Rich and creamy white chocolate blondie with swirls of raspberry jam and topped with my one of my all time favourite biscuits, the Jammie Dodger (or for the Australians amongst us, the Raspberry Shortcake.) This slice is just jam-tastic!
I recently went back to the motherland to see my mum who had moved. Her new pad is just perfect, not least because it is located around the corner from the cutest little tea room. If you’ve ever stayed around the corner from a delicious looking tea room, you might have some idea of the self-restraint required because truly I wanted to pop in for a slice of cake every.Single.Day.
Experience has taught me that life is short, certainly too short to say no to cake. However a person cannot live on cake alone so I balance my regular cake intake with regular exercise and a valiant attempt to stick to my 5:2 diet, even when I’m in the motherland. Because life is all about balance, right?
As it turns out, I only made it to the tea rooms once for a sit down with a cuppa and a cake (although I did make multiple visits for some of the old-fashioned sweets in jars) so I had to choose my baked goods very carefully. I was tempted by the Sticky Toffee, keen to try the Banoffee but in the end I could not not choose the Jammie Dodger Slice. Jammie Dodgers were the biscuits of my youth and I love them so! Two vanilla biscuit rings sandwiched together with sticky jam, peeking through a heart shaped hole in the middle.
The slice was everything I had imagined and more. In fact, I loved it so much that I went to the supermarket upon leaving the cafe and stocked up on Jammie Dodgers to pack in my suitcase so I could make this slice when I got home. And make it I did! Although I’ve never seen Jammie Dodgers down under, I have seen the next best thing, Raspberry Shortcakes which taste just like Jammie Dodgers, only they look a little darker, a little less ornate and have a circle instead of a heart in the middle.
I had big plans to take pictures of the original Jammie Dodger slice but truthfully it did not last long enough, nor did the next one or the one after that. By the time it came to photo shoot , my stash of Jammie Dodgers had long gone and I was taking out shares in Raspberry Shortcakes… Because truly, this slice is impossible to resist!
So tell me have you ever had a Jammie Dodger? Do you say no to cake?
Ingredients
200g butter
200g brown sugar
200g white chocolate
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
275g plain flour
4 tablespoons raspberry jam
12 Jammie Dodger biscuits or 16 Raspberry Shortcake biscuits
How to – Traditional
- Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 33.5cm x 23.5cm lamington pan and line the base and long sides with baking paper. Extend the paper 5cm over sides to make handles.
- Chop the chocolate until you have rough chunks. Set half of the chocolate aside.
- Melt the butter, sugar and the other half of the white chocolate in a large, heavy bottomed pan until melted. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes to cool.
- Add the vanilla to the wet mixture and then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Gently fold in the flour.
- Stir through the reserved chocolate chunks.
- Pour the mixture into prepared tin and smooth over. Dollop the jam over the mixture and then using a butter knife or skewer, swirl the jam through the mixture.
- Gently press the jammie dodgers into the slice. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.
- Allow slice to cool in the tin. Cut into squares when cold.
How to – Thermomix
- Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 33.5cm x 23.5cm lamington pan and line the base and long sides with baking paper. Extend the paper 5cm over sides to make handles.
- Place chocolate into TM bowl. Set dial to closed lid position and blitz on turbo for a couple of times until chocolate is in rough chunks. Set half of the chocolate aside.
- Blitz the remaining chocolate in the bowl for 5 seconds on speed 9 and add butter and sugar. Melt for 5 minutes at 50C on speed 2 or until everything has completely melted. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes to cool.
- With the blades running on speed 2, add the eggs one at a time through the hole in the lid. This should take about 1 minute.
- Add vanilla essence and mix for 10 seconds on speed 4.
- Add the flour and mix for 10 seconds on speed 4.
- Add reserved chocolate chunks and mix for 10 seconds on reverse speed 3.
- Pour the mixture into prepared tin and smooth over. Dollop the jam over the mixture and then using a butter knife or skewer, swirl the jam through the mixture.
- Gently press the jammie dodgers into the slice. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.
- Allow slice to cool in the tin. Cut into squares when cold.
