Fat Friday...

I have an embarrassing confession.

Those little catalogues you get in the post? Y'know the ones, they sell spider catchers and nose-hair trimmers and shoe horns and the like.

I love reading them. Perhaps only to laugh at them yes, but still, it's entertaining on a rainy day. You should try it.

So you can imagine my shock when, in a happy coincidence, I stumbled upon a stunner of a recipe in one such mag and decided that it had to feature in this week's Fat Friday. Granted, it was taken from Lakeland, which in catalogue terms is practically god-like. Particularly for those of you with a penchant for baking goods and foody gadgets. But still, they sell banana protectors and green-bean slicers. Need I say more?

Preconceptions aside though, this recipe turned out to be perfect. Raspberry and White Chocolate Blondies. Please make them. Just, do it. Fresh fruit is so overrated, it wants to be baked into submission. Trust me.

INGREDIENTS

Preheat the oven to 180°C // 350° F // GM 4.

Line a square baking pan with greaseproof paper.

Break up 120g of the chocolate into a heatproof bowl along with the butter, diced.

Place over a bowl of simmering water bain-marie style and allow to melt slowly.

Once melted, set aside to cool.

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until frothed up and covered in bubbles.

Greeting said bubbles like this always helps.

Next, add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat thoroughly. The original recipe asked for a

'mousse like' consistency but mine never really reached that point. Artistic license and all that.
I'd say beat for a good five minutes and you're ready to go!

Pour the melted chocolate mixture in and whisk.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold into the wet ingredients.

Chop the remaining 80g of chocolate and stir in.

Pour into the prelined tin and scatter the raspberries over the top.

And here's the only point that good ol' Lakeland failed me. Their recipe states to bake for 25 minutes,

but after that time mine had barely started to cook. Mine took more like 40 until it was firm to the

touch, slightly crispy on the surface and still gooey in the middle. It's probably oven-dependent 

so keep checking!

While I was waiting, I simple sat back and started on the clean-up...

REMEMBER, this mixture has raw eggs in it - you've been warned!

Once cooked, slice up and store in an airtight container.

Wait, no. What am I saying? Eat that gloriously gooey treat right up!

Aaaah Lakeland.

You might not need a bean-slicer in your life, but this? This is a true necessity.

xxx

p.s. It seems the blogosphere has been brownie-obsessed this week, check out Hayley and

Danielle's delicious looking recipes too :)