HEAT COOKS THE BOOKS: Tom Kerridge’s white chocolate & pistachio blondies

We fancy a naughty treat, so how about Tom Kerridge’s White Chocolate and Pistachio Blondies? Put the bathroom scales away, unbutton your jeans
and let’s have a pig-out.

Tom Kerridge’s white chocolate & pistachio blondies
Makes 16
300g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
100g shelled pistachio nuts (roughly chopped)
200g white chocolate (roughly chopped)
50g sesame seeds, 150g butter (plus extra for greasing)
300g demerara sugar
40ml rapeseed oil
40ml sesame oil
2 eggs
1 vanilla pod
split in half lengthways
flaky sea salt to finish

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Lightly grease a 25cm square cake tin with butter, then line the base and sides with non-stick baking parchment. Let some overhang the sides of the tin to make it easier to lift out the cake later.
2. Put the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and mix well, using a balloon whisk. Stir in the pistachios, 100g of chocolate and the sesame seeds.
3. Melt the butter in a large pan over a low heat, then add the demerara sugar, rapeseed and sesame oils, and the eggs. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod
into the pan. Heat gently for 3-4 minutes, whisking constantly, to combine and warm through. Don’t overheat or the eggs will curdle.
4. Pour the warm mixture on to the dry ingredients, and whisk until combined and the chocolate has melted. Finally, fold in the remaining chopped chocolate.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through. It should be just golden and quite ﬁrm to touch. If a skewer inserted into the centre comes up slightly tacky, that’s fine – it means the blondie will be moist in the centre.
6. Remove from the oven and sprinkle on a pinch of ﬂaky sea salt. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then lift out, peel away the parchment and place on a wire rack to cool. Cut into squares to serve. The blondies will keep for 4-5 days in an airtight tin.

Heat’s Verdict:
Corrie says, “Tom Kerridge, you’re a mad man – 300g of sugar? That’s what
Peter Andre would call ‘Insania’. Mind you, anything with that much sugar in it must taste pretty darn good, so shut your eyes and pretend you’re pouring in Canderel. I did struggle to get pistachios that weren’t roasted and salted, so I gave up and bought hazelnuts instead. Well, it works for Cadbury, right? I also found that my blondies needed an extra ten minutes in the oven, as they were still pretty wobbly after half an hour. The result was pure heaven and well worth the calories –they certainly didn’t last long in the heat office, but then anything chocolatey rarely does. Thanks, Tom!”