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Ruby Brownies



Have you heard of ruby chocolate? Up until 2017, chocolate used to be brown, dark brown or white. Then Callebaut came up with another colour: ruby chocolate is naturally pink. I first tasted Ruby last year at London's Fortnum and Mason and was instantly taken in by the unique flavour. It's sweet like white chocolate but there is a lingering sourness, a light tang that sets it apart.

Ruby chocolate has become easier to get hold of in Mumbai now so after I had my fill of the chocolate in its natural form for a few months, I turned to what else I could do with it. The first recipe to cross my mind was naturally brownies. This fudgy concoction is set to showcase the chocolate and for my first attempt, I used my trusted recipe from Dorie Greenspan.

Some adjustments had to be made though. Ruby chocolate is sweeter than the dark variant I normally use in this recipe so I reduced the sugar content. And I noticed the pink gets pale, almost brownish, in the batter so I added a little bit of beetroot powder to keep my brownies in the pink of health. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients
70 grams butter (I use salted Amul)
180 grams ruby chocolate, chopped if you have a bar. I use callets
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essense
1/3 cup flour
optional: 1/2 tsp beetroot powder or 1 drop red food colouring gel

Heat the oven to 170C. Line an 8 inch square pan or a 7 inch springform pan with parchment paper and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a pan set over a pot of simmering water), melt butter and chocolate until smooth. Whisk in the sugar. The mixture will get grainy but don't worry, it will all even out in a minute. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla essence. If your batter looks brownish by now and you want it to pinker, whisk in beetroot powder or red colour at this point.

Add the flour and switching your whisk for a spatula, mix just until the flour is all blended in. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is dry and a thin knife inserted in the centre of the pan comes out clean.

Let cool for 10-15 mintues, then unmould and cool completely over a wire rack before cutting into squares or wedges.
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