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Salted Maple Pecan Blondies

~ thegingerbreadbaker ~ Leave a comment

2017-01-24-17-28-12-1

These blondies are amazing. They are fudgy with pockets of sweet white chocolate and bursts of salt. I also make a batch of maple sauce to pour over; the maple really adds another layer to the blondies. Served warm with a scoop of ice cream, these are a relatively quick and irresistible treat!

 Ingredients

Blondies

  • 125g (1 cup) plain (AP) flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
  • 75g (1/3 cup) butter, melted
  • 217g (1 cup packed) light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
  •  65g (1/2 cup) pecans, chopped
  •  45g (1/4 cup) white chocolate chips
  •  45g (1/4 cup) butterscotch/fudge pieces

Maple Sauce

  • 115g (1/2 cup) butter
  • 55g (2 ounces) cream cheese
  • 63g (1/2 cup) icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 175°c (350°f). Grease and line an 8″x8″ square or 9″ round pan.
  2. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and mix to combine.
  3. In a separate bowl, add the sugar to the butter and stir to dissolve. Add the egg and vanilla paste, and mix until smooth.
  4. Slowly fold in the flour mixture, then fold in the pecans, chocolate and fudge pieces.
  5. Fill baking tray and flatten with a spoon or spatula. Bake for around 20 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
  6. For the sauce: in a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cream cheese and mix to combine. Whisk in the icing sugar until smooth. Add maple syrup to taste.

The original recipe can be found here.

Dulce de Leche Doughnuts

~ thegingerbreadbaker ~ 2 Comments

dulce2  dulce1

This is the first recipe I ever tried when making doughnuts, and it was so good that I never tried another! The doughnuts are crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, and filled with dulce de leche; the most incredible and thick caramel sauce. They are then dusted in a cinnamon sugar, which takes them that extra step further.

I fry these using a large cast iron casserole pot. The original recipe doesn’t specify a temperature, but I have found 190°c (375°f) to be perfect. When frying, it is important not to fry too many at once; the room temperature dough will lower the temperature of the oil. The thought of these is making me hungry; I think I have to make another batch this weekend!

Ingredients

For the doughnuts

  • 1 sachet (7g) dried yeast
  • 75g (1⁄3 cup) caster sugar
  • 550g (41⁄2 cups) plain (AP) flour
  • 320mL (11⁄3 cups) semi-skimmed milk
  • 80g (1⁄3 cup) unsalted butter
 For frying, filling and rolling

  • 1 litre (41⁄4 cups) vegetable oil
  • 200g (2⁄3 cup) dulce de leche
  • 75g (1⁄3 cup) caster sugar
  •  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

  1. Heat the milk until warm. Add the yeast and one teaspoon of the sugar and flour. Leave to sit for 10-15 minutes; you should see bubbles from the activated yeast.
  2. Add flour and sugar to a large bowl. Briefly rub in the butter. Pour in the milk and stir until it comes together. Knead with extra flour for 5 minutes until smooth and pliable.
  3. Leave to rise until doubled in size (around 1 hour at room temperature).
  4. Knock back the dough and divide into 12 equal balls. Divide evenly over 2 large baking sheets, and leave to prove until doubled again (around 45 minutes).
  5. Heat the oil to 190°c (375°f). Start with one doughnut; fry for 5 minutes, turning it over halfway through. Continue with the rest of the doughnuts (two or three at a time), making sure not to crowd the pan. Drain on kitchen paper.
  6. Warm the dulce de leche in a small saucepan until it has thinned slightly. Mix the cinnamon and sugar on a small plate. Using a piping bag and a small nozzle, fill each doughnut with dulce de leche, until a little oozes out. Roll in the cinnamon sugar.

 

The original recipe was from Jamie Oliver’s website; you can find the link here.