Brown sugar and vanilla for a caramelised blondie base, swirled with raspberry jam and studded with cherries, almond extract and flaked almonds for a cherry Bakewell twist
Total time to make : 45 minutes
Time to prepare : 15 minutes
Time to bake : 30 minutes
Servings : 24
Ingredients
180g butter, room temperature
340g light brown sugar
2 eggs
200g plain flour
125g ground almonds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
200g white chocolate chunks or chips
200g raspberry jam (or strawberry, cherry)
150g Kirsch cherries, drained*
100g flaked almonds
Method
Preheat a fan oven to 175C and line a 13 x 9" baking tin with non stick baking paper
In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar together until combined
Crack in 2 eggs, mixing one at a time, then add the almond extract
Add in the plain flour, ground almonds and salt and fold through until it's just mixed through. Add in the white chocolate chunks or chips and stir again to distribute evenly. It should be a thick, heavy batter
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and use a spatula to spread and level it out
Dollop the raspberry jam randomly over the base and use a knife or fork to swirl it through the batter. Press the whole cherries into the batter with clean fingers so that eat 'bite' will have at least one cherry in! Scatter the flaked almonds over the top
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, removing from the oven when the almonds are toasted, the edges are starting to turn golden and the centre is just set, they will firm up once cooled
Wait until blondies are completely cooled (I keep mine in the fridge for at least 2 hours) before using a sharp clean knife to slice
Nutritional Information
(per slice, including topping)
280 calories
4g protein, 34g carbs, 14g fat
Good to know:
If you can't find jarred Kirsch cherries - usually in the dessert aisle, by the tinned fruit - you can use other jarred, frozen and thawed cherries or fresh, de-stoned if they're in season. Make sure they're 'drained' if using the ones in kirsch (my favourite) or any other liquid as this will affect the bake
Unlike regular cakes where a 'clean skewer' test is often done to test if they're baked through, brownies and blondies have quite a wet batter so even when they're ready to come out the oven, a skewer won't always come out clean
The wet batter is also why it's best to wait until completely cooled before slicing, otherwise the centre of the blondies will spill out
Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days
Vegetarian