Happy Halloween!
Halloween is a candy and costume holiday. I know, I know, there is a history going back to the old country, when they carved turnips into Jack-o-lanterns to scare away the spirits. In my lifetime, it was all about being a kids, putting on a costume, and collecting as much sugar and chocolate as possible in one night. So, at my house, we are going to indulge in a little bit of chocolate, in the form of these Pumpkin Swirl Brownies with Ganache.
Maybe I’ll put on some colorful socks.
Perhaps if I had kids, I’d be in full costume-making mode, but alas, I only have kitties, and they are resolutely uninterested in costumes.
Did you know that I have a cat named Pumpkin? That’s how much I love the edible gourds. I named my cat after one.
My cat Pumpkin, lying on a pie pan full of onions. Pumpkin Pie, get it?
Instead, I decided to look ahead to pumpkin pie season and drizzle a layer of creamy pumpkin pie on top of a tender, deeply chocolatey brownie. The rich chocolate ganache is better than the icing on the cake, it’s more like the truffle on the cake.
And BTW, it’s all vegan.
Drizzle them with lush ganache!
This recipe uses only 1 cup of pumpkin, so you can save the 1/2 cup left over from the can to make the Pumpkin Spice Oats from last week’s blog. Use a nice, extra firm silken tofu for the pumpkin swirl, and it will be creamy and delicious.
These would be great to serve at a Halloween party, or really, any party this winter. I ate them a few times for lunch (Tofu!) and they are great with a hot cup of coffee or tea.
You don’t need a costume to enjoy a tasty chocolate treat, do you?
Pumpkin Swirl Brownies with Ganache
Ingredients
Topping
- 5 ounces silken tofu extra firm
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot
Brownies
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa
- 3/4 cup organic sugar
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/3 cup coconut oil melted
- 1 ounce very dark chocolate melted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
Ganache
- 3 ounces very dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
Instructions
- Line a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper and pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
- First, make the swirl. In a food processor, puree the tofu until smooth, scraping down and repeating until no little chunks remain. Add the pumpkin and almond butter and process until smooth again, scraping down and repeating as needed. Add maple, cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg and arrowroot and puree to mix. Scrape into a sandwich-sized plastic bag and squeeze into one corner. Chill until the batter is ready.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, arrowroot, baking powder and salt. Whisk and mix, making sure the cocoa is not in lumps.
- In a medium bowl, stir the maple syrup, coconut milk, coconut oil, melted chocolate and vanilla. Don't use cold ingredients, or it will make the chocolate harden instead of mix in smoothly. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, just until mixed.
- Spoon 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it, creating a little bit of a rim around the edge, about 1/2 inch high. cut the corner off the bag of pumpkin and squirt the pumpkin in a series of swirls across the batter. Use a spoon to dollop portions of the remaining batter between swirls.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top looks cracked and dry. The middle should be slightly underbaked. Cool on a rack. Chill the cooled brownies until completely cold.
- Make the ganache: Warm the coconut milk in a pan, then add the chopped chocolate and stir. Stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth. Drizzle the ganache over the cold brownies, and refrigerate until the ganache is firm.
- Slice the cold brownies 3 x 3 to make 9 brownies (unless you want larger ones.) Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator until time to serve.
