Time for Dessert
Eliot was not a man who ate sweet things very often, but when he got a craving for something it wouldn’t leave him alone until he’d satisfied it. With savory foods he could distract himself, but when a man wanted chocolate, by God he wanted chocolate.
One box of brownie mix into the mixer. Two sticks of butter into the pan and heat over low until completely melted.
Indian Spice Brownies were his specialty when it came to chocolate. He’d tasted a chocolate bar once with a similar taste to the brownies, but he refused to pay $5.00 for a bar of candy when he could whip up something so much more satisfying in his own kitchen.
Cinnamon, allspice, turmeric, cumin, cayenne…
The spice mixture never turned out the same because it depended on the strength of the spices. Old cumin had less flavor so you needed more of it. Same with cinnamon. And sometimes you just wanted a little more heat than others.
Tablespoon of cinnamon to start, quarter teaspoon of allspice, same with turmeric, half a teaspoon of cumin and quarter teaspoon of cayenne. Mix together…
He lowered his nose to the powder in the small mixing cup in his hand and sniffed. He could smell the cinnamon mostly, then the allspice and a bit of smokiness from the cumin and something else. Turmeric wasn’t supposed to stand out, so the something else was how it should be.
Combine it with the melted butter, whisk well, add the butter to the brownie mixture and mix on low until blended. Bump the speed up to medium and add the egg, beating until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, grab the brownie pan.
The knock on the door made Eliot pause and frown. Nobody came to visit him. People had learned a few months ago that the man who lived in the little bungalow was polite, but he wasn’t very social. The children in the area however knew that sometimes, if they were good and asked before they drew on his sidewalk with chalk, they might get some homemade cookies…
Padding barefoot to the door, Eliot became curious when he saw the clear outline of Nate through the frosted glass. He opened the door and made no pretense at politeness.
“What do you want?”
“Hello to you too Spence.”
“Spence?”
Nate shrugged.
Seeing as how the other man wasn’t about to leave, Eliot stepped aside to let his boss in. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw the appreciative look Nate threw around the well furnished living space.
“What can I do for you Nate?”
“To be honest…I just didn’t want to be alone tonight. Do you mind some company for a while?”
“Uh…no, I guess not. I’m um…in the kitchen though.”
“Need any help?” The offer was made with wide, guileless eyes.
Warning bells went off in Eliot’s head. If Nate saw him cooking, would he know who’d been leaving things for him? “Nah, no help, but I could use the company.”
Nate’s grin was disarming and Eliot turned toward the kitchen.
“What’re you making?”
“Indian Spiced Brownies”
“Indian Spice?”
“Yup.”
Nate sat at the kitchen island, peering at the mixer. With one finger, he swiped a bit of batter off of the beater and licked the digit clean.
Eliot sprayed the square baking pan with cooking spray, trying to hide a grin while he waited for Nate’s response.
Eyes opened wide and Nate quickly grabbed a glass and filled it with water, draining it.
“It’s not as bad when it’s cooked.”
Nate coughed a bit, drinking another glass of water. “You could have warned a guy.”
“That’d take all the fun out of it.”
Once the batter was in the pan, Eliot tapped it on the counter. At seeing Nate’s curious look, he explained “To get the air bubbles out. You want brownies to be really dense.”
Nate nodded and kept watching. “I can’t imagine that comes standard in the box.”
“No…it’s my own twist.”
“Oh?”
Eliot nodded but said nothing as he put the pan into the oven which had been preheated to 425.
“How do you make it?”
Pondering, Eliot shrugged. “It’s a little different each time. But not by much, just by brand. Like, this brand of brownies only needs melted butter and an egg. So I put the spices in with the melted butter and follow the directions from there.”
“What if the mix was made with oil and water?”
“Mix the batter according to directions and add the spices directly to the batter, mix it well and bake as directed.”
Nate smiled and nodded. “So, do you cook often?”
Was that a leading question? He studied Nate’s face for a moment and saw nothing but open curiosity and friendliness there. “It helps me relax and unwind.”
“I bet you’re good at it.”
“Relaxing?”
Nate chuckled and smiles. “No, cooking.”
Eliot shrugged. “I haven’t killed anyone with it yet.”
“So you cook for other people?”
Now that was a leading question. And it was only handled one way. “Hey, wanna share a joint?”
“Do you even smoke pot?”
Eliot blinked at him.
“Do you even know where to get any?”
A timer buzzed and Eliot was in motion. “Time to make the sauce.” Oh God, please let him get distracted by sauce.
“Sauce?”
“Yeah, caramel sauce. Can’t have Indian Spiced Brownies without caramel sauce and coconut sorbet.”
“Eliot?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re seriously ruining your manly vibe.”
“Tell me that the next time I take six gunman down at once.”
“You have a point.”
“I usually do.”
Eliot pulled out an aluminum pot and added one cup of sugar and heated it over moderately high heat. He stirred it occasionally with a wooden spoon, waiting until it turned a caramel color.
Nate smiled as he watched. He had to admit, Eliot was a very handsome man and watching him in the kitchen reaffirmed Nate’s knowledge. Eliot was the one who had been leaving meals in his apartment. He still wasn’t sure how he wanted to handle the knowledge. The whispered promise of home cooking in exchange for less drinking was looking more and more tempting.
When the sugar came to a boil Eliot stopped stirring and swirled the pan a bit. When it had turned an even darker color, more amber than caramel, he added the butter and whisked until it was melted. Once the butter melted he pulled the pan off the heat and added the cream very slowly and continued to whisk. The mixture bubbled somewhat violently, but it didn’t faze Eliot at all.
“It smells good,” Nate said with a smile.
“Thanks. It’s not hard to make.”
“I couldn’t even begin to make it.”
“I bet I could teach you.”
“You think so?”
Eliot nodded. He brought out a small mason jar and poured the somewhat cooled caramel sauce into it just as a timer went off. Grabbing a pot holder, he pulled the brownies out and Nate couldn’t help but admit the exotic smell was intoxicating.
“I’m curious to see how you’re going to pull this together.”
Eliot only smiled and pulled out a pint of coconut sorbet, then went to a cabinet and pulled out two plates and got two spoons. He returned to the island and pulled a cake server from a drawer next to him.
He cut two generous squares from the pan and put them on plates, then added a generous scoop of the coconut sorbet on top of each one. He then took the caramel sauce and drizzled it back and forth over the brownie and the sorbet. He pushed a plate in front of Nate and handed him a spoon and waited.
Nate nodded as he looked at his plate. “It’s actually very appealing to look at.”
“We eat with our eyes first.”
Remembering the bite of the batter, Nate made sure to get a bit of sorbet and the caramel sauce along with the brownie. Taking a deep breath, he put the spoon into his mouth and expected the worst.
What he got was a complete surprise. Heat applied to the batter had indeed mellowed the bite of the cayenne, and it was more of a background element. The chocolate was accentuated by a smokiness, and the cinnamon was easily identifiable and enhanced the cocoa flavor. When the bite of the cayenne started to kick in even more, the coconut sorbet came in to cool things down, while the caramel provided a very tasty (and tasteful) bridge for the two.
“Wow,” was all Nate could say.
Eliot ducked his head to hide his suddenly shy smile. His hair fell, obscuring his face from Nate’s view. What happened next was so unexpected that he didn’t know how to react.
Nate reached over and with a gentle hand, tucked a lock of hair behind Eliot’s ear. “That smile is something you should never hide.”
The men smiled at each other.
~end~
Indian Spice Brownies
They can be prepared differently depending on your particular brand. If the brand is just mix, oil, water, egg, then mix the batter and end the spice mixture at the end. Make sure it’s well mixed. You do NOT want to get a huge clump of the spice mixture.
If you’re using a mix that requires melted butter, add the spice mixture to the melted butter so the heat can enhance the flavors.
Spice Mixture: 1 tbsp cinnamon, quarter tsp allspice, half tsp cumin, quarter tsp turmeric, quarter tsp ground cayenne. With the spice mixture, you should smell the cinnamon first, then the allspice. Combine the spice mixture with the batter as described above and bake as directed for your particular brand.
Caramel Sauce
1 cup of sugar
6 tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
To make the sauce, just follow Eliot’s steps and you’ll be golden. You don’t even need a candy thermometer. :)