Cookbook # 28 - Dessert Person
Yesterday afternoon I baked Salted Halvah Blondies from Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz (2020), which made for a great confidence restorer after last weekend’s failure with the gnocchi. I was worried about the batter, since it had a sort of caramel taffy consistency unlike what I’m used to in batters and doughs, but it turned out quite tasty—not as sweet as most brownies or blondies, with a nuttiness I’d almost take for almond flavor if I didn’t know better.
Salted Halvah Blondies
Butter for the pan
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (0.11 oz/3 g) - I haven’t been able to find Diamond Crystal in stores out here even though Saffitz isn’t the first cookbook author who prefers it to Morton. So I used Morton and weighed it. 3 g turned out to be a rounded half teaspoon.
½ tsp baking powder
6 oz white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
¼ c tahini
½ c packed light brown sugar
1 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 T vanilla extract
4 oz halvah, crumbled
2 T sesame seeds
flaky salt, for sprinkling the top
Preheat the oven and prepare the pan: Arrange an oven rack in the center position and preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8×8 inch pan with 2 sheets of foil, crossing one over the other and pressing the foil into corners and up the sides. Butter the foil generously and set the pan aside. (I skipped the foil part because I didn’t realize until I started that I was almost out of foil. So I took a chance on just using Baker’s Joy like normal and it turned out fine.)
Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder to combine. Set aside.
Melt the white chocolate mixture: In a large heatproof bowl, combine the white chocolate, butter, and tahini and set it over a medium saucepan filled with about 1 inch of simmering (not boiling) water. Warm the mixture gently, stirring occasionally, just until the white chocolate and butter are melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and let cool slightly.
Add the sugar and eggs: Whisk the brown sugar into the white chocolate mixture. It will look grainy and you might see some of the fat start to separate from the rest of the mixture, which is normal. Add the whole egg, egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk vigorously until the mixture comes back together and looks very thick, smooth, and glossy and is starting to pull ever so slightly away from the sides of the bowl.
Add the dry ingredients and halvah: Add the flour mixture and stir with a flexible spatula just until the dry ingredients are evenly incorporated into the batter. Add the crumbled halvah and folk in gently to avoid breaking into smaller bits.
Bake the blondies: Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it in an even layer all the way to the corners. Sprinkle the sesame seeds across the surface of the batter, then top with flaky salt. Bake until the blondies are puffed across the surface, golden brown around the edges, and slightly jiggly in the center, 20-25 minutes.
Let cool and serve: Allow the blondies to cool completely in the pan. Use the ends of the foil to lift the blondies out of the pan and slice into 16 bars.