocoa powder, sifted
1¼ cups (185g) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
¼ teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 160°C (325ºF). Place the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat and stir until smooth. Allow to cool slightly. 

Place the sugar, eggs, cocoa, flour and baking powder in a bowl. Add the chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Pour into a 20cm-square slice tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 50 minutes or until an inserted skewer withdraws clean. Allow to cool slightly in the tin before slicing.