“One kind word can warm three winter months.”
Japanese proverb
It’s been a while since I blogged about chocolate brownies. There was a time that I used to oscillate between baking brownies and chocolate chip cookies alternatively every week because that’s all I could bake. This was 3-4 years ago. Then the blogging bug bit me, brownies suddenly took a back seat and I got adventurous with ‘other stuff’ in my own little sense.
There was a world of exciting baking to be discovered as I crawled out from under my rock, or ‘my stone age of baking‘! I covered new ground ferociously as if to make up for lost time. Now I’m back in my comfort zone where new techniques and baking discoveries are therapeutic, as are endless brownies and cookies. I know that more often than never one {or both} of my guinea pigs will make a meal out of my kitchen adventures! I am eternally grateful for their adventurous culinary spirit!
The last brownies I made were in August 2010 from David Lebovitz’s recipe for Roberts Absolute Best Brownies. They were very indulgent and quite the best. This time I’ve created brownies for an event that marks Divya’s blogiversary at her lovely blog Easy Cooking and decided to send her some chocolate love. Keeping in mind the dieting diva, I embarked on experimenting with an olive oil version … with other thoughts that continue to haunt my mind, namely Japan.
Makiko is a young Japanese girl in Madrid who is collecting a 1000 origami cranes to send to Japan to wish her family and friends good luck ... a touching and beautiful thought. Many years ago when the lad was in junior school, they read the story about ‘Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes‘ as they studied the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I still remember how the little fellow came home and got onto the net after relating the story to me. He spent hours learning how to make origami cranes…
The capacity of the young mind to imbibe is wonderful. To this day, many years later, the son makes little origami stars, cranes, boxes for me when he wants to put a smile back on my face. He knows I love craft work and is always ready to charm. So I beckoned him to Miriams beautiful post on The Winter Guest where she posted the most beautiful Matcha Mousse Pies and an origami crane for Japan. 
Miriam wrote … ‘ In Spain, a Japanese girl called Makiko and living in Madrid has set up a blog to ask for people to contribute by making an origami crane. The blog is called 1000 grullas por Japón, meaning 1000 cranes for Japan. It is a Japanese tradition to make 1000 origami cranes when you want to make a wish come true.“
I asked if he could make me one for Makiko for Japan! Ever the charmer, he got his little hands to work. So here we are – a paper crane for Makiko. It’s a beautiful initiative and it would be lovely if more of us could join in. Once you’ve made the origami crane {Makiko’s blog has a video showing you how to}, all you need to do is take a photograph and send it to Makiko. She will gather all the crane photos and send them to her family and friends in Japan.
To tie in all my thoughts and feelings, I added some matcha {Japanese green tea powder} to the brownies. I also used some home made ricotta which I had left over from a French Fougasse I had made 2 days ago. Matcha pairs nicely with chocolate, both in taste and in colour contrast. Yet, IMHO, flavours of matcha are very subtle and in many ways acquired. For brownies sans butter, these olive oil ones were wonderfully moist and fudgy… deeply chocolaty too! If you are looking for a healthier version of the indulgent brownie, then do give these a shot, with or without matcha!
Chocolate Matcha Olive Oil Brownies {with ricotta}
A healthier take on chocolate brownies with olive oil and homemade ricotta. Matcha adds subtle flavour and a vibrant colour contrast to these.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 12-16 servings
Ingredients
* 115gms dark chocolate {I used 70% couverture}
* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 3 eggs, room temperature
* 1 cup vanilla sugar
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup all purpose flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 pinch salt
* 1 tbsp {heaped} cocoa powder
* 175gms ricotta, drained well {homemade recipe}
* 1 tsp matcha {Japanese green tea powder}
* 1/4 cup powdered sugar
* 50ml low fat cream
Cooking Directions
1. Line with baking paper/parchment a 7 X 11 inch {or 8 X 8 inch} baking tin.
2. Preheat oven to 190C.
3. Place the dark chocolate and olive oil in a heatproof bowl, and microwave, one minute at a time, until melted. Stir and keep aside.
4. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Reserve.
5. Run the ricotta, low fat cream and 1/4 cup powdered sugar in a blender until smooth. Divide into half, and mix matcha in one half. Reserve.
6. Beat the eggs, vanilla sugar,vanilla extract for 20-30 seconds until blended.
7. On low speed, blend in the chocolate/olive oil mixture, followed by the reserved 1/2 quantity of plain ricotta.
8. Fold in the dry ingredients, and turn batter into the prepared tin. Spread with an offset spatula.
9. Take the reserved matcha/ricotta in a piping bag and pipe randomly on top, pressing nozzle into the batter to let some seep into it. Run a knife through a few place to swirl if desired.
10. Bake at 190C for approximately 45 minutes, until a few crumbs stick to tester when inserted.
11. Cool completely in tin on a rack.
12. Chill for about an hour and then cut as desired.
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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
