Friday 10 February 2012

Blondies and Brownies In One

What shall I make this weekend…Cake or biscuits? Pie or tart? Delicate mini meringues or generous billowing pavlova?Such are the decisions faced by baking bloggers. Flavours are another decision to be made – nuts, fruit, spices, citrus, white chocolate, dark chocolate? Well, worry and dither no more as my bake today solves this last decision. Phew. ;)DSCF8939 Instead of having to choose between sweet white chocolate blondies or classic, rich dark chocolate brownies – combine the two. Even better, combine the two using heart-shaped cut-outs. Why? Just because you can, because its cute, because it’s nearly Valentine’s Day and because these are my entry to English Mum’s Valentines Day Baked With Love Bakeoff.

Baked-with-Love-Bakeoff-200px

I have embraced Valentine’s baking before but I didn’t last year so it felt good to be back with all things heart shaped, although I drew the line at pink or glitter this year. I’ve had this recipe from Smitten Kitchen bookmarked for a year, but this was finally the excuse I needed to bake them. I’ve tried blondies before but it’s always really hard to find a good recipe that lets the white chocolate shine, so I was keen to give this recipe a go. As I was making them I wasn’t convinced there was enough chocolate involved (you can never have too much!) so I added chocolate chunks as well and it was definitely worth it – they added bursts of chocolate flavour and caramelised slightly which was delicious. Both the brownie and blondie recipes worked very well, particularly the brownie which stayed really moist and fudgy. DSCF8933Some of my blondies ended up being a bit small for the heart cutter, so I used my smallest circle instead. It was quite a delicate process swapping the brownie circle centres as they were so moist, and it was definitely easier with the bigger hearts. Overall though they turned out really well – quite the treat! The combination of blondie and brownie at once was intriguing as the two chocolates worked really well together. DSCF8934I know the amounts in the recipe are a bit strange, (the recipe was converted from American measurements and then halved) but if you have a digital scale then it should be no problem. It makes a small batch of 12 finished combined brownies as well, so if you’re feeding a crowd definitely double it. I’ve just put the amounts once, so just switch the chocolate after you’ve made the first batch.  I’m thinking these could work with any other cut-out shape for other times of year: pumpkin cutters at Halloween, Christmas trees at Christmas etc etc. For now, embrace the slightly cheesy aspect of this idea, and enjoy!

Blondie and Brownie Hearts, adapted from Smitten Kitchen

80g chopped white chocolate, split into 45g and 35g
56g butter
88g sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
smidge of salt
40g plain flour

1. Preheat the oven to 180’C. Line a 8x8inch square tin. You will not fill the whole tin, so screw up some tin foil and place it in the tin to prevent the brownie mixture eventually spreading into a thin layer across the whole pan.

2.Melt the 43g of white chocolate and butter together in a bowl, over a saucepan of boiling water.

3. Take off the heat and whisk in the sugar (the mixture will look like it really wont work at this stage – carry on!). Whisk in the egg and vanilla and then finally fold in the flour, salt and remaining 57g of white chocolate chunks.

4. Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake for 15 minutes. Cut the brownies into six even squares (judge the sizes compared to your cutter – ensure there will be a decent border around the cut-out) and leave to cool. Use a heart cutter to cut a heart out of the centre of each brownie.

5. Repeat the whole recipe from step 1, but using dark chocolate throughout instead of white chocolate.

5. Put blondie hearts in brownie gaps and vice versa. Embrace the cute factor and enjoy!

17 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Terrific! I am a sucker for both bars, so those would be for me.

Cheers,

Rosa

Kezia said...

That is the most original valentines baking idea I've come across yet - l love it!

La Table De Nana said...

Are they sweet or what?
Love the idea of combining both Lucy..and the hearts win me over:)
Happy Valentine's to you~

Jo said...

Brilliant idea! This has got to be the ultimate brownie experience.

Lauren @ Pass the Plate said...

These are adorable! I love the combination, because sometimes it really is too hard to decide...also, these are just perfect for Valentine's Day!

Jo said...

Hi! Just letting you know that I've nominated you for a Liebster Blog Award. It's for blogs with less than 200 followers but I couldn't find your followers list on your page so I'm nominating you anyway as I like you blog!

The info is on my page: http://whatdoyoumakeofmycake.blogspot.com/2012/02/liebster-award.html

Lynne Daley said...

What lovely little heart brownies! They look delicious! Have a wonderful day in my favorite country to visit!

Dewi said...

Superb idea! two delicious combo in one bite :)

The Caked Crusader said...

Great idea - and no waste!

Faith said...

This is such an adorable idea! I'm a big fan of both so this is definitely right up my alley!

paulaannryan said...

They look delicious! Great idea!

English Mum said...

Yummers! And what a gorgeous idea too. Good luck in the bakeoff Lucy :)

Fancy Vintage said...

Oh my word, these look amazing, will have to learn to cook a little better, your blog has inspired me!
Becca

My Kitchen Antics said...

i love blondies, esp the butterscotch ones but havent made thm in a while..this looks yummmeee

Choc Chip Uru said...

These look amazing and it is very nice to meet you and your wonderful baking blog - I am a 16 yr old Australian and I am loving the blogging world :D
HAppy baking!!

Cheers
Choc Chip Uru

Slacker Saver said...

These are really cute! I pretty much can't think of a reason to make blondies when there's the option of brownies, but this might be enough to get me to do both. I'll think of a time to use this swapping out idea.

Lauralovescakes said...

This is such a good idea...something a little bit different and they look so cute! :-)