Chocolate Orange Blondies

2016 has been a year for the polarisation of a lot of people's political opinions. It can be difficult when a friend or partner, someone you respect, turns around and tells you that the things they believe in, and vote for, are so starkly different to your own. Dealing with those things can be difficult, and I'm not here to tell you how to do that. We British have a way of sweeping bad feeling under the carpet and getting on with it, but of course the emotions still linger.

However, I find that something that can bring people back together, and that there is rarely disagreement about, is cake. Everyone loves cake. Of course, there are those that say they don't like it, but I choose to believe that they are pretending not to like it so that they can enjoy their kale smoothies. (I test food products for a living, and juices containing kale always smell like grass. Why would you want to drink something that smells like grass?) So I suggest that you gather your people around a table with some hot drinks and serve them some cake, and break any tensions that might exist.

Even better, serve your loved ones these Chocolate Orange Blondies. For those of you who don't know, blondies are brownies made with white chocolate instead of dark chocolate. I used a concentrated orange flavouring (you could also use orange juice and zest) and sprinkled some chopped dark chocolate on top. These blondies were served at a Clandestine Cake Club event and many people commented that they tasted a bit like jaffa cakes. Perfectly dense and gooey, these Chocolate Orange brownies were definitely a crowd pleaser.

Side note: If you like the bowl in the top photo, head over to Dotcomgiftshop*. They sell a whole range of goods, but my favourites are their kitchenware. I love the designs on their bowls and plates. The bakeware section is also great; I got a great cookie cutter that will be used in a future post.

This recipe is based on these Double Chocolate Blondies. I used a concentrated orange flavouring, but using the zest and juice of one orange would also work.

Makes 24
Ingredients

• 400g Caster Sugar
• 375g Butter
• 250g White Chocolate
• 3 Eggs
• 300g Plain Flour
• 1Tbsp Baking Powder
• 5-8 Drops Concentrated Orange Flavour (to taste)
• 200g Dark Chocolate

Recipe

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Line a brownie tin or roasting tin with baking parchment.
• Break the white chocolate into chunks and melt in a medium saucepan with the butter over a medium heat.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, then the eggs, until well combined.
• Sift the flour and baking powder into the batter and stir well, making sure to scrape around the bottom edges of the pan, as flour tends to get trapped there.
• Stir in the orange flavouring.
• Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
• Chop the dark chocolate and sprinkle over the top (as you may be able to see from the photos, I was actually very lazy here and just broke it into chunks. This also works.)
• Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, then check for a crisp-looking top and no wobble in the middle. Remember that the batter will continue to cook once removed from the oven, so to keep the blondie gooey you mustn't wait until a skewer comes out clean. If there is still a wobble, return to the oven for another 3-5 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

*I was provided with a gift card from Dotcomgiftshop, but was under no obligation to write any material regarding this, promotional or otherwise.