2011 Cooking Club Week 3: Raspberry and Pecan Blondies

Faith · 02-06-2012 10:51AM

Mine often take longer than the specified time.

kate.m · 03-06-2012 11:24AM

Faith wrote: »

Mine often take longer than the specified time.

After an hour I tuned off the oven but left then in it to cool down. Made the mistake of leaving house and there's were only 2 left when I got back.

turned out great after all.

MissFlitworth · 23-02-2013 08:04PM

These have just gone in the oven. I have my fingers crossed that my awful, pig of an oven doesn't hurt them (there's no temperature on the knob so you just have
to guess the temperature - this often does not work.)

BaZmO* · 23-02-2013 08:27PM

MissFlitworth wrote: »

These have just gone in the oven. I have my fingers crossed that my awful, pig of an oven doesn't hurt them (there's no temperature on the knob so you just have
to guess the temperature - this often does not work.)

That looks like a LOT of raspberries!

MissFlitworth · 23-02-2013 08:51PM

BaZmO* wrote: »

That looks like a LOT of raspberries!

My bag of frozen raspberries was all crumbled to bits so it's more raspberry crumbs than whole ones

Faith · 23-02-2013 09:19PM

I put a lot of raspberries in mine because I like a bit of raspberry in every bite.

Miss F, you need an oven thermometer! You can pick one up for about €6 usually

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Loopy · 08-03-2013 11:25AM

I've started using the frozen fruit berries from aldi for these, so much cheaper than the punnet of strawberries I used to use and they taste fab.
Times are tough eh folks, times are tough.

Back in my day...... la la la la la

catho_monster · 08-03-2013 11:46AM

Had a heap of people round last weekend so I made three batches of this, without the nuts and using frozen raspberries. They were a massive success. Everyone loved them and kept going back for more.
I personally liked the fact that they weren't so rich that eating more than one was a struggle (that happens me with brownies)!
Simple and effective, a definite win.

Pigwidgeon · 08-03-2013 01:44PM

Glad to see people are still making these

I actually made them for an event on college this week but a bit differently to have them fancier. I left the raspberries off when cooking, then did a layer of white chocolate ganache and topped them with caramelized pecans and a fresh raspberry. I was delighted with them, they went down really well and with the ganache there was no denying the white chocolateness of them!

ibarelycare · 09-03-2013 01:13PM

I made these last weekend and they were gorgeous. I had a few technical problems though so I've a couple of questions.

The batter was VERY sticky, I'm a complete amateur baker so not sure if it should have been like that

In the recipe, after you melt the chocolate it says to move off the heat. Does this mean take the saucepan off the heat and leave the bowl over it? Or take the bowl off the saucepan altogether? I took the bowl off the water and I found it all quite difficult to mix so I thought maybe I should have left it on top of the water. It was quite lumpy too and I got it as smooth as I could but it took a lot of elbow grease, and it was still a bit lumpy going into the tray, although I don't think that affected the end result.

What baking tray size do people recommend? Mine was too big so made it smaller with some tinfoil but I still think the blondies were slightly on the thin side. After only 20 minutes I checked them and the edges were nearly burnt and the top very brown. I covered it with tin-foil and turned the oven right down and baked for another 10 minutes.

Besides the burnt edges, they were delicious, lovely and moist inside and I used loads of raspberries so there was one in very bite (yum). I left out the pecans and put in white choc chips instead but I didn't notice these at all so probably not much point. Making them again tomorrow so hopefully they'll be more refined!

Pigwidgeon · 09-03-2013 11:56PM

I usually take it off the water all together, it does split most of the time when the eggs and sugar are added but the flour fixes it. It's quite a thick batter when I make it, not very sticky.

I've started actually cooking them at 150C, checking them around 20 mins so they stay nice and moist, although I have stopped baking them with the raspberries in the mix I'll just serve them with it.

I don't know the exact measurements of my tray I think it's about 6x8 inches, I get around 10 blondies out of it.

Hope that helps and good luck with the next batch

Pigwidgeon · 09-03-2013 11:56PM

I usually take it off the water all together, it does split most of the time when the eggs and sugar are added but the flour fixes it. It's quite a thick batter when I make it, not very sticky.

I've started actually cooking them at 150C, checking them around 20 mins so they stay nice and moist, although I have stopped baking them with the raspberries in the mix I'll just serve them with it.

I don't know the exact measurements of my tray I think it's about 6x8 inches, I get around 10 blondies out of it.

Hope that helps and good luck with the next batch

ibarelycare · 10-03-2013 10:45AM

Pigwidgeon wrote: »

I usually take it off the water all together, it does split most of the time when the eggs and sugar are added but the flour fixes it. It's quite a thick batter when I make it, not very sticky.

I've started actually cooking them at 150C, checking them around 20 mins so they stay nice and moist, although I have stopped baking them with the raspberries in the mix I'll just serve them with it.

I don't know the exact measurements of my tray I think it's about 6x8 inches, I get around 10 blondies out of it.

Hope that helps and good luck with the next batch

Thanks for that! I actually ended up making them last night. I was in my mam's house and she had a much bigger glass bowl than I have and that made it much easier to mix things. She had a perfect size baking tray too but I still found the batter very sticky and difficult to spread out. As a result some of the edge bits were a little thin! Again after 20 mins I had to cover with tin foil as they were very brown, but the end results were pretty good. Next time they'll be perfect

Faith · 10-03-2013 11:22AM

These are designed to be cooked in a 23cm x 33cm tray. That being said, it's still sometimes difficult to get the cooking time exactly right!

oscarBravo · 16-03-2013 05:34PM

I made these yesterday for the leaving-the-US party. Despite the usual problems with high-altitude baking and a frustratingly inconsistent oven, they came out OK and went down a treat. I can't wait to make them again in the comfort of my own oven at home.

Mrs Fox · 18-03-2013 10:57AM

Made the blondies this morning. I was a bit unsure of the look of the melted butter, white chocolate and sugar, but it turned out ok when I started beating them into a mixer. I only had a handful of fresh raspberries, so each blondie square only had one raspberry, but it was fine. I used Lidl's white chocolate, and baked them into 2 standard brownie tins.
These are lovely treats. I've had 3 slices and it's not even 11am!
Thanks for the recipe:)

jordata · 19-03-2013 08:53AM

I made my very first batch of Blondies yesterday. Like Mrs Fox I was worried at the consistency of the whit chocolate / butter / sugar combination but once I beat in the eggs and added the flour it was fine.
I didn't have raspberries so added orange rind to the batter and sprinkled flaked almonds on top.
Absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe Pigwidgeon.

Queen-Mise · 19-03-2013 12:42PM

OK - going to bast*rdize this recipe, milk instead of white (I hate white chocolate with a vengeance) & blueberries instead of raspberries.

There is a punnet of blueberries in the fridge that seriously need to be used.

Queen-Mise · 19-03-2013 01:40PM

OK - have made my version and they have gone into the oven.

Let's hope they come out ok

angeldelight · 19-03-2013 05:31PM

Queen-Mise wrote: »

OK - have made my version and they have gone into the oven.

Let's hope they come out ok

How were they?

pugwall · 19-03-2013 07:13PM

I've made these a few times and I did notice that on a couple of occasions that the butter, white chocolate and sugar mixture kind of froze in me. Results were fine though. It may have something to do with the temperature of the butter mixing Witt he chocolate. They don't seem to emulsify. Doesn't seem to make a difference to the results. Delicious each time!

Queen-Mise · 20-03-2013 04:03PM

angeldelight wrote: »

How were they?

They were incredible really. Kids and husband demolished what I left out - I froze half of them.

I think I am going to use this as a recipe for brownies (with milk instead of white choc). I'll use it as my base & then can ad lib a bit:rolleyes:

I find brownie recipes use too much sugar, cocoa, etc - they are far too sweet. One recipe I looked at asked for both 4ozs of caster and brown sugar :eek: That was 8ozs of sugar, then the choc, cocoa powder, treacle/golden syrup, and not including the butter. Bearing in mind that this is only balanced out by 6ozs of flour & 2/3 eggs. Not good at all.
I refuse to make anything that has that much sugar/fat loaded into it. And I wasn't really sure how to alter them, without ruining the recipe.

Whereas this has the brownie aspect to it but not half as sweet. The blueberries worked really well.

Mrs Fox · 21-03-2013 12:37PM

jordata wrote: »

Like Mrs Fox I was worried at the consistency of the whit chocolate / butter / sugar combination but once I beat in the eggs and added the flour it was fine.

Oh. I wonder if I should've waited until I've mixed the egg and flour in, instead and throwing the white choc/butter/sugar into a mixer and emulsify them into a normal cake batter. Would that be the reason why my blondies were a tad densed? I still thought they were delicious though.:rolleyes:

Queen-Mise · 21-03-2013 01:41PM

Mrs Fox wrote: »

Oh. I wonder if I should've waited until I've mixed the egg and flour in, instead and throwing the white choc/butter/sugar into a mixer and emulsify them into a normal cake batter. Would that be the reason why my blondies were a tad densed? I still thought they were delicious though.:rolleyes:

You probably didn't need to use a mixer.

The butter & choc is melted. Then stir in the sugar. The eggs and vanilla extract is beaten into the mixture.

When I sifted the flour in, I folded it through - to keep as much air as possible in the mixture. If the flour was beaten in - then all the air was beaten out. This is the way I understand it anyway.

So next time, do it by hand and fold the flour in at the end.

I didn't add the pecan nuts though... As was making something without nuts for the kids.

Mr. CooL ICE · 21-03-2013 03:25PM

I've made these twice and the consistency was wrong the first time. I melted the chocolate and butter at too high a heat and the added sugar made it a mess, so I used the food processor to mix everything and the batter was smooth. However, the final product wasn't as nice as it could have been, but I probably didn't leave it in the oven long enough.

The 2nd time, the butter/choc combination went much better but I still used the food processor (I'm a sucker for shortcuts). However, I only pulsed the bare minimum until everything was mixed. Got great reviews

Forgot to take a picture though

BaZmO* · 12-04-2013 08:17AM

Woke up to this lovely surprise this morning.

Pigwidgeon · 12-04-2013 08:36AM

If people have having issues with frozen berries leaving uncooked patches around them I heard a good tip the other day to defrost them and toss them in a little flour before use. Apparently this helps to cook more evenly, haven't had a chance to try it myself yet but I'll definitely give it a go.

StripedBoxers · 11-02-2016 05:21PM

Made these recently with raspberries and some walnuts as I'd no pecan nuts and they were fab.

Everyone loved them, they were super tasty.

Thanks OP!

Faith · 23-06-2016 05:19AM

I made these for a bake sale at work tomorrow, using fresh local raspberries. Holy bloody cow, I'd forgotten how great they are! We've eaten two already and it's only sheer stubbornness that is stopping me from leaving them at home tomorrow. I feel like I might have to make another batch at the weekend

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jordata · 25-04-2017 08:13PM

Another batch of these delicious treats in the oven tonight. Topped with delicious fresh raspberries. Can't wait for them to be cooked and cool enough to cut.

2011 Cooking Club Week 3: Raspberry and Pecan Blondies

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