The photo accompanying the recipe for Edd Kimber's Baileys Pecan Blondies instantly drew me in: a dense bar chock full of pecans, topped with a thick layer of latte-colored ganache, and finished with gold pecans. That's right, gold pecans. I could not resist.
The recipe is written to be baked in an 8-inch square pan. I wanted to bake a larger batch in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan, and normally I would double the recipe to make this conversion. But I decided to multiply the recipe by only 1.5, because I didn't have enough pecans on hand to make a double batch. To make the blondie batter, you whisk eggs and brown sugar until thick and fluffy; stir in melted butter; and add in flour, vanilla, baking powder, flake salt, dark chocolate, and chopped pecans. I scraped the batter into the parchment-lined pan to bake. I was surprised how tall the bars were when I pulled them out of the oven. As it turns out, I think that only multiplying the recipe by 1.5 instead of doubling it was the right call.
After the bars were cool, you spread on a ganache made from caramelized white chocolate, cream, and Baileys. I made two minor changes to the ganache recipe. First, while Kimber provides instructions to make your own caramelized white chocolate, I used Cacao Barry Zéphyr Caramel (I always have some on hand), which was a real time saver. Second, we were out of Baileys, so I used some Coureur des Bois maple cream liqueur that I brought back from our last trip to Canada.
For the final touch, I tossed pecans with edible gold lustre dust (I always have edible gold dust on hand, and I recently stocked up when Global Sugar Art had a huge sale before closing its online store), and scattered the nuts on top before the ganache set. The effect was simultaneously full glam, and yet somewhat subtle because the contrast in color between the gold nuts and tan ganache wasn't that dramatic. I thought the bars looked excessive but pretty awesome.
Most important, these blondies were freakin' delicious. I loved the height of the bars and their dense, chewy texture. The deeply caramel-y flavor was so satisfying and punctuated with just the perfect amounts of pecans and dark chocolate, and the ganache was rich without being overly sweet or tasting alcoholic. These are some of my favorite blondies ever. Obviously you can just skip the gold dust, but if you happen to have edible gold dust on hand, the gold garnish is pretty memorable!
Recipe: "Baileys Pecan Blondies" by Edd Kimber, from Olive Magazine.
The recipe is written to be baked in an 8-inch square pan. I wanted to bake a larger batch in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan, and normally I would double the recipe to make this conversion. But I decided to multiply the recipe by only 1.5, because I didn't have enough pecans on hand to make a double batch. To make the blondie batter, you whisk eggs and brown sugar until thick and fluffy; stir in melted butter; and add in flour, vanilla, baking powder, flake salt, dark chocolate, and chopped pecans. I scraped the batter into the parchment-lined pan to bake. I was surprised how tall the bars were when I pulled them out of the oven. As it turns out, I think that only multiplying the recipe by 1.5 instead of doubling it was the right call.
For the final touch, I tossed pecans with edible gold lustre dust (I always have edible gold dust on hand, and I recently stocked up when Global Sugar Art had a huge sale before closing its online store), and scattered the nuts on top before the ganache set. The effect was simultaneously full glam, and yet somewhat subtle because the contrast in color between the gold nuts and tan ganache wasn't that dramatic. I thought the bars looked excessive but pretty awesome.
Most important, these blondies were freakin' delicious. I loved the height of the bars and their dense, chewy texture. The deeply caramel-y flavor was so satisfying and punctuated with just the perfect amounts of pecans and dark chocolate, and the ganache was rich without being overly sweet or tasting alcoholic. These are some of my favorite blondies ever. Obviously you can just skip the gold dust, but if you happen to have edible gold dust on hand, the gold garnish is pretty memorable!
Recipe: "Baileys Pecan Blondies" by Edd Kimber, from Olive Magazine.
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