White chocolate blondies

White chocolate blondies are today's gem. They were delicious and disappeared too quickly for me to take a picture.

Ingredients

4 oz (approx. 120 grams) of white chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1 large egg
5/8 cup flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/6 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of chopped nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios or pecans)

Instructions

In a bowl combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Melt chocolate and butter in microwave or in a metal bowl placed in a saucepan of water heated until the water bubbles (but doesn't boil). Please note that white chocolate has a lower melting/burning point than regular chocolate and can "glom together" if overheated. Beat egg until frothy, then beat in sugar. Beat in melted butter and white chocolate mix gradually so it doesn't "cook" the egg. Fold in the flour/salt/baking powder mixture and add the chopped nuts.

This amount of batter should fit into 8 silicone mini loaf pans in the GoSun.

It took about 40 minutes in late afternoon sun, but keep an eye on them because it could take less time. The blondies actually had a nice caramel tinge about the edges when they came out and they smelled divine.

Banana bread surprise

This is Trish's delectable banana bread recipe, originally adapted to be baked on a boat in a 6' x 9' pan. Because it's kind of hard to have less than one egg, it's difficult to adapt it down any further. It fits 11 mini silicone loaf pans, which is 3 more than what fits in a GoSun. I wonder, however, whether more would go in if you put it directly into the tube. Don't fill it too much, though, because it does expand.

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

1 1/2 very ripe bananas (2 if they are small)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Optional: walnuts or chocolate chips

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients. Set aside. Mash the bananas, melt the butter, and lightly beat the egg. Add butter, egg, and sugar to mashed bananas, and combine quickly. Fold the liquid ingredients into the dry, mix together. Add vanilla extract, walnuts and/or chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the silicone cups, leaving some room for it to rise. Bake.

Now here comes the surprise. I was all read to go, with the silicone cups neatly lined up in the tube. I went outside with the GoSun to set it up -- and there was no sun in the backyard. The whole backyard is now shaded by the large trees on the south side of the property. The last two times I used the GoSun, there were no leaves on the trees yet. Now there are. Big dilemma. I considered putting the GoSun in front of the house, where there was full sun, but then I'd have had to babysit it for the duration of the cooking time to prevent it from going walkies. So I cheated and put the mini loaves in the toaster oven at 340F for 25 minutes. I suspect in the GoSun it would have taken about the same time as the Johnny Cakes, about 50 minutes to an hour.

Johnny Cakes

This is from my good friend Marli, whose idea it was to get me a GoSun for my birthday. The recipe is from her mom's collection of family recipes, converted to fit the GoSun. Essentially it's one third of the original recipe. She says she doesn't know why it is called "Johnny Cake", as it's a sweet cornbread. If you want it less sweet, reduce the sugar.

Ingredients

1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar (scant)
2 tbsp. melted butter
1/3 cup milk
1 egg

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add milk and melted butter and mix it in. In a separate bowl, beat egg. Add egg to mixture, mix well.

This amount will fill 8 mini silicone loaf pans and fit perfectly into the GoSun Sport.