Rhubarb Chocolate Brownie

It's that time of the year when we start receiving and (hopefully harvesting) some local produce. Anand's colleague faithfully gives us some fresh rhubarbs from his garden. And every year, I wonder what to do with them. Rhubarbs are quite sour, so they are mostly used in sweet preparations. Rhubarbs and strawberries are a favorite combination. It is cooked down with strawberries and sugar to make compote (sort of like jam), baked with strawberries in a pie crust to make awesome pie, or made into crunchy, delicious crumbles/crisps. But I chanced across this recipe which uses rhubarb compote to make chocolate brownies! I was sold!

I did make some changes to the recipe. For one, the brownies were not Mexican, they turned Indian, of course. Instead of Mexican chilli powder, I added 2 teaspoons of cardamom powder. Secondly, I had two cups worth of cut rhubarbs, so I used all of the resulting compote in the brownie batter (instead of just 1 cup worth) - and it arguable made the batter & brownies more moist and fudge-like (my rhubarb compote was prepared by cooking 2 cups of peeled and chopped rhubarb in 1/2 cup of water and 4 tablespoons of sugar until soft and mushy. I then add pureed the cooked rhubarbs). Finally, instead of melting 4 ounces worth of chocolate bars, I used 1 cup of Ghirardelli's unsweetened cocoa powder. Due to these changes and additions, the brownies took 80 minutes (1 hour and 30 minutes) to bake at 350 F. Even then, the center of the brownies remained a tad fudgey, so my cake tester never came out clean.

So, my version is more of a fudge-brownie. Vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, and chocolate baked with the sour rhubarb compote has conjured up a uniquely tasting moist brownie! I am hoping this would be a good sweet to welcome a newly-married-chocolate-loving friend and his wife!