Spiced Brownies

inspired by the history of chocolate in Central America and Mexico

I think most chocolate devotees will know that the first record of cocao trees dates back to the Olmec civilisation, which was to be found in the forests on the Gulf of Mexico as long as three thousand years ago. One of the first known uses for cacao beans was in a spicy bitter drink made by the Mayans, another ancient civilisation in Central America, around AD 300.

The Mayans used local spices to flavour the drink made from the cacao bean; one of the most often used spices was chilli, but vanilla, cloves, allspice, pepper plus nuts and flowers were also used. The sweeter spices such as cinnamon and aniseed started to be used when the drink was sweetened with sugar, around the 16th century. Nowadays, chocolate products flavoured with chilli and cinnamon are often given names alluding to their Mexican or Mayan heritage.

It was with this in mind that I decided that a spiced chocolate brownie was the best thing to make for the Mexican round of the culinary challenge called Formula 1 Foods, over at Caroline Makes. The idea is to make either a traditional dish eaten in that country or something inspired by the culture, traditions and ingredients found in that country.

I made my usual brownie recipe and added some suitable spices. I decided to go with subtle hints of chilli rather than a blast of heat, as well as using some of the less common spices used by the Mayans.

To a brownie batter made by melting 140g each of butter and plain chocolate together, then adding in turn, 300g light muscovado sugar, three eggs, 160g plain flour and 3 tablespoons of cocoa, I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ancho chilli pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground aniseed and a pinch of ground cloves. This was baked for 25-30 minutes at 180C, in a 20cm square tin.

This combination of spices proved to be just what I intended - warm (my jar of ancho chilli powder was described as warm and earthy rather than hot), and well balanced, with none of the flavours overwhelming the others. I think most people would be hard-pressed to identify any of the individual spices used, unless they had a well trained palate - even the chilli blended well with the other spices used.

Aniseed and Orange Frangipane Jalousie

Or ...... my homage to the elusive Monegasque fougasse!

Monaco is a tiny principality nestled on the coast between France and Italy, so as you'd expect, the traditional foods of the country take their inspiration from both those countries, and from the sea. There are very few foods that are unique to Monaco; I found references to a salt cod dish, sweet and sour onions, and a sweet fougasse, but not much else.

Naturally, the sweet fougasse is what grabbed my attention when it came to making something for the Formula 1 Foods challenge over on Caroline Makes blog. The idea is to make a recipe inspired by the country where each round of the F1 Grand Prix is taking place. The Monaco GP stands out from the others - it's  a street race in very glamourous surroundings. Even if you're not interested in the race, you can admire the super-yachts as the cars race past the marina, or wait for the inevitable collisions as two powerful machines both try to take the same restricted road space at the same time!

At first, I thought the Monegasque fougasse was just a sweetened form of the usual bread recipe, flavoured with almonds, aniseed and orange flower water, but the more I looked for a recipe, the more doubtful I became about this. Many websites referred to pastries, and some to crisp biscuits. Admittedly, the only recipes I could find were for bread (and all the recipes looked as if they came from the same source), but a commentator on one of the recipes I looked at was adamant that the dough should not contain yeast!

Anyway - you know that I don't get on well with yeast doughs, so in the end I decided to take my inspiration from the flavours contained in the sweet fougasse, and make a frangipane filled pastry instead.

I used half a block of ready made all-butter puff pastry, which I rolled out and cut into two rectangles approximately 18 x 12cm. I made a frangipane mixture from 50g ground almonds, 50g caster sugar, the zest of a mandarin orange, 2 teaspoons orange flower water, 1/2 teaspoon of ground aniseed, 1 egg yolk and about half of a lightly beaten egg white, to make a stiff paste.

The frangipane was spread onto one of the pastry rectangles, leaving a 2cm border around the edge, which I brushed with some of the remaining egg white. I rolled the second piece of pastry a little larger, so that it would fit over the mound of frangipane, and placed it on top of the base, pressing down well around the border, then knocking up the edges of the pastry with the back of a knife. Finally I brushed the top with more egg white and sprinkled with a little crushed raw sugar mixed with a pinch of  whole aniseeds, and cut some slits across the top of the pastry, through to the frangipane beneath. This was baked for about 20-25 minutes at 200C, until the pastry was well risen and a dark golden colour.

We both really enjoyed the flavour of the filling for this pastry. The aniseed was strong but not overwhelming, although, like caraway, it's a flavour that some people dislike. If you're not sure you like it, I'd recommend using less the first time you try it, especially if it's a sweet recipe. The orange notes were a more subtle backnote to the almonds and aniseed, but still noticeable. I also really liked the way the soft frangipane filling and crisp puff pastry worked together - a match made in heaven as far as I'm concerned!

The next F1 Grand Prix is in Canada - that should be easier to bake for!