Happy Halloween! Spicy Skull Brownies

I was charged with bringing a pan cookie to a Halloween party.  To make this pan of brownies more festive, I came up with this idea to create a skull face on the pan.  I made a template from an on-line image, pinned it to the brownies with toothpicks, then carefully applied a thin layer of royal icing to fill it in.  When I realized I had a "hatchet" that would add to the image, the blood naturally followed (... so to speak.)

Here's what I used (for the brownies):

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 teaspoons ground ancho chile pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
9 ounces quality dark chocolate (60-72%), coarsely chopped
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into 1-inch pieces
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 3-quart square baking dish or a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, chile pepper, cinnamon, salt, and ginger; set aside. Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler or a large heat-proof bowl. Set over a pan of barely simmering water (the bottom of the pan should not touch the water). Heat and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Remove from heat, keeping pan or bowl over water. Add both sugars; whisk until completely combined. Remove from water. Mixture should be at room temperature. Add three eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Do not overbeat the batter or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula (not a whisk), fold until there is just a trace amount of flour mixture visible. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish or pan and smooth the top with your spatula. Bake the brownies for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cool completely on a wire rack. (If desired, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cocoa powder mixed with 1/2 teaspoon ground ancho chile pepper.)

Hmmm... as I re-read this recipe now, I thought I had increased the quantity of ancho chili because it seemed too low.  Now I'm wondering if I was looking at the 1/2 teaspoon at the end of the recipe.  I'm sure I would have thought 4 teaspoons was plenty!  If I bumped it up to 1 teaspoon, then no wonder it wasn't noticeable.  Perhaps it was the ginger I increased.  Well, this is what happens when you wait two months before writing up the blog post.

Conclusion:  I wasn't very pleased with these.  They had the somewhat chalky dryness that I think comes from too much chocolate, and weren't fudgy at all.  (I suppose I might have overbaked them, though I checked them early.)  And even with increasing the spices, the spices still weren't especially noticeable. 

Recipe:  Sweet & Spicy Brownie Bites via Better Homes and Gardens, February 2015

October ABC Challenge: Spiced Apple Cream Cheese Cake

For the cake:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder 
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
½ cup evaporated milk

For the cheesecake:
1 package (250 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp each freshly grated nutmeg and ground clove
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp all-purpose flour

For the topping:
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 whole cloves
1 ¼ lbs tart apples, such as Granny Smith or Northern Spy (about 4 apples), cored, peeled and chopped into 1/3-inch cubes
2 tbsp granulated sugar 
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch round springform pan with butter and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.

To make the topping, fold together apples, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Heat butter in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat until the foam subsides. Add whole cloves so they infuse the butter and then add the apple mixture. Toss until they just begin to soften, but not until they’re mushy, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer apples back to the bowl, discard cloves and set aside to cool completely while you prepare the rest of the cake.

To make the cheesecake batter, beat cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until smooth and the sugar is mostly dissolved, about 40 seconds. Beat in the cinnamon, nutmeg and clove until combined. Add egg yolk and flour and beat just until incorporated and batter is smooth. Set this aside while you make the cake batter.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. In another medium bowl, beat butter with both sugars until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla until combined. Add egg and beat until well incorporated and batter is fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add one-third of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until mostly combined. Beat in half of the evaporated milk until blended. Repeat this step by adding half the remaining flour mixture followed by the last of the milk, beating no more than 15 seconds between additions. After the last bit of milk has been added, beat on medium speed for 3-5 seconds to just make sure the batter is smooth. Fold in the last of the flour mixture by hand using a rubber spatula until evenly combined. 

Scrape batter into prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Spoon dollops of cream cheese mixture over the cake batter and use a butter knife or the back end of a spoon to lightly swirl it in to sort of fuse the two batters together. Gently spoon cooled apples over the batter in an even layer and bake until the cake wobbles ever so slightly in the middle, 45-50 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool completely.

Conclusion:  Cake was a little too sweet and not an interesting addition.  Better with cheddar.
Left skins on.
Added salt, about 1/2 t ? To batter, prob could use more.
Baked ~15 min longer for 2.
Cloves ground is fine.

Recipe:  Spiced Apple Cream Cheese Coffee Cake via Scientifically Sweet