Boozy Blondies

While some of my sisters have spent the last week figuring out ingenious ways to keep their culinary creations both devout and delicious, I decided to take a more hedonistic approach. (Typical, I know).   

BEHOLD the BLONDIE

Blondies are often thought of as the Brownie's homely little sister. They're the plain one, not cool, not popular, not sexy.  Why anyone would be interested in these pallid pastries is beyond the imaginations of many, but not me.  Blondies--like many boring babes--can be awesome, you just need to get some booze in them (I kid, I kid). But seriously, they're a great blank canvas, and like the protagonist of many a teen movie, you just need to look past your preconceived notions of what a blondie is, and you'll see that there is "life-of-the-party" potential in this puddin.  

Boozy Blondies

1/2 cup dark rum or bourbon
1/2 cup dried figs (cut in small pieces)

2 cups (280g) unbleached all purpose flour — if you don’t have a scale, then scoop rather than spoon

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (230 grams) melted, very warm, unsalted butter

2 cups packed golden brown sugar (420 grams)

2 whole eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips/ chunks

3/4 cup toasted pecan pieces (optional)

1 cup toasted coconut

Instructions

1. Heat the booze and pour over the figs, let this concoction sit for a while (I did overnight, but an hour or so should be fine)
2. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. (176 C). Line a 13×9 inch pan with foil or parchment paper or foil.
3. Decant the liquor from the figs, and save both. 
4. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat together butter and brown sugar. If you’ve used very hot butter, let the mixture cool for 5 minutes before beating in the egg. With a spoon or whisk, gently beat in the eggs, vanilla and rum. Stir dry ingredients into batter. Let the batter cool down if it is still warm, then stir in the chips, pecans, coconut and figs.
5. Spread in pan and bake for about 35 minutes or until pale golden and edges start to pull away from the sides.

Hungarian Lemon Cake with Roasted Plums

Süti!

As promised, here is the recipe for Jutka's süti!  The measurements are Euro-metric, and while you might not all have a food scale, you do all have the internet!  I'm sure you can figure it out...

Jutka's Lemon Cake with Roasted Fruit

4 eggs, separated
20 dk butter
20 dk sugar
20 dk self-rising flour
1 lemon*
fruit*
1/3 c. brown sugar* mixed with 2 tsp cinnamon (I eyeballed this last measurement, so just do what looks good to you)

Details after the jump!!

Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and set aside. (If you beat the whites first, you don't need to wash the beaters.  Brilliant!).  Mix together the butter, sugar and egg yolks until smooth, then add in the zest and juice of the lemon.  Gently sift in the flour while continuing to mix the batter, then fold in the egg whites until just incorporated.  The batter will be quite thick and very fragrant.  Spread it out carefully in a large, well-buttered tart dish.  Arrange your fruit on top and give it a generous sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.  Pop that baby in the oven at 375 for about 35 minutes, or until the top is gloriously browned, and the fruit is roasted to glistening perfection.  This tastes as good as it looks, which is saying a lot.

*A few words about fruit, flexibility and ingredients. Hungarian "brown sugar" is more like what we would call rapadura or raw sugar at home.  I think you could use granulated sugar or brown sugar, too, but if you're looking for precise results, I'd go raw. 

A few suggestions for mixing it up: Tonight, Jutka made this with lemon and 4 or 5 big plums, sliced in crescents.  Last week, she used vanilla, apples and fresh blackberries.  She says you can use whatever fruit is in season and looks good.  He favorite is strawberries (halved) with 1-2" pieces of rhubarb and lemon.  She also says a layer of roughly ground walnuts or pecans under the fruit, or a sprinkling of sliced almonds on top of the fruit is delicious (how could it not be?!).  Sometimes she foregoes cinnamon alltogether in favor of something else.  I'm thinking this might be a szupér vehicle for the first ripe peaches of Summer, with a little candied ginger whirled in the food processor with the sprinkling sugar. 

Since this is such a simple recipe, the really important thing is to use the very best ingredients.  Jutka gets flour imported from Italy and butter from France or Ireland.  The eggs and fruit are organic, from a farm not far from here.  Of course, Jutka's Gold Standard might be a little hard to replicate, but it definitely is inspirational, and the pudding is proof that she certainly knows what she's talking about!