Cakes & Bakes: Toasted coconut & white chocolate blondies

We have a lovely glass cake dome which usually sits on the dining room windowsill. Normally, it houses a tasty treat to accompany our afternoon cuppa, but it’s been empty for about 2 weeks now… and there’s nothing worse than an empty cake dome. A tray of these delicious toasted coconut & white chocolate blondie was the perfect quick solution to the crisis!

“What’s a ‘blondie’?”, I hear you say. Well, it’s like a brownie but without the addition of cocoa or milk/dark chocolate. It also usually includes brown sugar, but I used white caster sugar so it wouldn’t overpower the flavours of the white chocolate and coconut.

Pre-toasting the dessicated coconut really brings out the nutty flavour – don’t leave out this initial stage. Plus, it makes your kitchen smell heavenly!

The milk chocolate chunks give the blondies a luscious, creamy mouth-feel. You could use a bag of white chocolate chips instead, if you prefer. I like biting into the odd big chunk.

It’s a really delicious treat, and really quick to mix and cook… an hour, tops.

Click here or on the image below to save my toasted coconut & white chocolate blondie recipe to Pinterest

Toasted coconut & white chocolate blondies

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Cook Time 20

Cuisine American

Servings 9 pieces

Equipment

large mixing bowl
wire balloon whisk
rubber spatula
20cm/8" square cake tin

Ingredients

115 g salted butter softened
150 g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
135 g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
100 g white chocolate roughly chopped
75 g dessicated coconut

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
Grease & line a 20cm/8" square cake tin with parchment paper
In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet pan add the dessicated coconut and shake to level out. Put the pan in the oven for about 3 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven and give the contents a stir and shake to level out again. Keep doing this until the coconut is uniformly golden brown. Set aside to cool. You could do this step on a stove-top using a wok or other steep-sided pan
In a large mixing bowl and using a wire balloon whisk, cream the butter & caster sugar until light and fluffy
Add the egg and whisk until fully incorporated
Mix in the vanilla extract
Sift over the plain flour and baking powder. Fold in using the spatula
Stir in the white chocolate and cooled, toasted dessicated coconut until well mixed in
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level out using the spatula or the back of a spoon. Make sure to push the blondie dough into the corners
Bake for 20 minutes, until the top turns a lovely golden brown
Remove from the oven and leave the blondie in the tin for 5 minutes. Lift the blondie (still in the parchment paper) and allow to cool completely on a wire rack
Slice the blondie into 9 equal sized squares

Toasted coconut & white chocolate blondies ingredients

Keyword blondies, chocolate, coconut

Cakes & Bakes: Mint triple chocolate brownies

Mint isn’t my favourite flavour, the only way I like to eat it is with chocolate. You’d immediately think of After Eights, but they can be sickly sweet. My mint triple chocolate brownies recipe is much more refined.

The recipe doesn’t need a huge amount of added sugar, the dark chocolate – and the white chocolate especially – are sweet enough to start with.

The inclusion of pure cocoa powder (the kind I use is un-Dutched, but it’s not necessary for this recipe) adds even more of a chocolate depth of flavour.

If you don’t have a few heat-proof bowls that fit perfectly over saucepans of simmering water, you can always ‘pulse’ the chocolate in a microwave to get it to melt without burning.

Mint extract is powerful stuff, so you only need a smidgen – less than a teaspoonful to 100 grams of the white chocolate.

To ensure that your stripes are level and defined, keep the brownie in the baking tin as you add each layer. And give each stage time to cool and/or set completely before adding the next one on top.

After a couple of days – if you still have any left – the brownie layer may begin to get a little dry. Simply serve it warmed up with a side of ice cream or pouring cream.

Click here or on the image below to save my recipe to Pinterest

Mint triple chocolate brownies

2020-11-26 11:48:49

Serves 9

For the brownie layer

175g/6oz butter
175g/6oz soft brown sugar
75g/2½oz dark chocolate, broken up
3 eggs
85g/3oz plain flour, sieved
40g/1½oz cocoa powder

For the mint layer

100g/3½oz white chocolate, broken up
3tbsps double cream
½tsp peppermint extract

For the ganache layer

100g/3½oz dark chocolate, broken up
100g/3½fl oz double cream

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350ºF/Gas mark 4

For the brownie layer

Grease & line a 20cm/8" square cake tin with parchment paper
Melt the dark chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of just simmering water (making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't come into contact with the water)
Stir to incorporate until the chocolate is completely melted and free of any lumps
In another, larger mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and brown sugar together well
Mix in the chocolate mixture
Sieve together the flour and cocoa powder and fold into the mixture
Pour the batter into the lined baking tin
Cook for 15-20 minutes or until just baked
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool, still in its tin

For the mint layer

Melt the white chocolate and double cream together in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of just simmering water (making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't come into contact with the water). Stir to incorporate until the chocolate is completely melted and free of any lumps
Stir in the mint extract
Pour the mixture on to the brownie and spread evenly over the top with the help of a small offset palette knife
Put the tin into the fridge and allow the mint layer to firm up

For the ganache layer

Melt the dark chocolate and double cream together in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of just simmering water (making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't come into contact with the water). Stir to incorporate until the chocolate is completely melted and free of any lumps
Once the mint layer has set, pour the ganache over and spread evenly with a small offset palette knife

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Vegan, gluten-free brownies

These vegan, gluten-free brownies were one of the sweet treats (the other was vegan, gluten-free shortbread) that I took to my last Women’s Institute meeting.

The original recipe used coconut oil as the shortening ingredient; however, I had some remaining Trex that I’d used for the shortbread. I don’t think it detracted from the taste. In addition, I didn’t have a lemon to add to my soya milk to make the buttermilk; instead, I used lime. If you have neither, a tablespoon of white wine or cider vinegar will suffice.

The resulting brownies were rich, chocolaty, gooey and sweet with that lovely crackle top that brownies should always have. They were so sweet, in fact, that I’d reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe – perhaps down to 300 grams.

I brought the few portions that hadn’t been eaten by the ladies back home. I had one of them the following night, reheated in the microwave and a generous amount of thick cream dolloped on top. It was lovely!

Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest

Vegan, gluten-free brownies

2020-01-22 16:22:23

Serves 16

Total Time

50 min

Total Time

50 min

Ingredients

275g/9¾oz gluten-free plain flour
85g/3oz cocoa powder
400g/14oz granulated sugar
1½tsp baking powder
½tsp salt
1tbsp instant coffee granules
240ml/8½fl oz vegan buttermilk (1 tbsp lemon juice + soya milk up to the 240ml/8½fl oz line
240ml/8½fl oz vegan block margarine (e.g. Trex), melted
1tsp vanilla extract
150g/5¼oz dark chocolate, roughly chopped

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to 180°C/ 350°F/Gas mark 4
Line a 9-inch square baking tin with parchment paper
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and cocoa powder
Add in the sugar, baking powder, salt and coffee powder and mix together
Add the vegan buttermilk, melted margarine and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl and mix into a thick batter
Add the chocolate chunks and stir in
Transfer the batter to your prepared baking dish and smooth down with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 40 minutes
Allow them to cool in the tin for 15 minutes and then lift the tray of brownies out by the parchment paper
Place it onto a wire rack and allow the brownies to cool completely before cutting. If they’re still warm when you slice them, they're more difficult to cut
To cut, heat up a kitchen knife by dipping it in very hot water (from the kettle), dry it off with a towel and slice from one end to the other. After each cut, dip the knife back into the hot water, dry it off again and repeat. This allows you to cut perfect squares and also melts the chocolate along the edges as you cut the squares

Notes

Serve as is, on their own, warm or cold, with vegan cream or vegan ice cream

Adapted from Loving It Vegan

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/