Pecan Blondies

Blondies are something that I have never attempted before. I love love love white chocolate so I really should've tried these earlier...
The recipe I tried is a Tanya Burr recipe. I loved the idea of adding nuts to the blondies and pecans are absolutely delicious.
This was a really easy recipe to make and most ingredients I already had in the cupboards. 
I love to make these into a dessert and serve them warm with a big dollop of ice cream. Soooooo tasty. 
So here we go, I hope you enjoy!

Recipe:
150g Caster Sugar
125g Butter
1.5 tsp Vanilla Extract
A Pinch of Salt
100g Pecans
200g Plain Flour
150g White Chocolate
2 Eggs

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170C
2. Gently melt butter and white chocolate together.
3. Add caster sugar to melted butter and chocolate and mix until smooth.
4. Add vanilla and 2 eggs to mixture.
5. Add a pinch of salt along with the plain flour.
6. Chop/break up your pecans into chunks and pop them into the mixture.
7. Line your square cake tin with baking paper.
8. Cook for 35 minutes approximately. I cooked mine for 30 mins as they were beginning to go golden on the top. I also left the centre very very slightly gooey, just so they would be nice and moist in the middle like a brownie/blondie should be.
9. Leave them in the tin to cool for 5-10 minutes then place on a cooling rack.

Tah dah! There you have your white chocolate pecan blondies! 

In the pictures above I have served mine with some delicious vanilla fudge ice cream. Absolutely gorgeous!

Give them a go and let me know what you think!

Luscious Lemon Cupcakes

I have mentioned before how anything lemon is my absolute favourite! So today's post is going to be my favourite recipe of all time: Luscious Lemon Cupcakes.
These cupcakes are perfect even for people who don't usually like lemon. "You've made me like lemon", quote from my other half who, til now, was a strict chocolate dessert type.
They're deliciously sweet and light with a lovely lemon zing.
So lets get into it!

Recipe: (Makes 16... for some reason)
Lemon Cupcakes
250g Butter
350g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
250g Self Raising Flour
3 Lemons: 3 Zest, 2 Juice
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Lemon Curd (Optional)

Vanilla Buttercream: 
110g Butter
340g Icing Sugar
A splash of Milk

Method: 
1. Preheat oven to 160c and line your muffin tray with cases.
2. Add the butter, caster sugar, eggs, flour, 3 lemon zests, 2 lemon juice and vanilla extract to large bowl and mix until thoroughly combined and creamy looking.
3. Portion out into muffin cases and bake for 15-20 minutes on a middle shelf.
4. Leave to cool in the muffin tray.
5. Whip up your buttercream by measuring your butter into a large bowl and adding a splash of milk. Add your icing sugar gradually and whisk with an electric mixer until nice and thick and forming stiff peaks. 
6. (Optional) Use a teaspoon to scoop out the centre of the cupcake and drop in a dollop of lemon curd. I just used a Gale's lemon curd from the supermarket, I'm planning on attempting to make my own at some point so stick around for that.  
7. When your cupcakes have cooled, pipe or spread on your buttercream. I added little fondant flowers too just to have a play around.
8. Tah Dah! There you have your Luscious Lemon Cupcakes!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! If you give it a go, let me know!