White chocolate and raspberry blondies

If you like brownies you'll love blondies

Preparation time 30 minutes
Cooking time 30-35 minutes
Makes 12

You will need
150g white chocolate
100g butter
3 eggs
175g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
200g self-raising flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder, sifted
175g raspberries
75g white chocolate, melted to decorate

Directions

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Line an 18x28 cm roasting tin with a large piece of non-stick baking paper, snipping diagonally into the corners so that the paper fits snugly over the base and up the sides of the tin.

Break 150g of chocolate into a bowl, add the butter and set the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water and leave until melted. Make sure the water doesn't touch the base of the bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla with an electric whisk for about 5 minutes until very thick and the mixture leaves a trail when the whisk is lifted.

Gently fold the melted chocolate and butter into the egg mixture then the flour and baking powder. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and sprinkle with the raspberries.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until well risen, the top is crusty and the centre still a little soft. Leave to cool in the tin then lift the paper and blondies out of the tin and put on to a chopping board. Drizzle with the melted chocolate to decorate then leave to set. Cut into squares and peel off the paper to serve.

Tip
Unlike a Victoria sandwich style cake, blondies or brownies are almost better if they are slightly undercooked as the high proportion of chocolate will firm up slightly as it cools.