Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

This recipe is a family standby.  It is almost universally loved and yet so very easy to throw together.  I make it as a lunch treat, send it in with Big Boy for “Feed the Friends Friday”, and every year bake enough to feed the school orchestra before their major performances.

As Small Man is allergic to walnuts and pecans, we’ve excluded the nuts specified in the original Mrs Field’s recipe and substituted more chocolate instead.  I have to admit that I do get a little obsessive about the chocolate in my butterscotch bars.  I like to have at least three different sorts in the mix, and have occasionally had as many as five.  It has to be the best chocolate you can manage – that’s what elicits the oohs and ahhs on tasting.  These days we always use Callebaut chocolate, but I’ve also used chopped up bars of Lindt with great success.  One year I had a large supply of Lindt Christmas balls, which went in whole, producing round orbs of milk chocolate within the finished bar.  I always use a mix of dark and milk chocolates, but never white (I’ve tried it, but the end result is too sweet for our tastes).  Often I’ll use three different sorts of dark chocolate – broken up baking sticks (which don’t melt in the oven), 54% callets (which do melt) and 70% callets (which give the bars an extra depth of flavour).  It does get a little over the top at times…

• 2 cups (300g) plain (AP) flour
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) – sifted
• 1 cup (215g) dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup (250g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large (59g) egg
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2½ cups (360g) mixed chocolate chips (I use Callebaut dark and milk)

1. Preheat oven to 150 C (300F) with fan. Grease or line an 8″ (20cm) square pan with Bake.

2. Combine flour and soda in a medium bowl, stirring well with a wire whisk.  Add the chocolate chips, and stir to combine.

3. In a large mixing bowl, blend the butter and sugar together using an electric mixer, then add the egg and vanilla.  Beat until light and smooth.  Scrape down the bowl, then add the flour and chocolate chips.  Blend at low speed until just combined – do not overmix.

4. Spoon the finished mix into the baking pan and level the top off.  Bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until a thin sharp knife inserted into the centre comes out clean of cake mixture (ignore the melted chocolate).  Do not overbake.

5. Leave the bars in their pan and cool the whole thing on a wire rack.  When cool, cut into bars and serve.  These freeze very well and defrost perfectly by lunch time, making them an ideal school treat.

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