Dear Readers,
I have managed to keep to my Sinitta-esque daily blog-a-thon and here I am with a new recipe for Nigella's 'Dream Bars'on this most feline of days.
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| Gratuitous Photo of Tildred Enjoying World Cat Day |
When choosing a recipe, I have found that I am more likely to go for something with a picture rather than without. Today, I decided to choose a recipe based on the inclusion of Brazil Nuts rather than an enticing visual aid. Those of you reading yesterday will recall the thrill with which I re-told the events relating to the creation of BRAZIL NUT TOFFEE. Well, today I realised that I had 175g of Brazil nuts remaining meaning that I could attempt another Brazil Nut based recipe. (And, indeed, the super-saving will continue on Saturday when I bring you a Double Espresso Brazil Nut Cake.) Brazil nuts are quite expensive - my organic ones cost £3.65 for 250g BUT if this equates to three separate recipes then I think they become quite financially viable. I was also convinced by Nigella's recipe based on it containing several different types of sugar. If, like me, you have a tendency to hoard different varieties of muscavado sugar bought during a reckless baking shopping-spree, then this is the recipe in which you can use up ALL of those sugars. However, if I'm honest, as I type I think I know the real reason why Nigella's publishers chose not to include a picture of the 'Dream Bar' and that is that whilst your kitchen does smell truly dreamy whilst you're making them, they are not remotely dreamy to look at. In fact they are decidedly un-dreamy (especially if, like mine, they have managed to burn) and they also look *shock* *horror* healthy which is ridiculous because whilst a bar with nuts and coconuts and no chocolate at all might *sound* like a healthy option, bear in mind this is Nigella's recipe and it is not healthy. No. There is no remote healthiness in this here 'Dream Bar'. The simplified version of the recipe would read:
Take some sugar. Add more sugar. Mix in lots of butter. Add more sugar. The end.
The actual recipe is as follows:
For the base:
200g unsalted butter
4 tablespoons light muscavado sugar
4 tablespoons caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
250g plain flour
For the topping:
3 large free range eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
125g muscavado sugar
3 tablespoons self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
100g shredded coconut
75g roughly chopped brazil nuts
75g raw unsalted cashews
Oven at 180 - I forgot to adjust for my fan assisted oven so my bars burnt - I'd suggest 170 fan and 180 conventional.
The base (as you will have gathered from the ingredients) is basically a very rich shortbread. Cream the butter and sugars together until they are perfectly light, fluffy and creamy.
Add the flour and vanilla and stir to form a shortbread base.
Use your fingertips to press the shortbread base into the tin and then part-bake it for ten minutes.
Allow it to cool a little as you begin making the topping.
Beat the eggs together with the vanilla and then continue beating as you add in the muscavado sugar. It's a very dark colour as below:
Stir the flour and baking powder together and then fold it into the mix followed by the other dry ingredients. This is quite fun because the baking powder immediately begins to react to the eggs and flour and it all starts to bubble. Although this is also the stage where you understand why Nigella's publishers left out the 'Dream Bar' photographic entry...
Pour the sticky mixture onto the pre-baked shortbread and spread it out evenly gazing in awe at the ugliness of your creation and the fact that it clearly looks *healthy* when it so clearly isn't.
Pop in the oven and bake for thirty minutes. At this point you can erase the image of the uncooked 'Dream Bar' from your mind and feast on the amazing scents of it instead.
To be fair to this 'chewy, fudgy, nutty, crisp tray bake' (Nigella Lawson, 'How to be a Domestic Goddess') it looks a lot better when you cut it up and it *is* true to its creator's description.
Chewy and nutty and I think it will last well in a sealed container. The shortbread base would be worth making by itself and would be the perfect Millionaire's Shortbread base. In fact, the shortbread is very dangerous as it makes the bars exceptionally more-ish and because they *look* healthy it feels completely possible to keep going back for more.
Will I be making 'Dream Bars' again? Probably not. Am I glad I tried them out? Yes, definitely.
Until tomorrow,
Silver Whimsy x
PS Serving Suggestion: best served with a magical pot of coffee.
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