Blood Orange Chocolate Brownies: Bring the Booty to Mamma

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by Arundhati Basu

It has been freezing outside and the sun has been been a pale incarnation of itself ever since the snow storm swept through my part of the country. It started innocuously, with no hint the evening before of what was to come. Surely the manager at our condominium had sent out an e-mail warning us of a state of emergency declared by the governor. But you know what, in all my inexperience of East Coast weather warnings, I declared it bull. In the recent past, I have stayed back home with news of impending storms. Weather advisories showing up on the phone as orange beacons of alarm. Too frequently. But outside, it used to be just fine. I would just end up missing out on my regular runs. The coin dropped and those warnings tempted derision.

It was your regular miserable day when I woke up, and early on, nothing showed up except for tiny flakes of snow which wafted into the tar of the road outside. It did not stick. It shall stop soon, I figured. But those tiny flakes mushroomed into big flakes, the size of cornflakes, and by noon you could see them slowly coating the pavement, painting the park grounds and the road a stark white. The trees too had icing building up upon their boughs. That is how it turned into a squall of sorts, gusts of wind driving it horizontally. Now the important thing during such storms is that you be inside. Watch it from the comfort of your warm interiors. Bless these modern-day trappings, for how often I yearn for the old. This, I would not give up. Then a snow storm does start looking like a living fairy tale. As if you were caught in a giant snow globe, and someone was turning it upside down to churn snow. Fat puffs of it. Oh it had a magical quality to it, the snow. I suspect that had power been lost, that feeling would have been turned on its head. I will take this feeling though my jars of picked red chilli peppers are crying out for the sun.

So maybe it is the weather, or maybe it is this cake-deprived feeling lodged deep inside me, that yesterday I caved in. I wanted something decadent, okay? Something rich to make my senses whoosh with delight. No substitutes for anything therefore. Plain flour, butter, eggs, brown sugar, milk, a blood orange pureed and its fragrant zest. Then plenty of cocoa powder and an Icelandic chocolate bar broken up in chunks, so that they melted inside the brownie batter in perfect little pockets of oozing goodness.

  • 3/4 cup softened butter
  • 1 cup blood orange (I juiced it and retained the pulp, then heated it to reduce it to half a cup)
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp Nescafe
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1-1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • The zest of the blood orange
  • 1-1/2 cups of dark chocolate chunks

I whisked them in the order mentioned and popped them into the oven (at 177°C) for 40 minutes.

And when I let it cool for a while, but not long enough because I wanted the warmth of it, it turned up with a crisp crust. The brown sugar had caramelised its fudgy insides. A bite, hmm, and oozing blobs of dark chocolate enveloped me with lavish love, whispering, ‘come child, give in now’, and the bite of that blood orange zest, intense. Three big pieces and I had a halo around my head.

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The day it snowed like it would not stop
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From the rooftop of the building
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The next day outside out the rooftop gym
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Red chilli pepper pickle sobbing for the sun 
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Let’s not skimp
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So that we get this. A brownie that woos you in style, because nothing less will do.

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Arundhati Basu

The great affair in my life is to travel. I count myself immensely fortunate that my partner shares this passion. We are a team that likes to spend time planning and plotting out places to go. Destination check, flights check, accommodation check, cheesy grins check. Off we go.

55 thoughts on “Blood Orange Chocolate Brownies: Bring the Booty to Mamma”

  2. Those look seriously decadent! I’m going to make them for my sister who loves chocolate and orange. They’ll be right up her street.

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    1. Thank you Sheree. I think it should hit the right spot 🙂 I toned down the sugar a tad bit though. xx

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  3. Your brownies look and sound delicious. Hearing about your storm makes me feel like a bit of a ninny for whining about today’s rain forecast. 🙂 I’m afraid I am not quite tough enough for an East Coast storm, but I assure you I would man-up enough to devour that plate of brownies 😛

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    1. The door’s open my darling! Just be sure to be ready for a mouthful and a whole pot of tea to go with it 🙂 xx

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    1. Thanks Anni, I am a sucker for orange and chocolate together. Like Terry’s chocolate oranges 🙂 xx

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      2. Well they are slightly sweeter than regular navel oranges. But otherwise the taste is not that different, so you are not losing out much. I do love their colour though 🙂 xx

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  8. The brownie looks good! I’ve yet to actually try bake a brownie, I don’t know why I haven’t!
    Also, I don’t think I’ve seen a blood orange before. Is it just another type of orange?

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    1. Sorry sweetheart, your message was trapped in the spam folder! It is unintelligent, I must say. Thank you for the words of appreciation 🙂 If you like fudgy bakes, then the brownie will be your best friend. It is also one of the easiest to bake. Plonk all into a bowl, mix, and straight off it goes into the oven.
      Blood orange is slightly sweeter than the average orange and actually startlingly blood red in colour! xx

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  9. These look amazing. I’m also drooling over those chili pickles. If you’re ever inspired to share the recipe for those I’d love to see it…

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    1. Hi Todd, thank you 🙂 I shall share the recipe for you. Unfortunately my current batch, which I tasted yesterday, tanked. I had done something wrong with the fenugreek seeds and the spice mixture was bitter! :-/ *sob sob.
      I shall make it soon again when the sun is out and fix this fenugreek seed glitch. Darned little buggers. Cheers.

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  12. There is such “lust for life” in your photos, Dippy-Ditty Girl! Whether it’s the snowy-snow that won’t stop, or the deep chocolate brownie, or the red peppers. 🙂

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    1. Thanks Annika, no excuse is lame when it comes to food, and once in a while I cannot help but indulge 🙂 xx

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    1. Teehee thanks, Lorelle! Like one of my other friends here, you should come home with your eating pants 😉 xx

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  18. Oh my gosh. I want some brownies too 😦 I love snow even if its quite heavy but snow storm may scare me. I experienced it once in northern California, everything turned white but beautiful to me, but perhaps it was because I was in the comfort of the hotel room warmed by a pretty fireplace. I’m clearly missing the snow already… 🙂

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    1. As long as power stays intact, I am fine with snow storms, Amor. It is a terrible thing for the homeless and the heart goes out to them.
      I did not know that California had it in it to turn white! Your experience there sounds rather cosy.
      These brownies are a one-bowl mix wonder. So you can always give them a go on an idle day 🙂 xx

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      1. Oh you’re right, it must be terrible for the homeless during times like that. I just had my brownie fix yesterday afternoon, there goes my 30min cardio workout in the morning hehehe 🙂

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    1. You could equate it to the kind of pleasure you get from crisply fried bacon and the finest mature gouda (from Amsterdam) 🙂 xx

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  20. Oh man! I have to jump onto the blood orange wagon soon! My insta feed is full of them and now you have enticed me with the ides of combining them with chocolate…mmm…..it has made me all restless in the middle of the night! 😉 Brownies look to die for hon! yummyyy! xx

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    1. Thank you Mallika. You would do many creative things with blood orange I bet. I just love its ombre beauty and ruby hues. As for chocolate and orange, it is a marriage that spells pure delight. xx

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    1. Ah, once in a while, Stephanie, I just give into undiluted greed! 🙂 I think it is important to listen to the body though and if gluten-free is what it needs, then why not! xx

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