Infusapalooza

From the moment the Arancello infusion became a thought, I already knew I had to add it to a chocolate cake recipe.
One day, Mr.Infusapalooza went to work and left me on my own to relax for a whole day, and so I naturally grew a huge craving for chocolate and alcohol! However, this craving struck on a day where we did not have any eggs in the house, and so I hunted down a base recipe for egg-free brownies......great result for the high-craving, too-lazy-to-shop egg-less home, as well as those poor unfortunate souls with egg allergies! 

For those of you who have been following my recent tweets; yes, I am still on a 'diet', yes, I have joined the gym, no, this is not diet-approved, nor is it remotely diet-friendly, and so yes, I will be in the gym a little bit more this week to prevent this little piece of heaven going straight to my hips! No lectures allowed, this was all for the good of Infusapalooza readers! 

So, guilt aside, and egg issue resolved, you guys are most definitely in for a treat!
This recipe is pretty damn good if I do say so myself, though I suppose I can't really take all of the credit, as I just jazzed up the original recipe that I found here.

Here's what you will need to make this bad boy: 

2 Cups of Self Raising Flour
Half Cup of Water
Half Cup of Arancello
1 Cup of Muscovado Dark Brown Sugar
1 Cup of Light Brown Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 Cup Oil
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Cup of Arancello Leftover Orange Rind

Arancello Buttercream Ingredients
2oz Butter, softened
4oz Icing Sugar (Plus more to add in, if the Aranello thins it too much!)
30ml - Arancello (I actually made a mistake here, it should have only been 15ml for this quantity, but as it tasted super boozy-licious, I've left the measurements as they are, if you want the orange flavour, but not quite a hit, stick to 15ml of Arancello)
Leftover Arancello Orange Rind, to decorate


Let's Get Baking!
Begin by boiling the kettle, and measuring out the half cup of water required, and add to a pan, over a low heat.

Pour in the Arancello and add just half a cup of the flour. Use a whisk to mix well and remove all of the lumps of flour. Work quickly to prevent the mixture thickening too much. I took the pan away from the heat a few times to allow me the time to mix thoroughly. It looked a little bit like mashed potato when it was ready, but with a sticky dough-like consistency. Leave this to cool whilst you work on the next steps.

Mix the sugars, vanilla extract, cocoa, and oil in a separate bowl. I used an electric mixer at this stage, but if you've got a good set of muscles, you'll be fine mixing by hand.

Now, add the Arancello infused mashed 'potato'-esque dough to this bowl, then slowly but firmly mix and blend these together. It will begin to smell pretty good by the end of this stage.

Slowly add in the remaining flour, baking powder, and orange rind, bit by bit.
If you wanted to add nuts or chocolate drops to your brownies, then now is the time to do this!

I lined a 9"x9" tin with greaseproof paper, and baked this in a preheated oven at 180oC (350oF/Gas Mark 4) for 25minutes, though I did then give it another 5-10minutes to crisp up a little. The extra time adds a crunchy edge to your brownie, so if you prefer a soft, gooey brownie, then just stick to 25minutes.

Bring out the cake, and leave to cool on a wire rack.

To make the lovely boozed-injected buttercream, begin by sifting the icing sugar in to the softened butter until you have a thick buttercream. Pour in the Arancello a little at a time, and mix well to complete. If the cake is still cooling, pop the buttercream in to the fridge to keep cool in the meantime.

When ready, smooth the icing over the top of the brownie, and decorate with the vodka soaked orange rind.

Now, admire it's beauty for a moment or two, take a photo of your wonderful work.......and dig in!!
You'll get 16 pieces out of this if you operate good portion controls, however, this has currently only been feeding Mr.Infusapalooza, and I, on a "I'll just have one more bite" basis, so it's hard to now say how many this should have served!

See you again next time!