Cherry Cheesecake Blondies

We’ve added a decadent cheesecake layer to these chewy blondies. Raspberries would make a great alternative to cherries.

Hands-on time 20min, plus cooling and chilling. Cooking time about 1hr. Serves 16

FOR THE COMPOTE

½tbsp cornflour

400g tin cherries in syrup, drained and 1tbsp syrup reserved 2tbsp caster sugar FOR THE CHEESECAKE LAYER

175g full-fat cream cheese 2tbsp caster sugar 1 medium egg

1tsp vanilla bean paste 1tbsp plain flour

FOR THE BLONDIE 250g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease

150g light brown soft sugar

100g caster sugar

3 medium eggs, beaten 1tsp vanilla bean paste 175g plain flour

½tsp baking powder 150g white chocolate, roughly chopped

1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4 and grease and line a 20.5cm square tin with baking parchment. To make the compote, mix the cornflour and reserved syrup in a small pan. Add cherries and sugar and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, over high heat. Bubble for 5min, until reduced and slightly thickened. Cool.

2 In a medium bowl, whisk cheesecake layer ingredients together, until combined. Set aside.

3 For the blondie, in a large bowl, mix sugars and melted butter. Next, mix in eggs and vanilla, followed by flour, baking powder and white chocolate, until combined. Scrape into prepared tin and smooth to level.

4 Dollop cheesecake mixture on to blondie base and swirl into batter with a skewer. Dot over cherry compote. Bake for 50min, or until golden and set. Cool completely in tin, then chill for at least 2hr.

5 Transfer to a board, slice into 16 squares and serve. PER SERVING 341cals, 4g protein, 20g fat (12g saturates), 36g carbs (27g total sugars), 1g fibre TO STORE Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.