Spiced pumpkin chocolate brownies
Pumpkins and squashes herald the start of autumn, when thoughts turn to cooking warming, nourishing food. This is when these versatile ingredients shine. Varieties are countless, but worth a special mention are crown prince, butternut and - my favourite - delica, with its dense, intensely sweet, rich and buttery flesh. Always look for bright skin without blemishes and ensure it is firm to the touch.
Everyone loves a brownie and my family is no exception. I wanted to make a traditional brownie even gooier by adding in the cooked pumpkin and I think this works really well. This is a new-generation crowd-pleaser.
Yield
This recipe serves 6.
Ingredients
Step 1
Heat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/mark 4. Place the pumpkin, golden syrup, vanilla extract and star anise powder in a bowl and mix well. Wrap in foil, place on a roasting tray in the oven and cook en papillote for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, still wrapped in the foil.
Step 2
Grease a 20cm square cake tin and line with baking paper or a reusable cake-tin liner.
Step 3
Melt the butter with the sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl set over a pan of hot water. Once melted, stir well and remove from the heat. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before folding in the egg and the cooked pumpkin.
Step 4
Fold in the flour and a pinch of salt, pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes.
Step 5
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin before carefully turning it out and cutting into portions. Dust with icing sugar and serve with scoops of vanilla ice cream.
