I’m the kind of person who triples the ground ginger in spice cake recipes and adds black pepper to her gingerbread. Chocolate wants sea salt and hot chocolate needs a healthy pinch of cayenne pepper. Needless to say I was immediately sold on Samantha Seneviratne’s The New Sugar & Spice cookbook and her salt and pepper caramel brownies. I hesitated at the amount of black pepper called for (2½ teaspoons for an 8-by-8-inch pan!), but the brownies came together easily and had a pleasantly short bake time.
And now a note on caramel making: Be bold. I have burned caramel before, and know how fast it can go from a rich, medium amber to a campfire-flavored accident. Lacking boldness, I added the cream a touch early and forgot to add the vanilla completely. My caramel turned out too light – dry and crumbly in texture instead of glossy and sticky. Obviously, there was some user error involved, but the recipe could do with a little more direction; it doesn’t tell you when to remove the caramel from heat. That’s important.
Next time, I will remove my caramel from heat before adding the cream and butter; I will cut the salt topping in half or suck it up and buy some fleur de sel (Fleur de sel and kosher salts are not really interchangeable.). Depending on whom I’m cooking for, I’ll also cut down on the black pepper by ½ to 1 teaspoon. Though it might be overwhelming to some palates, the warming intensity of the black pepper was a slightly addictive, unexpected treat. Sometimes too much is the right amount.
Skill level: Intermediate. The recipes are clear and efficiently written, but could occasionally use more precise direction.
This book is for: Spicy sweets lovers
Other recipes to try: Chile-chocolate truffles, grapefruit curd and poppy seed pie
The verdict: Despite a slightly-less-than-ideal caramel situation, this recipe was a hit and beat out last week’s underwhelming chocolate pie.
Salt and Pepper Caramel Brownies
Makes 16 large or 25 small brownies
Brownies
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus more for greasing the pan
¾ cup (3 3/8 ounces) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (2 1/4 ounces) Dutch-process cocoa powder
2½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp. baking powder
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ tsp. kosher salt
2 large eggs
Caramel
2 Tbsp. water
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. fleur de sel or kosher salt, for sprinkling
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line it with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides. Butter the parchment.
• To prepare the brownies, whisk together the flour, cocoa, pepper and baking powder in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, vanilla, salt and eggs. Add the melted butter to the sugar mixture and whisk until smooth. Fold in the flour mixture. (You could throw in some chocolate chips at this point, but that might just be gilding the lily.)
• Pour into the prepared pan and bake until just set, 24 to 26 minutes. As soon as a toothpick inserted 2 inches from the center pulls out very moist crumbs, not runny batter, pull the brownies out of the oven. Set on rack to cool.
• To prepare the caramel, add the water to a medium saucepan. Add granulated sugar to the center of the saucepan, making sure the sugar is evenly moistened. Cook over medium heat, without stirring (although you can gently swirl the pan, if necessary), until the caramel is medium amber in color, 5 to 6 minutes. Slowly add the cream, whisking constantly; be very careful, since it will bubble up and spatter. Add the butter and cook, whisking constantly, until the caramel is smooth and slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes more. Whisk in the vanilla. Pour the caramel over the brownies and spread evenly.
• Cool in the pan, on a rack, for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and refrigerate until the caramel is set, about 1 hour.
• To serve, cut around the edge of the brownies to loosen them from the pan, then use the parchment to life the brownies out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Use a long sharp knife to cut the brownies into squares. (Little pieces go a long way!) Store the brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Reprinted with permission from 10 Speed Press
This article appears in February 2016.