White Chocolate & Macadamia Brownies with Warm Caramel Sauce

Woooaahhhh.  I need some serious stretchy pants. Two weeks of holidays has seen me drink many coffees, eat copious slices of banana bread and stuff anything remotely delicious into my mouth at a rapid pace.

This holiday has been great. Time in the garden. Time at the gym (shocking!). Time in front of the television. Time with friends. Lots of time eating, however, not much time spent in the kitchen.

For the final weekend of the break I figured I should make something epic. These have been in the pipeline for some time and I am so happy they happened in my kitchen tonight. Think chewy, chocolatey goodness.

White Chocolate & Macadamia Brownies
2 x 3/4 cups white chocolate bits
70 grams butter
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup macadamia nuts chopped

Melt one lot of the the white chocolate and the butter in a small bowl over a saucepan of boiling water until smooth.

In a large bowl mix the eggs, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add the white chocolate and butter mixture to the egg mixture and beat until well combined then add the flour, baking powder, salt, nuts and extra white chocolate. Mix until just combined. Cook in a 180 degree oven for approx 23 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting.

Warm Caramel Sauce
125ml thickened cream
95 grams brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
10 grams butter

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to the boil then let simmer for around 10 minutes until thickened. Caramel will continue to thicken while cooling.

Serve warm brownies drizzled in caramel sauce with ice cream.

Diet starts...................Tuesday.

Sunday Sweets: Chocolate Caramel Crumble

Lets just take a moment and really think about what attracts you to food?

What makes you decide "I will cook this oozing, crisp, decadent, chewy, chocolatey, caramelised calorie laded dessert instead of ....broccoli soup."

There is something about the words "molten caramel" that makes my heart skip a beat. I'm still not sure if I mean that metaphorically or literally.

There is just something about rivers of caramel poured hot from the pan that makes my tastebuds tingle.

What ever it is that attracts you to food, after this, it might never be the same.

Chocolate Caramel Crumble
32 Columbine Caramels (or similar caramel squares)
1/2 cup thickened cream
170 grams butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
200 grams chocolate (chips or pieces)

In a small saucepan combine the caramel and thickened cream. Melt over a low heat until the, stirring until it is completely smooth.

In a mixing bowl combine the butter, sugar, flour, oats and baking soda. Mix to combine then halve the mixture. Press half of the mixture into a prepared baking tray to form the base (baking paper is your friend). Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 10 minutes.

Remove base from the oven and sprinkle with chocolate. Carefully pour the caramel mixture over the top of the chocolate, allowing it to spread evenly over the base. Top the caramel with the other half of the oat and butter mixture, crumbling it all over the caramel.

Return the tray to the oven for a further 20 minutes. Now, this is important, hot caramel is like lava. It will seriously hurt if you spill it on you or attempt to eat it at this point. Remove the slice from the oven and allow it to cool on a tray. I would say let it cool to room temperature but...that is a big ask. Just make sure it won't metaphorically or literally burn your taste buds out of your mouth when you eat it.