'Tis the season! The Season for festivities, the Season for treats, the Season for baking! Being ill with flu & a viral throat infection (it really is as bad as it sounds) for the past week now, I have felt totally unproductive, stuck in the house, drinking my body weight in lemon, ginger & honey tea & trying my best to recover for Christmas! Good news though, the rest is starting to pay off & today I have actually felt up to baking. Having trouble sleeping through a blocked nose & sore throat means early mornings, warm breakfasts & on this occasion brownie treats (for elevenses)!
Pomegranate & Pecan Dark Chocolate Brownies
Most fruit flavours this time of the year revolve around cranberry or spiced apple, so I wanted to shake things up a bit & experiment with a new festive fruit, the pomegranate. It has such a festive appearance, the little jewels of juice praising every surface they touch, exploding in a burst of flavour which is perfect when combined with chocolate...well let's face it, what fruit does not go with chocolate?
I used a brownie recipe which I adapted to make way for the pomegranate & reduced the quantities to produce a small batch (as it was the first time I've tried baking directly with this fruit & wanted to create room for future improvement). Of course, the quantities/timings can be increased depending on your needs (or wants).
By reducing the quantities, I also had some left-over pomegranate so I decided to create something for later (not for breakfast, don't worry!) & infuse some gin I had left lurking in the back of the cupboard. Infused spirits always look so pretty & are perfect for presents, so I thought I'd pop some pomegranate in a spare jar with the gin & leave to infuse for a few weeks (just in time for Christmas)...it really is that simple!
Our mini Christmas tree decorated with silver baubles, penguins & a flying pig! Surround your tree with festive candles, pomegranate infused gin & bottles filled with candy goodies to get you in the mood for giving!
...Ingredients...
60g unsalted butter
60g dark chocolate (I used extremely dark 81%, but 70% would be good!)
60g caster sugar
1 pinch sea salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon
30g plain flour
1 egg
...Recipe...
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat.
Once melted, stir in the chocolate until smooth.
Add the sugar, salt & cinnamon & stir until melted.
Gradually add the flour, stirring to combine.
Beat the egg in bit-by-bit until fully combined.
Pour into tin lined with baking parchment.
Bake for 20 mins.
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