StrawBlondies

Mmm, I pondered what to call these? Strawberry Blondes?  StrawBrownies? No matter, my friends:=)  They are pretty and pink and in aid of the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and that's the important thing.  This recipe is based on a dark chocolate brownie version, from Belinda Jeffery's book Mix & Bake.  My interpretation is made with white chocolate and freeze-dried strawberry powder.  Wow, that stuff is amazing.  The smell, the colour!  So vibrant, so much in-your-face strawberryness.

pretty in pink, and tasty too

None of us wants to do mounds of washing-up, so this is fabulous 'cos it all gets mixed together in one saucepan.  What could be better than that? (thanks Belinda).  That's my kind of recipe.  I made these for a Bakeoff in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.  So of course, it had to be pink!  And they were delicious too, so even better.  


Recipe adapted by Sherry's Pickings:


ingredients:


For the strawblondies:


250g. (8oz.) butter

180g. (6oz.) white chocolate

250g. (8oz.) of caster sugar 

1.5 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

150g. (1 cup) plain flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

2-3 tsp freeze-dried strawberry powder

1 tsp cochineal (pink colouring)

100g. (3.5oz.) of white chocolate chunks/drops


For the topping:

200g. (7oz.) white chocolate, chopped into chunks

65 mLs (1/4 cup) cream

2 tsp strawberry powder

a few drops of pink colouring

organic rose petals and strawberry crispearls for decoration


Method:


Set your oven to 180C to pre-heat

Grab a 23cm. square cake tin (or a lamington tin) and line with alfoil, pushing it carefully into the corners.  Butter it, and line the base with baking paper

Melt the butter and white chocolate in a medium saucepan over a very low heat, stirring now and then - keep an eye on it, folks

Take it off the heat, give it a good stir and let it cool for about 8 minutes

Whisk the sugar and vanilla into the cooled butter and chocolate mix for about 20 seconds

Eggs go in one at a time, whisking well after each one

Sift the flour and baking powder straight into the pan, and stir well

Stir in the strawberry powder and the cochineal - gently, 'cos you don't want to upset the mixture and bring out its tough side

Tip in the chocolate chunks and fold them in

Pour the batter into the baking tin and give it a wee shake to level out the top

Bake for about 40 minutes till a skewer thrust in the middle comes out nicely moist but not wet

Cool for a few minutes in the tin, then pick up the blondies by the alfoil and put onto a wire rack to cool completely

Give it a couple of hours, then make the topping

Place the white chocolate chunks, cream, strawberry powder and pink colouring into a microwave-proof bowl

Zap in the microwave for about 60 seconds; it may still look like it's in chunks but it should be mostly melted so give it a happy little stir

Zap it for a few more seconds if needed 

Let it cool for a minute, then spread lavishly all over the blondies

Scatter the crispearls and rose petals liberally over the top

Cut into squares however big or small you like

oh yes, it is pink indeedy  

Notes:


I didn't have a 23cm. square tin so I used a rectangular lamington pan which is 30 x 20 x 3cm. - worked a treat


Use strawberry essence if you don't have/can't get the freeze-dried powder.  Try 1-2 tsp, or more if you fancy; and maybe up the pink colouring

this is what it came in

Looks like a chemist's pill bottle to me:=)  Open it and you will be knocked over by the staggeringly pink, sweet strawberry aroma and colour, folks.  It's like a magic powder.  And intensely sweet.  And did I say pink, pink, pink?

stir the butter and white choc together in the pan 

yep you caught me out here - I put the strawberry powder in before the flour

ever so pretty in pink - pre flour 

it's pink - honest it is:=) 

yep, I coloured my cream pink firstly  

zap the icing in the microwave

throw on the decorations while the icing is still moist 

cut into shapes

yep another photo - just because I want to 

strawberry artwork by sherry's pickings