Food | Peckish – Caramel Banana Blondies

For all the brownie lovers out there, this week Genevieve Levy introduces the blondie alternative with added caramel and bananas.

Ingredients

Blondies

Frosting (optional, but if you want to make them even more indulgent…)

What you’ll need:

What to do to make the blondies:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 170°C/gas mark 4.
Line your tin, I find the easiest way to do this is to grease the tin and then put about a spoonful of flour on top and gently move it around the tin until it is all lightly covered and merely pat out any excess, this also means you have nice clean edges.
If using condensed milk to make the caramel, place the tin in a saucepan filled with boiling water making sure that the entire tin is covered, as otherwise the caramel can explode! Then leave it to boil away for 2-3 hours.
Place the sugar, butter, about a third of the caramel and the chocolate in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved into a glorious gooey mess.
Leave this to cool slightly before you add the eggs one at a time, as otherwise they can scramble.
Sift in the flour and gently incorporate it using a metal spoon, this will keep it light and fluffy.
Next add your sliced bananas to the mixture.
Place in your lined tin and bake for about 40 minutes. I always check mine about three quarters of the way through to check that it’s not cooking too quickly on the top, if yours is starting to look a little burnt, then simply place a piece of foil over the top and this will stop any further colouring, but the blondies will continue to cook.
When you think they are ready poke them with a knife ensure it comes back out clean. They should also be springy to the touch. Once done leave them to cool.

For the topping you’ll need to:

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie, (this is just a fancy way of saying, place a bowl over a saucepan of hot but not quite boiling water, the bowl and water should not be touching, which means that the chocolate will melt gently and won’t catch and then go hard, which can happen if you put it in the microwave.)
Whilst this is melting, you can make your caramelised bananas. To do this place a frying pan on a medium to high heat and sprinkle the sugar into it so that there is a light covering.
Next place your sliced bananas on this and leave until the sugar starts to go a golden brown colour and flip them over until both sides are golden.
When the chocolate has melted add a tablespoon or two of your caramel to make your frosting.
Spread this over your blondies and put the caramelised bananas on top, then try not to eat them all at once.

Genevieve Levy