Cherry and Almond Blondie Squares

• 2large eggs, beaten
• 200 gplain flour
• 175 glight brown sugar
• 175 gunsalted butter, melted
• ½ tspbaking powder
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• 100 gground almonds
• 150 gglacé cherries, chopped
• 3 tbspcherry jam
• 2 tspmilk (to loosen icing if needed)
• 75 gicing sugar
• 50 gflaked almonds
• 1pinch fine salt

Method

1. 1Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C)/gas 4 and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper, leaving a generous overhang on two sides; that's your lifting handle later.
2. 2Whisk the melted butter and light brown sugar for a minute until evenly combined, then beat in the eggs and vanilla until glossy. The sugar need not dissolve completely.
3. 3Tip in the plain flour, baking powder, ground almonds and a pinch of fine salt; the salt is important, it lifts the almond and stops the whole thing tasting flatly sweet. Fold gently with a spatula until just combined; stop the moment you can't see flour streaks. Overworked batter goes cakey, not fudgy. Fold through 125g of the chopped glacé cherries.
4. 4Keep the batter thick and just combined; do not taste the uncooked egg and flour mixture.
5. 5Spoon two-thirds of the batter into the lined tin and smooth into the corners. Dollop the cherry jam over in teaspoonfuls and ripple through with the tip of a knife, then spoon over the remaining batter in rough patches so the jam peeks through in jewel-bright streaks.
6. 6Scatter the flaked almonds over the top and bake for 25–28 minutes until the edges are golden and the middle is set. A skewer through the centre should bring out moist crumbs rather than liquid batter; avoid testing directly through a pocket of jam.
7. 7Cool in the tin for at least 45 minutes, until cool enough that the icing will hold; cutting hot blondies tears them. Lift out using the paper overhang onto a board.
8. 8Whisk the icing sugar with the milk a few drops at a time until you have a thick, ribbony drizzle that falls in a slow line off the whisk. Too loose and it'll run straight off; too thick and it sits in lumps.
9. 9Zigzag the icing across the top, scatter the remaining 25g chopped glacé cherries over while the icing is still tacky so they hold fast, and cut into 12 generous squares with a sharp knife wiped clean between cuts. Serve with a pot of strong tea or coffee alongside.

Per serving

kcal

344

protein

5.8g

fibre

2.1g

carbs

38.7g

fat

19.3g