Blondies are one of Finch Bakery’s bestsellers, and their Cherry Bakewell ones are a favourite. Fudgy pieces of white chocolate and almond, swirled with cherry jam and filled with glacé cherries; every bite is a Bakewell lover’s dream! Here is Finch Bakery’s Cherry Bakewell Blondies recipe.

Makes 8–10

Ingredients:

• 220g (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 125g (4 1⁄2oz) white chocolate
• 3 eggs
• 125g (2⁄3 cup) caster sugar
• 125g (1⁄2 cup plus 2 tbsp) light soft brown sugar
• 40g (2 tbsp) golden syrup
• Pink gel food colouring (optional)
• 5–10 drops of almond extract, to taste
• 285g (2 cups plus 2 tbsp) plain flour
• 1 heaped tsp cornflour
• 1⁄4 tsp salt
• 200g (7oz) white chocolate chips
• 150g (5 1⁄2oz) glacé cherries
• 180g (6oz) cherry jam or conserve

Special Equipment

• Mixer or hand-held electric whisk
• 20 x 30cm (8 x 12in) tin, lined
• Piping bag

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6).
2. Using a microwave, or over a bain-marie, melt the butter and white chocolate together.
3. Combine the eggs, both sugars, the golden syrup and a little pink food colouring, if using, in a mixer. Add the melted chocolate mixture. Scrape the mixture around the sides and bottom with a spatula before mixing again.
4. Pour in the almond extract, to taste. Sift the flour and cornflour together and pour into the wet mixture. Add the salt and 150g (5 1⁄2oz) of the chocolate chips, mixing on a low speed setting and remembering to scrape down the sides with a spatula to make sure all the ingredients combine.
5. Fold in 100g (3 1⁄2oz) of the glacé cherries with a spatula. Pour the batter into the lined tin and load a piping bag with the cherry jam. Snip off the tip of the piping bag and pipe lines of jam into the batter. Use a skewer to drag the jam in circles, making sure it is evenly spread. Scatter over the remaining white chocolate chips and press in the remaining cherries.
6. Bake for 35 minutes. It may look under-baked and the middle should still wobble when it comes out of the oven. Leave to cool completely in the tin, then chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight before cutting into squares or rectangles to serve.

TOP TIP: Use bake-stable white chocolate chips in the blondie mixture to ensure they don’t melt while baking.

Cherry Bakewell Blondies Recipe from the Finch Bakery Cookbook