White Chocolate and Raspberry Blondies

I fancied baking something a little different to the traditional brownie, after scrawling through cook books and the internet I found blondies. A white chocolate alternative to brownies. These delicious brownies are simple to make, super tasty and a hit with all your friends and family. There are so many different recipes out there but I decided to go for the White Chocolate and Raspberry one. Still naughty but surely the raspberries make it super healthy!?!?

Ingredients
200g   Plain Flour
200g   Unsalted butter
150g   White chocolate (broken)
150g   Caster sugar
150g   Fresh raspberries
100g   White chocolate (finely chopped)
3          Large eggs
1/2tsp  Vanilla extract
1/2tsp  Baking powder

Method
1. In a heatproof bowl place, the broken chocolate and butter. Put the heat proof over a pan of steaming water and let it melt gently, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2. Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl until frothy. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat thoroughly until the mixture is mouse like.

3. Mix in the chocolate mixture.

4. Sift the baking power and flour into the mixture and fold in. Stir in the chopped white chocolate.

5. Place the mixture into a lined tin and ensure it is evenly spread. Scatter the fresh raspberries over the mixture.

6. Put into the oven at 180 degrees for around 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out almost clean. Allow to cool before cutting.

The masterpiece pre-baking

The finished product

Why don't you give this mouth-watering recipe a go and send me the pictures of your blondie attempts!

Will I ever be the next star baker...

I do not claim to be he Great British Bake Off's next star baker, but I am a lover of baking anything sweet and sickly. Whether it be cakes, brownies or cookies; I adore baking anything that will give me a sugar rush. Unfortunately, minus cookies, my baking attempts usually fail! It would be safe to say I'm better at cooking than baking, but that won't stop me! A weekly bake is fun and can be a great way to relax.

I like baking different things and trying things that are new or a craze. Google and blogs are a great source for finding new recipes. However my favourite baking recipes are in "The Cookie Book" brought for me by my lesser half for Christmas. It has over 200 recipes for cookies, biscuits, bars and brownies. I think he was hinting he wanted me to bake more cookies as they are his favourite. That and the cookie cutters from my mum, I'm sensing a trend.

In my opinion cookies and brownies need to be slightly under baked, so gooey and soft in the middle and the more chocolate the better.

Unfortunately, I lack the finesse of decorating cupcakes, they always look like they've been decorated by a small child, but they always taste good! This is my downfall as its true you really do eat with your eyes. Some of my baking efforts can be seen below (excuse the cupcakes!):

Green and Lilac Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes
(I know JARG isn't a word! It's the initials of my family!)

Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Cookies

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Crème Egg Brownies

(The recipe I used for this can be found in my previous blog here: http://fallingjess.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/creme-egg-brownies-do-they-live-up-to.html)

With Valentines day quickly approaching and Mother's Day just around the corner (Sunday 30th March) why not treat your loved one to a baking course. You can find many courses online, I've done a little research for you and a few companies offering courses are shown below:

• Squires Kitchen
  Many courses starting from 27th February through to the end of the year, all suitable for beginners. Prices starting from £125.00
  http://www.squires-school.co.uk/courses/topic/cookery/limit:16
•  Cinnamon Square
  Winner of the home counties round on ITV's Britain's Best Bakery are offering many Masterclasses from cupcakes to macaron, chocolate to pastries. Prices starting from £66.67http://www.cinnamonsquare.com/masterclasses.html
• Newlyns Farm Shop
  Offering many courses including cakes and tray bakes with prices starting from £135.00http://www.newlyns-farmshop.co.uk/book-a-course/

I hope this little blog will make you hungry, inspire you to bake or if like me feel motivated to attend a baking course. If it has share with me your baking efforts, recipes and tips.

Creme egg brownies, do they live up to the hype?

Well there was only one way to find out, in the words of Great British Bake Off's (or GBBO as us fans called it!) Mel and Sue... BAAAKKKKEEE!

I was thrown into the madness of this Easter delight by a friend who lacks baking skills (sorry JB!) and was intrigued by this sweet treat. She bombarded me with this recipe http://scarletscorchdroppers.com/2013/03/12/creme-egg-brownies/ (many other's are available online) and gave me no choice of a healthier bake, even though we were both "healthy eating" (it has eggs in it right?). As a result we popped out and got the necessary ingredient's from Sainsbury's (other supermarkets are available!).

My Advice

1. Follow the recipe to the gram - no free styling!

2. Bake your brownie so it's still gooey and delicious in the middle

3. Freeze your mini crème eggs - I've heard on the grapevine this avoids them melting and leaves them with a gooey, soft yolk effect centre

4. If you have a sweet tooth and hate waiting around, speed up the baking process and make use of the marvellous invention called the freezer!

5. Cut them small - they are far too sickly!

The Baking Process

The finished result:

In my opinion they lived up to the Easter hype and were far tastier than I expected. If you lack a sweet tooth avoid at all costs as this is a recipe designed to make you teeth rot.

If you give this particular bake a go why not share you opinions and pictures on my blog!