Halloween blondies

Method

• step 1

  Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4, and butter and line a 20cm x 30cm tin with baking paper.

• step 2

  Melt the butter and 100g of the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. When the mixture is smooth, take off the heat to cool for 5 minutes.

• step 3

  Whisk both sugars and the eggs in a large clean bowl for 2 minutes until thick and foamy. Stir a quarter of it into the melted chocolate mixture along with the vanilla paste, then carefully fold in the remaining sugar and egg mixture until smooth. Fold in the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt until well combined. Stir in the remaining 100g of chopped chocolate.

• step 4

  Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 30-35 minutes. Check if the blondies are cooked by giving the tin a little shake – they should be mostly set but wobble a little in the middle. Cool completely in the tin (if you remove the blondies too soon, they will be too soft to cut).

• step 5

  To make the decorations, roll out a few little balls of the fondant and eight little legs to attach to make the spider legs.

• step 6

  Put the marshmallows in a heatproof bowl and microwave for 20 seconds until melted. Allow to cool for 5 seconds and then put your thumbs and index fingers into the melted marshmallow and pull your hands apart to create a cobweb effect, draping it over the blondies, attaching it at the sides. Continue this all the way around the cake and put your little fondant spiders onto the web to finish.