#mochiko

1/2c (1 stick) butter, softened

1c white sugar

1/2-1 tsp doubanjiang, or spicy/fermented long bean paste. I was generous here, but I should've used a full tablespoon

1tsp vanilla

2 eggs

8oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped and divided. I...may have used the wrong amount of chocolate here. Hm.

1/2c milk (I used half and half)

1c sweet rice flour or mochiko (Most grocery store rice flour is not the same; you need the mochiko or sticky rice flour for this recipe)

20g Dutch process cocoa (this is what makes it "red velvet")

10g beet powder (I left this out; it may add some additional depth and umami, but it's mostly a colorant)

red food coloring (optional; I left it out) (Red Velvet cakes traditionally don't use food coloring; it's the Dutch cocoa plus buttermilk (or some kind of acid) that gives it a red color and makes it different from an ordinary chocolate cake. This recipe skips the buttermilk/acid, so it's really not *true* red velvet to begin with, but honestly who cares)

oven to 350 with a rack in the middle; line an 8x8 pan with parchment

Cream together butter and sugar, then add the doubanjiang and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, mixing to incorporate after each one.

Melt half the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler.

Okay, so you know how I said brownie recipes should be finicky? Yeah. I object a bit to using the chocolate Iike this; the recipe says to mix the melted chocolate and milk into the batter, but do you know what happens when melted chocolate hits cold ingredients? You get stracciatella. This is probably mostly user error; but if you don't let the chocolate cool completely, you may end up with a mess. If I make this again, I'm melting some butter with the chocolate, or I'm mixing some of the sugar and butter into it to temper it before adding to the rest of the batter.

Okay. Chocolate and milk added!

Sift the rice flour, cocoa powder, and beet powder together, and mix gently into the wet ingredients with a spatula. Fold in the remaining chocolate, pour into prepared pan, and bake for 50-60 minutes.