Pecan & Caramel Blondies

Pecan & Toffee Blondies

What the hell is it with Blondies and Brownies just makes me unable to photograph them well? I mean, nights are setting in so I cracked my lighting kit out for the first time this “Autumn” which didn’t help as I was only starting to get used to it before so now months without practise haven’t been good. I baked this back when Autumn was first starting up. There’d been a chill in the air for about a week or so, with a few cold days on top of the crisp mornings. I welcomed it. Summer is overrated. To quote Brand New (who I was seeing on that Friday)); The time has come for colds, and overcoats. Which is why I’ve made my first vaguely autumnal recipe of the year; Pecan & Caramel Blondies. (Since this I’ve done a ton more and they’ll be coming up over the next few weeks).

Pecan & Toffee Blondies
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Cinnamon & Walnut Buns with Coffee Glaze

Cinnamon & Walnut Buns with Coffee Glaze

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve left my old job. I started my new job (a new shiny role as a Content Marketing Manager at a different agency) this week. My previous job is the one that got me down to London and I’m thankful for that. I met some great people and it gave me more experience to add to what I already had from my time at Epiphany in Leeds. As a farewell I decided to bake them two separate things to remember me by. I opted to re-bake the Caramel Filled Choc Chip Cookies (replacing the Galaxy Caramel with Lindt Salted Caramel, my new fave) and to finally make cinnamon buns again after a long while without trying them. Most of my office is addicted to coffee so making cinnamon buns with a coffee glaze just made sense.
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Chocolate Carrot Nest Cake

Chocolate Carrot Cake Nest

Easter was two weeks ago, and here’s an Easter recipe, what ya gonna do about it? Probably just be less interested, oops. But hey, who says you can’t just bookmark this in preparation for next year? This is also the continuation of my Easter Scotland posts. One of the reasons it is late is because this was actually baked on Easter itself when I was, ya know, busy. It was also a fairly time consuming bake.

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Salted Caramel Brownies

Salted Caramel Brownies

A few weeks ago I took two of my favourite and simplest recipes, and put them together. I took my ultra-indulgent Chocolate Brownies and my Salted Caramel, covered one in the other pre-bake, and made Salted Caramel Brownies. Damn, they are good. Really good. I think I’ve reached peak brownie. They all got eaten before a single photo could even be taken. So I had to re-bake them (such a shame, I know). The trick is to layer half of the brownie mix, then add some caramel, top with the rest of the brownie mix and then enthusiastically drizzle more caramel on top before you stick it in the oven.

Salted Caramel Brownies (25 of 30)

Salted Caramel Brownies (11 of 30)

I’ve also (finally) got myself a new lighting set up. It’s a bit late, as the days are actually getting longer, but it now means I can take photos on an evening without having to rely on pesky yellow light/half light. It’s been particularly awkward since moving to London. I used to take photos on my lunch break in Leeds, but just can’t do that here, what with not being able to come home at lunch anymore.

Salted Caramel Brownies (18 of 30)

Salted Caramel Brownies (22 of 30)

Also, I’m looking for a London based Gin buddy. Applications accepted in the comments below. Must be keen on adventures, museums, gin and cake.

 

Salted Caramel Brownies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 16-24 brownies
Ingredients
  • Jar Salted Caramel (Store bought or home made)
  • 250g unsalted butter
  • 250g best dark chocolate
  • 115g plain flour
  • 53g cocoa powder
  • 4 large eggs
  • 370g golden caster sugar
Instructions
  1. Melt together the butter and dark chocolate, by placing a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of hot water. Making sure that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir the mixture together as it starts to melt, over a low heat. (You can do this stage in the microwave, but I don’t own one). Set the mixture aside to cool to room temperature.
  2. While it is cooling, preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan assisted) and grease/line your tin.
  3. Over a medium sized bowl, sieve the flour and cocoa powder in together.
  4. Roughly chop the white and milk chocolate into chips and set aside.
  5. Break the eggs and caster sugar into the bowl of your electric mixer and whisk on high speed until it looks thick and creamy. This can take anywhere between 3 and 8 minutes. When you take out the paddle, as it dribbles onto the surface and leaves a trail for a second or two then it’s perfect.
  6. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Slowly folding it until it’s completely incorporated. You want them mixed without knocking out all the air you just added in to the mixture with the whisking.
  7. Sift the flour mix into the egg/chocolate mix and mix until it’s completely combined. Again, being careful not to knock the air out. Followed by the chocolate chips.
  8. Pour half the mixture into the prepared tin. Dribble a layer of Salted Caramel (I warm it to make it easier) over the bottom layer. Pour over the rest of the brownie mixture and spread it out gently. Dribble more Salted Caramel on top. How much is up to you.
  9. Place in the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 25 minutes (20 if using the smaller pan). You’ll be able to see if it is done by wobbling the tray slightly. If the middle wobbles it needs a little longer, so put it back in for another 5 minutes.
  10. Once cooked, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack, still in the tin and leave to cool completely before removing and dividing in to squares.
 

Pancake Day 2015

Cheese & Bacon Pancakes

I meant to do 2-3 different Pancake posts over the last week or so. Annoyingly I got stinkingly ill on Monday and it wrote off pretty much the whole week. Then I didn’t want to has all the pancaking making into a day and eat too many pancakes to myself in one go. So it took getting a couple of friends over for pancakes to happen. But below are two pretty awesome recipes. One sweet and one Savoury, both American style. I did a very poor job with my post last year, so to make up for it I wanted to go a bit further.


Cheese & Bacon Pancakes

Pancakes

Ingredients:
100g Mature Cheddar, Grated (extra for garnish)
2 Spring Onions, roughly chopped (one for the mixture, one for garnish)
8 Rashers Streaky Bacon, Fried until Crispy
135g/4¾oz plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp white sugar
130ml/4½fl oz milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking
Maple Syrup (optional)
Sriracha (Optional)
Cheese Sauce (Optional)

Instructions:
1. Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and sugar).
2. Whisk together the milk, egg and melted butter. Pour in to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Stir in the cheese and one of the spring onions.
3. Using a ladel dollop into a prepared hot pan. Frying until golden on one side and flipping over. Fry until both sides are golden and it’s cooked through.
4. Stack up on the plate, topping with the bacon, extra cheese and spring onion. Add any of the optional toppings (I just went with sriracha and allowed some bacon to get extra crispy to sprinkle on top).

Pancakes

Double Choc Pancakes

Pancakes

Ingredients:
135g/4¾oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
130ml/4½fl oz milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking
100g White Choc Chips (reserve some for garnish)
100ml Double Cream, Whipped (optional)
Maple Syrup (optional)
Ice Cream (Optional)

Instructions:
1. Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder and sugar).
2. Whisk together the milk, egg and melted butter. Pour in to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Using a ladel dollop into a prepared hot pan. Frying until golden on one side and flipping over. Fry until both sides are golden and it’s cooked through.
4. Stack up on a plate, topping with whatever you are using (I used whipped cream).

Pancakes