Summer Afternoon

peach & ginger ice cream blondie

My favourite part of summer has to be the fruit. I wait patiently all year for a few sultry months of peaches and nectarines, mangoes, plums, berries and the delicious things I can do with them. While I do wholeheartedly think that peaches should be eaten over the sink with the juices dripping from your mouth and hands, I have to say, this peach and ginger ice cream blondie comes pretty close. A great combination of the fresh peach flavour and a crispy, yet slightly gooey blondie studded with white chocolate chips, this dessert is perfect for a summer afternoon. It was certainly a winner with Steph, Karen and Betty who had trekked to my neck of the woods for a great Lebanese lunch (more on that soon) and the promise of home made ice cream.

Blondies vs Brownies is a raging debate, and up until this weekend, I hadn’t tried making or eating blondies at all. I used David Lebovitz’s recipe from The Perfect Scoop, and when there looked to be about the same amount of blondie mixture to chocolate chips, I knew it was going to be good. Crispy on the outside and still a little gooey in the middle, like a real brownie should be. While I still prefer my brownies to be, uh, brown, I think there is certainly place for a blondie recipe in my repertoire and baby, this is it.

mentioned in cleo! (18/365)

In other exciting news, I received my first ever mention in the press recently, in an article about food blogging from the February issue of Cleo magazine. I’m in some great company, being featured with Lili from Pikelet & Pie, Suze from Chocolatesuze, Jen from Jenius and Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella. Some great insights from these lovely ladies and it’s always a very positive thing to see food blogging in the mainstream media. Wheee!

Peach and Ginger Ice Cream Blondies
Adapted from Design*Sponge

• 500g perfectly ripe peaches
• 1/3 cup plus ½ cup sugar
• ½ – ¾ teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 2/3 cip heavy cream
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or ½ vanilla bean
• 3 egg yolks

1. Slice the peaches into a bowl. Toss with the 1/3 cup of sugar, vanilla and ginger. Set aside while you prepare the custard.
2. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Heat until almost boiling. Whisk the ½ cup of sugar and egg yolks in a heatproof bowl. Add about 2 tablespons of the hot milk mixture into the yolks and whisk constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Gradually add the remaining milk, whisking constantly.
3. Return the mixture to the pan and heat until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Chill completely before proceeding.
4. While the custard is cooling, puree the sliced and marinated peaches in a food processor until smooth. Mix the peach puree and custard together and then process in your ice cream maker. Freeze until ready to serve.

Blondies
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
Makes 12 blondies

• 115g unsalted butter
• 1 cup (140g flour)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (215g) packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 175g white chocolate, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Butter a 20cm square cake pan and cut a square of non-stick baking paper to fit the bottom.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and then let it cool to room temperature.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking sugar and salt.
4. Stir the brown sugar and vanilla into the melted butter, then stir in egg. Stir the melted butter into the dry ingredients and then fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 30 minutes or until slightly puffed in the center. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Serve with peach and ginger ice cream.

15 Comments on “Summer Afternoon”

  1. I'm still very much in the brownie camp but I can't complain about yours especially with that ice cream! So refreshing and summery!

    And congrats on your feature! About freaking time that you ladies got recognised for your amazing work.

    xx

  2. Congratulations!! And I hear you on the summer fruit – I'm so upset to be missing a year's worth of figs and plums and apricots by travelling overseas for months and getting two winters in a row!

  3. Hurrah for the magazine mention! Well done! 🙂 I like brownies and blondies, though I tend to like the former more. The latter is a welcome "light" break. 😉

  4. Congratulations on the mention! You do have a gorgeous blog going here – and that ice cream dish – perfect! How did you manage to photograph that!?!

  5. I'm still mad you didn't get a photo in the article. Hmph. But your blondie and ice cream were so winner, and I love the photo! Thank you for having us in your lovely home 🙂

  6. Thank you for introducing me to the blondie! This dessert was so absolutely delicious, if we hadn't eaten beforehand, I probably could've gone for thirds or more! Hehe. Congrats on your mention in the magazine! Well deserved indeed 🙂

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