Thursday, July 23, 2009

Blondie Hot Fudge Sundaes...Blame Pamela



When I saw Pamela at Cookies with Boys had made these blondies, and they were so good she was almost speechless, it got my attention. When she said she would make them with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge the next time, I knew how I was spending my evening.

The recipe for the blondies came from Bon Appetit, and although it was straightforward, I had to mix it up a little bit. I decided to make them with browned butter instead of just plain melted butter, thinking the browned butter and brown sugar would be reminiscent of these cookies.

Don't bother. The brown butter flavor was lost in these since butter was not a predominant ingredient. These were so good and so easy to make! I love the sweet and salty flavor profile and have loved peanuts with ice cream since I was a kid. I will definitely play around with them more next time, but not with browned butter.


Next, I attacked the ice cream part of Pamela's vision. Dorie Greenspan's vanilla ice cream is my go-to recipe for vanilla ice cream. I've made it so many times, and made so many flavor variations (check back next week for some of them), that I almost know the recipe by heart. It has the most intense vanilla flavor in the very best vanilla base. This time, I didn't have a vanilla bean so I used some vanilla bean paste. While the cream was steeping, I tackled the hot fudge.


I have used the same hot fudge recipe for the last 18 years, since I was a toddler thirty-something. I cut it out of Gourmet and it is the very best hot fudge recipe I have ever tried. That statement may be misleading since I stopped trying new hot fudge recipes after I found it! It's unctuously smooth and has a great mouth feel and huge punch of chocolate. I used Valrhona chocolate and cocoa, but that's an indulgence that childless people like me can afford. We don't have braces and college educations to worry about, so the disposable income goes for chocolate.


Rich Hot Fudge Sauce

Printable Recipe

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 sticks/153 grams butter, cut into bits (I do chunks, but I'm lazy)
1/2 c/47 grams unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 c/100 grams sugar
1/2 c/120 grams packed dark brown sugar
2/3 c/150 grams heavy cream

In a heavy saucepan melt the chocolate and the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, then stir in the cocoa powder, butter, sugars and the cream (I usually mix the sugars and the cocoa together in a bowl with a fork, bypassing the sifting, and let the sugars melt in before adding the cream). Bring the mixture just to a boil, stirring, and simmer it until it is smooth and the sugar is dissolved (it should be glossy). Pour it into a 2 cup measuring cup or microwave safe decorative pitcher (I use either a small glass milk bottle or porcelain pitcher.) To reheat, microwave for about 15 seconds, swirl it around and repeat until it is quite warm but not hot.


Still grainy

It's almost a ganache, so it's pretty firm when cold, so you can scoop it out and roll the balls in cocoa and pretend they're truffles. They're not firm for very long so eat up.


Once all of the components were made, it was time to sample the winning combination Pamela envisioned. I cut the blondies in small squares, topped then with smallish scoops of vanilla ice cream and poured on a little hot fudge.

This combination will blow your mind. It is so perfect with the creamy, chewy, salty and sweet flavors. I took the entire operation to work (these were dangerous to have in the house!) and they were a big hit at work too. Thanks, Pamela, for bringing these blondies to my attention. If you become as addicted to these as we did, blame Pamela.

15 comments:

Craving Ellie in My Belly said...

I can mostly never convince Sara to make anything this good at home, lest we should NOMOMOMOMOMOM it all up and gain 10lbs each.

When I see stuff like this I wish I wasn't counting calories. Stupid weight loss, healthiness, blah blah blah blah damnit.

--Nick/imafoodblog.com

Foodie with Little Thyme! said...

Wow and yum!

Michele said...

Yum! How delicious!!

Anonymous said...

oh, yummmmy. A blondie hot fudge sundae sounds delicious.

margot said...

I made these to pair with brown sugar vanilla ice cream for SMS, they are wickedly good. Now I want to make them again with hot fudge sauce.

Unknown said...

i have been planning to use your hot fudge recipe ever since I saw the vanilla ice cream recipe pick. I want to make a tin roof sundae with fudge. super excited!!!!

sara/imafoodblog.com

Unknown said...

Oh man, everything about that calls to me!! I saw the blondies on Pamela's blog too and immediately stuck them on my to bake list!

Liz said...

Oh mama! This DOES sound lethally delicious! I think I need to lose 10 lbs BEFORE I try it as a sort of obesity prevention insurance policy.

Marthe said...

Oh my, this looks absolutely addictive!!

Pamela said...

Did I do that?? (insert evil, dark laughter here) :o)

Wow...you treated the coworkers to Hot Fudge Blondie Sundaes?? You are the angel of chocolate, aren't you?

Now see..I have to go and make some of that hot fudge this weekend so I can get it posted for TWD this week. I've been using the SMS one, but I have to try this one, for sure. It sounds fabulous.

I'm so glad you liked it. And thanks for a great post. You made me smile!

Cakelaw said...

Hmmm ... blondies so good that Pamela was rendered speechless - I think I have to try them!!!

Katrina said...

Can't wait to try out this fudge sometime!

Anne said...

Wow that hot fudge looks amazing! Splurging on chocolate sounds like much more fun than spending a fortune on diapers! :)

AmyRuth said...

Ha ha ha, I have two in college and one in braces. Love Valrhona, although its used VERY sparingly. hehe
I love that you have your favorite chocolate sauce. You are a chocolate woman after my own heart. Love this post.
AmyRuth

Jenn H in San Diego said...

I knew there was an advantage to having no kids! I need to take another look at my budget and insert a special "chocolate" catagory. This looks great - I'll have to give the hot fudge sauce a try. I know in my heart (on my hips??) I really shouldn't give it a try. Oh well.....!