Chocolate Ginger Brownies

I love chocolate, but I love it even more when it is paired with another ingredient.  Chocolate itself is no stranger to this custom of food-pairings. It has been paired with countless flavours, all with unique and surprising results.  My favourite combination is often fruit based, such as orange, lime, passion fruit and cherry.

Today I opted for something a bit different by adding chopped up crystallised stem ginger to my brownie mix.  The result is utterly delicious. I love the sweet heat that comes from the ginger which works so beautifully with the chocolate, and a hint of brandy (now, we're talking) which I believe needs no further explanation.   

Great news if you are gluten intolerant, this brownie is gluten-free! Not that I am allergic to gluten, but I especially love gluten-free cakes that are made using ground almonds.  The ground almonds keeps the cake moist even after a day or two with squidgy crumb.  

Making the brownies takes very little effort, so I hope you'll give this a go... But, one last thing, I always add a little bit of instant espresso when baking with chocolate.  Not to worry if you don't like coffee, the little amount I use won't make the brownies taste like coffee, but it will actually enhance the chocolate flavour. 

Have a great day!

Chocolate Ginger Brownies

100 gr soft butter
200 gr dark chocolate (I use 70% cocoa)
1 tsp instant espresso
5 eggs
100 gr caster sugar
50 gr brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
A splash or two of brandy
200 gr ground almond
60 gr crystallized ginger, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 180 C.  Grease a brownie tin with butter, and line with baking parchment with the paper overlapping the sides a little.  This will make it easier to remove the brownies later.   

Place the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water.  After a few minutes the chocolate and butter will start to melt.  Give it a stir occasionally.  Remove the bowl from the pan.  The residual heat from the pan will finish off the melting process.  Add the instant espresso, give it a stir and set aside

Using a free standing or a hand mixer, whip the eggs, vanilla, sugar and salt together.  Slowly add the chocolate and butter mixture.  Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in.  Also add the brandy.

With a large spatula, fold in the ground almonds and little pieces of crystallized ginger.  Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Be careful not to over-bake.

Let the brownies cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing, dust with icing sugar if you want to and you know what to do next.