I was so excited about these blondies which made it all the more devastating that they didn't particularly work.
The first disaster was burning the caramel for the nutty brittle (why do I find this so hard?! It was like the tarte tatin incident all over again) but thankfully the second batch worked. I'm blaming the cooker as I'm convinced it's not level which caused the caramel to cook quicker on one side.
The first disaster was burning the caramel for the nutty brittle (why do I find this so hard?! It was like the tarte tatin incident all over again) but thankfully the second batch worked. I'm blaming the cooker as I'm convinced it's not level which caused the caramel to cook quicker on one side.
Disaster number two were the eggs. I had already mashed my bananas and cracked the egg on top. BUT...........the egg was off. Eugh! I had only poured it down the side so I rescued as much of the banana as I could which hadn't touched the egg and thankfully I had one extra banana to spare.
The rest of the mixture came together absolutely fine and I whacked it in the oven. The recipe stated that it should be golden and "wobbly-set". I thought it looked too wobbly so I left it in the oven for an extra ten minutes with the top covered with a sheet of baking parchment to stop the surface from burning.
Despite my gut instinct to leave it in longer I took it out in fear of over-baking. Blondies and brownies are deceptively tricky aren't they? They almost need to err on being a little undercooked to have the chewy, squidgy element as they're no use if they're over baked.
Well, mine were practically raw in the middle. After leaving them to cool and rescuing the edges (which tasted lovely, although very sweet) I put the rest back in the oven, hoping I could make it slightly more edible. This may have worked had I not wandered off and completely forgotten about it, resulting in this burnt mess.....
More brownie than blondie wouldn't you agree?
Saying that, it still tasted quite nice (although crunchy) so the recipe may be worth revisiting. I'm glad I persevered with the caramel as it brought a lovely sticky banoffee flavour with the bananas to the blondie. If any of you have caramel "issues" like me, whatever you do, DO NOT put the hot pan of caramel in cold water (unless you fancy having shards of caramel in your face although I wouldn't recommend it). Set it aside on the hob for a few minutes before filling it with warm-hot soapy water. After leaving it to soak for a bit it will dissolve and wipe clean no bother.
Come on, make me feel better. Who else has had a baking fail recently?
You get days like that - I have to say they still look good.
ReplyDeleteMy worst disaster was a Bill Granger blueberry cake that erupted like Versuvius all over my oven - I am convinced the cake tin size was wrong in the recipe and muttered this to myself as I scraped about 8 tons (or so it seemed) of part-cooked cake batter from my oven floor!
Blondies always seem so difficult to find a good recipe for, particularly compared to brownies, but I still think the combination of bananas and toffee in these sounds very hard to resist. My baking fail recently was a blood orange and poppyseed cake that can really only be described as bizarre!
ReplyDeleteI'm used to baking disasters, it happens every time! Love your plate though! :) x
ReplyDeleteI decided to make a Victoria sponge with raspberry filling when I was at school during a cookery test and it was an absolute failure. My cake fell apart and I ended up 'glueing' it together with raspberry jam.
ReplyDeleteHiya just waanted to let you know i've nominatd your blog for the Versatile blogger awards. Its a fellow bloggers apreciating other blogs award:)
ReplyDeleteMy Cupcake Habit Vb POST
Keep 'em coming folks! ;)
ReplyDelete@cupcake girl Thank you!
I had so many fails on Saturday, it really gets to you. Sunday everything seemed to work though. I really like the idea of banana blondies :)
ReplyDeleteAh, blondies/brownies are my nemesis, every time I make them I freak out about whether they are done so they end up rock-like and burnt. In fact most of my cakes are on their way to being burnt since I am so obsessed with things being cooked properly! My worst baking fail was a peach and raspberry cobbler, I always want to try it again when it gets sunny but I can't bring myself to do it, the rancid, gloopy, burnt round the edges mess I created has put me off it for life!
ReplyDeleteI'm usually much the same, everything errs on being mildly overcooked. That's partly why I avoid things like swiss meringue buttercream, the idea of not quite cooked egg white in icing makes me feel nervous.... and it involves boiling sugar which I'm developing a bad track record with!
DeleteAs someone who has more than their share of epic fails with baking on a regular basis I sympathsise! Just this last weekend a non-rising marmalade loaf was reinvented into trifle!
ReplyDeleteAh, very crafty cover up! Trifle is far more exciting than a loaf cake anyway ;)
DeleteCaramel is notoriously tricky and I have ended up burning it and burning myself on more than one occasion. I have made these blondies (or something very similar) before though and can vouch that they are delicious - although as you said, rather sweet.
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