Lime Cream Cheese Blondies

“Oozy”, “Gooey” and Squidgy” sounds like a children’s TV programme from twenty years ago, but it’s actually a great description of these lovely luscious blondies.

Makes: 16 squares

Time: About an hour

Level: Easy

Need: 20cm (8in) square cake tin, ideally loose bottomed

Ingredients

For the blondies

  • 100g/3½oz butter
  • 100g/3½oz white chocolate pieces
  • 125g/4½oz golden caster sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 75g/2½oz self-raising flour
  • 100g/3½oz white chocolate pieces

For the cream cheese mixture

  • 250g/9oz full fat cream cheese
  • 1 egg + 1 yolk
  • 75g/2½oz white caster sugar
  • Zest from 2 limes + juice from half

Optional decoration

  • A lime, thinly sliced then each slice quartered (Option 1)
  • Zest from another lime (Option 1 & 2)
  • A sprinkling of icing sugar (Option 2)
  • Decorating option 1
  • Decorating option 2

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / fan 160°C / 350°F / Gas 4. Butter the sides of the tin and line the base with a square of baking parchment. (If you don’t have a loose bottomed tin, cut the parchment longer to extend up two opposite sides to help lift out the baked blondie “slab.”)

2. Place the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and melt on a low heat. Stir just until smooth, then remove from the heat. Beat in the sugar and salt, followed by the eggs.

3. Sift in the flour and stir in the chocolate pieces. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and spread it out evenly.

4. In a clean bowl, beat all the ingredients for the cream cheese mixture together until smooth. Gently pour or spoon this mixture over the blondie mixture. It may be very runny, nevertheless use a skewer or knife to swirl the two mixtures together briefly and gently.

5. Bake for 37 – 45 minutes or until the middle of the cake still wobbles slightly when you gently shake the tin – a skewer inserted into the centre should come out with a little moisture on it. Check towards the end in case you need to cover with foil to avoid the mixture overbrowning.

6. Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack and allow to cool completely in the tin before carefully removing the cake and cutting into squares to serve. (*See tip below)

7a. (First decorating option) Sprinkle over the zest. Cut the remaining lime into thin slices and either halve these or use quarters added onto each square. (NB It may or may not be a problem for you, but the lime juice is likely to seep into the blondies and change the texture.)

7b. (second option) Sprinkle with icing sugar then grate over the zest.

*Cutting tip. It may be helpful to carefully invert the uncut block and slice it from underneath where it’s less crumbly. I also use a serrated knife dipped in hot water.

Gallery 1

  • The main mixture
  • Cream Cheese mixture
  • Swirls of cream cheese mixture

Gallery 2

  • The baked block
  • Cutting through the inverted block
  • Sixteen undecorated squares

Gallery 3

  • Decorating option 2
  • Bake complete
  • Taste testing

Click this link for more tasty traybake recipes. Two personal favourites that I’m sure you’ll love too are my Coffee and Cream Brownies and my Orange and Blueberry Blondies.

Please have a look at my site for lots of other great sweet and savoury recipes. If you’d like to make a comment or ask a question please do, via the contact page.

Best wishes

Ian