Raspberry - almond blondies

I admit that the first time I heard of blondies (sigh, how long ago it was... my first stay in the States) I thought they were a flat cake, cut into squares, made with white chocolate. And I was completely wrong! But forgive me, I am Italian and this sweet doesn't belong to Italian tradition. Actually now many "foreign" sweets, as well as many other dishes, are popular in Italy too, and sometimes are even more appreciated than local ones, especially by follower of food trends: first cupcakes, then macarons, now something else. But blondies, unlike their dark cousins, are not much familiar to people. Maybe in future ... who knows? They are good indeed, and also easy to make.
I don't know exactly neither their origin and the story behind them, if there is one, nor their relation with brownies. But I think they deserve a try. Whereas brownies flavor depends, obviously, on chocolate, blondies have a molasses flavor, coming from brown sugar combined with butter, that I like even if some recipes are too sweet for my personal, and Italian, taste (actually most of the American desserts tend to be too sweet for me).

The recipe for these raspberry-almond blondies comes, ça va sans dire, from an American cookbook, "Cookies" by Martha Stewart, from which I take inspiration sometimes. But. as usual, I adapted the original recipe to my personal taste: first of all I cut (much actually) the amount of sugar and this means less sweet but also less chewy, more cakey blondies; then, since I am not a fan of nuts, I didn't put any sliced almond into the batter, as requested by the recipe, but just sprinkled some on top, all over raspberries; and finally I added to the batter some chopped white chocolate whose sweetness perfectly pairs with raspberries sourness. And these italianized  blondies came out very good, not too sweet, soft and delicate, perfect with a good cup of jasmine tea.

Raspberry laban cake

That breakfast is one the most important meals of the day is well-known: after the night rest our body needs to fuel for engaging in morning activities and performing well, and so it is recommended that everybody, and especially children, takes a balanced mix of nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibers, vitamins and minerals).
This is, in a nutshell, the theory. In practice, at least in my case, what I prefer to eat in the morning is something sweet, and my child (two years old) has a sweet tooth too. For this reason I like to have in hand every day some home-made cake or tarte or cookies to eat for breakfast with  milk, tea and coffee (the baby has of course only the milk). And, as I have already said when published these soft cookies, I always try to make something as healthy and light as possible (a little or no butter, not too much sugar, etc.) but at the same time tasty. This time I wanted to make a cake with fruit, raspberries in particular, because I had bought some packs for another dessert (coming soon because it is really worth trying!!!!); and I also wanted to try one local product I had never tried before: laban which is an Arab yogurt drink (but similar drinks are used also in other Middle Eastern countries), usually drunk to replenish all the water and salts the body need in the hot weather of these countries. It is thicker than milk but more liquid than yogurt and with a sour taste; I wanted to use it instead of any of them or maybe buttermilk, not easy to find here. I had noticed on the Gourmet magazine website a cake with raspberries and buttermilk and took inspiration from that recipe to make mine (I used much less sugar, self-raising flour instead of the regular one plus leaveners, less butter, no eggs, more fruit and, of course, laban). And the cake came out very good, soft, moist and light; it is really easy and fast to make, also kids can help and enjoy, and it is perfect both for breakfast, an afternoon tea and - why not?- as a light dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a lukewarm crème anglaise.
Just one comment: I don't like very sweet cakes so I am always careful with sugar, but in this case, if using raspberries, which are a bit sour, it is possible to use more sugar than me for having a sweeter result, and to add vanilla extract or swap lemon zests for it. Also raspberries can be replaced with other berries or fruits of your preference.

Raspberry Thumbprints

I bake a lot of cookies! Cookies for breakfast, cookies for coffee, cookies for my kid, cookies for an after-dinner treat - usually these fall into the chocolate cookies category - and sometimes, cookies for making baking experiments. Cookies are perfect for the last scope. In fact usually they are quite easy and fast to prepare (and thanks to the outside temperature here in Dubai I do not even have to wait long for butter to get soft), made with ingredients generally available at home and, let's say, "easier" to eat than for example a cake or a tarte: who can refuse a two-bite dessert? I know, there also some giant cookies that are much more challenging than a layered cake, but I consider them an exception.
Today's cookies are exactly an experiment inspired by a recipe, seen on Martha Stewart's website, for thumbprint cookies whose ingredients included cornmeal. Since I love the crunchy texture given by this flour (some regional Italian cookies made with cornmeal are in my opinion delicious) I wanted to try; I also loved the presence in the dough of orange zest which gives a fresh hint.
The original recipe called for cranberries in the filling jam: not being cranberries available here, I used raspberries which I like and paired perfectly with the base (but I think that also strawberries would work well). I made few adjustment and the result was even better than expected: crunchy on the outside thanks to the sugar crust, with a crumby and nutty interior texture due to the presence of cornmeal; the slightly acidity of raspberry filling perfectly balanced by the sugar crust; all perfumed by the orange flavor. Delicious!