Raspberry and White Chocolate Blondies

, from Issue #66. May, 2016
Photography by Manja Wachsmuth.
Raspberry and White Chocolate Blondies

These moist white chocolate and tart raspberry blondies get topped with a dollop of mascarpone and freeze-dried raspberries for a delicious treat.

INGREDIENTS

100 grams white chocolate, roughly chopped (Whittaker’s 28% Cocoa White Chocolate)
100 grams butter, diced
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon mixed spice pinch salt
2 large eggs, size 7
½ cup caster sugar
finely grated zest 1 orange
1½ cups frozen raspberries
To assemble
200 grams mascarpone freeze-dried raspberries

purchased raspberry coulis, optional 

METHOD

Grease 8 holes of a 1⁄2-cup capacity “brownie bites” tin or similar size cake tins and line the bases with baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Melt the chocolate, butter and vanilla in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Don’t let the base of the pan touch the water. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Cool for 10 minutes.

Combine the flour, baking powder, mixed spice and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk the eggs into the luke-warm chocolate then whisk in the sugar and orange zest until smooth.

Tip on to the dry ingredients and gently but thoroughly stir together, ensuring there are no pockets of flour in the batter.

Divide between the tins, then evenly scatter the frozen raspberries on top.

Bake for about 18 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Cool for a couple minutes then run a small palette knife around the inside edge of each brownie. Remove and place on a cooling rack and cool completely. The brownies tend to stick if cooled in the tins.

To serve: Top with a dollop of mascarpone and crumble over the raspberries. Serve the coulis in a jug, if using. Makes 8 

Cook's tip: Don’t stir the mascarpone or it will become too thin to spread over the brownies.