STRAWBERRY AND WHITE CHOCOLATE BLONDIES

Wonderfully fudgy, these blondies are studded with white chocolate and swirled with a fresh strawberry compote.

Makes: 16 squares

Preparation time:

25 minutes, plus cooling

Cooking time: about 1 hour

225g strawberries, hulled weight 50g granulated sugar

175g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease

275g light brown sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1tbsp vanilla extract

200g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

175g white chocolate chunks

1 Make the strawberry compote: chop 175g of the strawberries into 2cm pieces and put into a pan with the granulated sugar and 1tbsp water. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered for 12-15min, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries have broken down into a thick, jam-like consistency.

2 Chop the remaining strawberries into 1cm pieces and stir into the compote, then simmer for a further 2min. Set aside to cool slightly while you make the blondies.

3 Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan/mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment.

4 Melt the butter in a medium pan, remove from heat and whisk in the brown sugar (it won’t completely emulsify). Leave for 10-15min, until cool. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Fold in the flour and baking powder until just combined, then mix in the chocolate chunks.

5 Spread the mixture into the prepared tin, spoon the compote over and use a skewer to marble through it. Bake for 35-40min until the top is shiny and slightly cracked, and the blondie doesn’t wobble when you shake the tin. Cool completely in the tin before removing and cutting into squares.