By Natalie Slater
Every barista has a name for it: a chai latte with a couple of shots of espresso. Some call it a dirty chai, some call it a speeder chai, but we called it a Bike Messenger Chai. If you saw a guy (or girl) walk in with one rolled-up pant leg, a little cap and some weirdly placed tattoos, that was a sign to pull a few shots and start steaming some chai. These barista-inspired brownies are dark and chocolaty with a spicy chai glaze.
Makes 9 big brownies
Ingredients
Brownies:
1⁄3 cup (77 g) pureed tofu
¼ cup (60 ml) brewed espresso or very strong coffee
½ cup (118 ml) canola oil
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (125 g) confectioners’ sugar
½ cup (59 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon (9 g) cornstarch
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (128 g) vegan chocolate chips
Chai Glaze:
1 tablespoon (14 g) vegan margarine, melted
1 tablespoon (15 ml) brewed black tea
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¾ cup (94 g) confectioners’ sugar
Directions
Preheat your oven to 325°F (170°C) and line a 9 x 9-inch (23 x 23 cm) pan with parchment paper.
To make the brownies: In a small bowl, whisk together tofu, espresso, oil and almond extract. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread batter in the lined pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the edges are firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with some crumbs attached. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least an hour.
To make the glaze, stir all the ingredients together with a fork, adding more tea if it seems thick. Transfer the glaze into a resealable plastic bag. Squeeze out the air, then seal the bag. Snip off a tip and drizzle the glaze over the cooled brownies. Allow the glaze to set up for about 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
—Adapted from Bake and Destroy, Good Food for Bad Vegans (Page Street, 2013)
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1 Comment
Sounds like a great combination of tastes! It would be great to specify non-GMO tofu, canola oil, cornstarch, and sugar, since all of these ingredients will be made from GMO crops unless specifically identified as organic on the label. With sugar, always look for cane sugar, since sugar beets are now a GMO crop.
Since canola oil is a somewhat problematic oil even when organic (high omega 6, highly processed to remove odors and other issues, tends to block the absorption of vitamin E, can support mold growth easier than other fats), and vegan margarine is also often made from not only GMO crops but can contain transfats (like almost all margarines, even soft ones), you might also consider substituting coconut oil for canola oil and either coconut oil OR something like Spectrum’s Palm Shortening for the melted margarine. Arrowroot would also make a great substitute for the cornstarch, by the way (although organic cornstarch is available).
If someone is vegetarian, not vegan, a lovely option would be to replace the canola with melted butter from cows raised on pasture!