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Raspberry Pomegranate Urfa-Biber Brownies

My partner, Dave, wanted to make brownies last night.

“Fine,” I said. “Make them with urfa-biber!”

Urfa-biber is our latest thrilling spice discovery. It’s a Turkish pepper, spicy and just extraordinarily flavorful. The literature all says that it tastes a bit like raisins, and I tend to agree. It has that depth of fruitiness to it, as well as a fair amount of spicy heat. We are both blown away by it, and we have been using it in such great quantities over the last few weeks that we will have to go out and buy more soon.

“Urfa-biber and raspberry, then,” said Dave. I tried to insist that he put in some pomegranate molasses as well, but he thought it would be redundant, what with the raspberry liquor. But when the raspberry just wasn’t enough, he gave in and added the pomegranate molasses after all.

These brownies are goopy! Do not expect them to solidify past something resembling a very soft fudge. Perfect with Cherry Garcia ice cream, though, or just a cup of milk. They pack a hell of a punch, tart and fruity and richly chocolate with a slow burn coming in at the end, and I will definitely be making them again.


Raspberry Pomegranate Urfa-Biber Brownies
(adapted from an Alice Medrich recipe)
6 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate
6 tbsp butter
1 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp raspberry liquor
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 1/2 tbsp urfa-biber
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C all-purpose flour

Preheat your oven to 350º.

Combine the chocolate, butter, and sugar in a double boiler until about 150º. Remove from heat, and stir in the urfa-biber, raspberry liquor, pomegranate molasses and salt. Stir in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the flour, and beat with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula for a minute or two, until thick and glossy.

Butter and flour a 9″ square baking pan. Pour in the batter.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Cool, cut into squares, and eat.

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20 Responses to “Raspberry Pomegranate Urfa-Biber Brownies”

  1. Lydia says:

    Urfa-biber is new to me. Does it go by another name that we might have seen? I will search for this for my pantry, because these brownies look too good to pass up!

  2. Danielle says:

    Lydia – I can’t think of anything quite like it. Maybe use some other chili, and puree raisins?

  3. Demetri says:

    Wow that recipe sounds awesome. I don’t like chocolate or sweets generally but I think I would like the contrast with the urfa biber.
    I live in NYC and luckily we have a few spice shops around here that have great selections. If you’re in the area you can pick up urfa biber at kalustyans. They also have a website but I’m not sure how much the shipping would be (standard UPS so you may want to buy a few pounds worth of spices for it to be worth it).
    http://www.kalustyans.com/

  4. Danielle says:

    Demetri – Kalustyan’s is where we do most of our spice shopping, too. Have you noticed that the tea section upstairs has improved lately? I love that store.

  5. Brilynn says:

    Wow! They definitely look fudgy. I’ve never heard of the urfa-biber before, I’m going to have to search for it next time I’m in the city.

  6. What a great post, I have never heard of brownies like this before… or ufra biber for that matter!

  7. Tanna says:

    Urfa-Biber is new to me, now I’ll be looking. Chiles and chocolate seem to do good things for each other. The brownies do look goopy as you photo shows well and they look and sound like I wish I had one!

  8. GTO says:

    Oh my God, I can’t stop looking at them. Stacked like that, they look like they’re starting to melt into each other.

    Here’s a picture of Urfer-Biber, if anyone is intersted in what it looks like in it’s ground flake state.

    http://www.globalpalate.com/i/gp1205/tn_urfa3can1.JPG

  9. mr.ed says:

    These brownies appear to be a religious experience. How apt for the coming week. Thanks, and on to Kalustyan’s website for urfa bibber.

  10. Jason says:

    This stuff sounds a lot like “aleppo pepper”, actually. Earthy, raisiny, fruity, even from the same part of the world. The U-B sounds maybe a bit hotter than the A-P. If I try this, maybe I’ll add juuuust a touch of cayenne along with the A-P.

  11. Danielle says:

    Right. In the next round of Blogging by Mail, I’ll be mailing urfa-biber to someone, definitely.

  12. Barbara says:

    I used the urfa-bibber in Dorie Greenspan’s molasses spice cookies instead of black pepper, and it made a lovely addition. It was less obtrusive than I imagined.

    On another note, maybe the couple who came up with “kittversary” and “aptiversary” (or their friends) can come up with an alternative to “mother-in-law” or “mother-in-law-to-be” (under the circumstances, this could be a long engagement…).

  13. alex says:

    oh yeah, these are good
    I used pomegranate liquor instead of raspberry, and I kind of spilled my pomegranate molasses in, so they’re very pomegranatey, but I like the pomegranate/spicyness
    They also appear to fit my brownie criteria that they should never actually completely set, but I might have used more chocolate as I was hacking off big chunks to weigh in grams

  14. kim says:

    seriously, other than sugar, flour, eggs, chocolate, and salt – i have no idea where to find all that other stuff and I have seriously gone to this website to look at these brownies like 10 times now. DAMN IT! I cant even imagine in what ISLE I would find that stuff. Imagine if all you had to shop at was a VONS …

  15. kim says:

    ok. my urfa-biber and pom molases came in the mail today! so im making the brownies tonight!

  16. Danielle says:

    alex – Oh, they didn’t completely set for us, either. That’s just how I like them.

    kim – I love hearing about your progress towards making these! Keep me posted on how they turn out, please!

  17. kim says:

    so i made them and they are pretty spicy! they were gooood! but mine were a lot thinner so next time i gotta use a smaller pan!

  18. [...] Grab The Recipe! Raspberry Pomegranate Urfa-Biber Brownies [...]

  19. ace says:

    Urfa biber also goes by the name isot. Jason is correct in noticing their similarity to the “aleppo pepper” – they are geographically nearby and reportedly look similar to each other. Wouldn’t bet on finding a good substitute, but I bet you can mail-order isot from almost anywhere. If I were forced into using a substitute, I’d use Aji colorado peppers.

  20. kiva says:

    I found something called ‘pul biber’ from Turkey, also called
    Gida Ürünleri. The texture looks the same as the picture of
    urfa biber but is more red. Does anyone know if this will work
    okay for the recipe?
    I live in Prague, so international spices are hard to find.

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