Monday 15 September 2014

Blueberry Bakewell Blondies

Frequent flyers will be more than aware of my love of the traditional bakwell flavour. There's just something about the heady perfume of toasty almonds and sweet jammy fruit that I find so darn irresistible. This time I've bakewelled up some white chocolate blondies, using blueberries and just a dash of vanilla extract to add another aromatic dimension. You can try other fruits if blueberries don't float your boat, such as tart blackberries, the classic cherries or even plums. Just make sure they are nice and ripe.

You may or may not agree, but often recipes with a 'twist' can often seem a rather daunting prospect. I assure you though that this one is so very easy. Aside from melting some white chocolate and butter, the rest is elementary and the spectacular result belies the ease in its preparation. So what are you waiting for?

Prep time: 20 Mins
Baking time: 30-35 Mins
250g White Chocolate (Broken into squares)
150g Unsalted Butter
150g Light Muscovado Sugar
100g Ground Almonds
65g Plain Flour
1/2tsp Vanilla Extract
1tsp Almond Extract
3 Large Eggs (Beaten)
200g Blueberries
A handful of Flaked Almonds

Time to get your bake on. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line a medium, rectangular baking/roasting tin with baking paper. The tin I used was around 28x23cm in size. Melt together 175g of the white chocolate with the butter, either over a bain-marie or in the microwave (if you are confident in your timings), then set to one side to cool slightly. White chocolate does tend to burn quite quickly so I'd certainly advise to keep an eye on it as it is melting.

In a separate bowl rub together the sugar and flour. I rub together as opposed to mix together as I find sometimes brown sugars can be somewhat lumpy, particularly once the air gets to them. Add the melted white chocolate and butter, then mix. Add the extracts and beaten eggs and mix again, this time vigorously until you are left with a smooth, silky batter. There may be a better way to mix these together but this way works for me!

Take about two thirds of the blueberries, toss into the batter and gently fold through. Pour the batter into your prepared tin, scraping any leftover batter from the bowl, then gently even to the edges. Scatter over the rest of the blueberries, followed by the flaked almonds, then bake in the centre of the oven for around 30-35 minutes, until brown on top and a sharp knife or skewer comes out relatively clean, but a little greasy when inserted into the baked blondie batter. If you are happy, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. When the surface of the bake is no more than slightly warm to the touch, melt the rest of the white chocolate (again either over a bain-marie or in the microwave) then drizzle all over the top. Leave to set.

A tip for you now. As the blondies are soft and syrupy in their texture they can prove a challenge when it comes to slicing, so when they are cool I just pop the tin into the fridge for an hour beforehand. This just firms them up slightly and makes slicing them much easier. Speaking of which, remove the giant blondie from the tin, then slice into squares, peeling off any paper as you go. And there you have it, your work is done.

1 comment:

  1. Living just ten miles from Bakewell itself I am always interested to see variations on the theme and I have to say that this sounds gorgeous. As soon as I have unpacked my baking tins I shall give this a try.
    Thanks for the recipe!

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