Spiced Carrot Cake Blondies

and an ode to Diaspora pumpkin spice blend

Hello and happy Thursday!

I don’t know about you but this summer has been a drag. I don’t want to wade too deep into “summer is terrible” discourse but I do think I’ve seen more Greek vacations or tomato sandwiches than I can bear (and I love tomato sandwiches, don’t get me wrong, but I wish to see no more of them). Blame the New Orleans heat + humidity, which can drain anyone of their last shred of humor.

Today’s post is a glimpse of a cooler future - I’ll be talking about the Diaspora pumpkin spice blend that comes back this week, and I’ve got a killer blondie recipe for you as well.

In case you missed it, there are still some slots for my upcoming collaborative class with Megan Bayha of Baby T Rex Farms on Thursday, September 19th. We’ll be talking everything you need to know about growing, harvesting, storing, and decorating with edible and non-toxic flowers (with plenty of tips for container gardens in small urban spaces). You’ll also get a really delicious recipe for olive oil cake with whipped cream frosting. You can get 15% off with the code GROWING15.

Sponsored post ahead!

---

Producing a recipe for Diaspora was a dream collaboration for me. To be clear, this is a sponsored post! But the lines feel fuzzy when I’m talking about Diaspora, a company that produces such dizzyingly expressive spices. Working with their products changed the way I bake- I’d never had access to spices that were this intensely fragrant before. Cinnamon used to be a throwaway spice for me, something I’d add to autumnal bakes almost as an afterthought. Now I recognize the full potential of cinnamon - how its vibrant, burnt caramel notes can pull out more nuanced flavors in apples or pears, or how it can serve as the bracing undercurrent to a gingerbread, just as important as the ginger itself. The luxury of the Diaspora mace is especially seductive. The lacy apricot-colored aril of the nutmeg seed is preserved whole- something I’d literally never seen before! When ground, it smells of tea and wet earth and tastes of bitter orange and licorice. I love to pair it with stone fruit, slipping it into summer preserves and pies. It's especially transformative with aromatic nectarines. 

In a previous life I would have turned up my nose at a pumpkin spice blend, snubbing it for its popularity among people who felt so different from me. It took taking stock of my own perceived-as-guilty pleasures to change my mind. Nicole Rucker said it best in her evergreen pro-PSL treatise for Bon Appetit:

“I seek to avoid being perceived as needy or fussy, and least of all, unsophisticated. It’s what you learn to do as someone who works in the ‘farm-to-table,’ ‘natural,’ ‘organic’ food space. Maybe it’s something I do as a woman, a fat woman, to make myself feel smaller and more deserving.”

Like Nicole, I had to give myself permission to embrace the idea of pumpkin spice. What freedom in just letting people enjoy things! And what delight in this particular spice blend - like any recipe, an expression of personality. The best recipes feel like strong, decisive choices were made in their development. The Diaspora pumpkin spice straddles a tricky line: it feels nostalgic, reminiscent of the pumpkin spice blends you might remember from childhood pies, while also striking into fresh territory. Both literally fresh- these spices arrive at your door much sooner after harvest than commodity spices - but also new: with a stronger (but not overpowering) backbone of clove and white pepper, threaded with green cardamom, nutmeg, and mace, along with the familiar ginger and cinnamon. The green cardamom, both floral and vegetal, pairs especially well with squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots. 

Tasked with developing my own recipe to feature the Diaspora pumpkin spice blend, I knew I wanted to create something that could bridge the gap between these last days of August and the upcoming fall season. The result - carrot cake blondies, which are, in the words of another favorite LA pastry chef Sasha Piligian, “aggressively spiced”. They feature white chocolate, another famously polarizing ingredient I’ve only recently admitted that I love, as well as shredded carrots (of course), dates, and toasted pecans. The spices are bloomed in brown butter, and while it’s perfectly ok to use solely all-purpose flour here, this recipe would also work beautifully with a little rye or whole wheat thrown in as well. The best thing about this blondie is the way the texture shifts: cookie-like at the crisp edges and sinking into fudgy territory in the center. 

These recipe is very adaptable to whatever you have on hand. Feel free to substitute any nut or dried fruit you like (apricots and walnuts would be amazing, or toss in a handful of shredded coconut or golden raisins). They have a great shelf life- the texture and flavor are even better the next day. The recipe below can be made with brown sugar or a 50/50 blend of brown sugar and Diaspora jaggery for a more complex sweetness, the jaggery adding its own notes of maple and graham cracker. 

---

Spiced Carrot Cake Blondies

Yields about 12 blondies (depending on how you slice them!)

2 sticks / 8 oz / 226 grams butter

2 ¼ teaspoons Diaspora Pumpkin Spice Blend

1 ¼ cup / 272 grams light of dark brown sugar or 50/50 brown sugar/jaggery 

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)

2 cups / 240 grams all purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup / approx. 120 grams carrot, shredded

1 cup / approx. 170 grams dates, pitted and chopped

1 cup / approx. 110 grams pecans, toasted and chopped

4 oz / ¾ cup / 113 grams white chocolate, roasted (see note) 

Note: roasting the white chocolate is an optional step. If you’re not typically a huge fan of white chocolate, roasting it tempers some of the sweetness and adds beautiful caramel notes. I typically find higher-quality white chocolate in bar form in the grocery store, rather than using white chocolate chips (though you can use either). To roast, first preheat the oven to 350 degrees and chop the white chocolate (you’ll want largish chunks, about an ¾ of an inch wide). Line a baking tray with parchment paper, and spread the chopped white chocolate in an even layer.

Bake for 8-12 minutes, checking frequently to give the chocolate a little stir as it browns. It can move quite quickly, so once it begins to take on a pale golden color, watch it closely. Once it is a light brown, go ahead and pull it from the oven. Let cool completely before using. If you’re using white chocolate chips, this whole process will move quite a bit faster.

You may also substitute milk or dark chocolate if you prefer, though be forewarned an exceptionally dark chocolate may overpower the spices. 

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Prepare a 9 x 13 baking pan (often called a brownie pan) by spraying it with pan spray and lining it with parchment paper - allow yourself a long enough piece of paper that it extends up and over the sides of the pan. You can fold down the excess parchment and use it later to help lift your blondies out.

First, brown the butter. Melt the butter over medium heat in a small non-reactive pot, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon or a heatproof spatula, until it turns the color of dark straw and begins to sputter. Lower the heat and continue to stir. In about 6 minutes, the butter solids will begin to look like golden brown specks, and you’ll smell the brown butter’s nutty sweetness. Add the Diaspora pumpkin spice and stir vigorously to bloom the spices in the fat - this will smell incredible. Turn off the heat and pour the butter and spices into a separate bowl to cool, taking care to scrape all the brown butter bits out of the pot (they provide so much flavor!). Allow to cool to room temperature. 

While the butter is cooling, you can toast your pecans, shred your carrots, and chop your dates. If you’ve opted to roast your white chocolate, it should be also be cooling and almost ready to fold into your blondie batter.

Combine the all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside (you may need to sift your baking powder if it looks clumpy). 

Combine the cooled brown butter, brown sugar, orange zest, vanilla, and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer (or feel free to use a handheld mixer). With the whisk attachment, mix on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until the mixture has thickened and lightened. Fold in the dry ingredients by hand and stir until mostly combined - you should still see some unincorporated dry patches of flour. Add the carrots, pecans, dates, and roasted white chocolate (in that order). Stir until just combined. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and spread in an even layer - the texture will be quite thick. 

Bake for 28-30 minutes or until the edges of the blondies are a deep golden brown and have begun to separate from the sides of the pan, and the center springs back lightly when poked. Don’t be afraid if the center seems a little gooey- we want to take care not to overbake the blondies. Allow to cool completely before using your parchment sling to lift the blondies from the pan. Cut into twelve pieces and enjoy! The blondies can be kept, well-wrapped, at room temperature for up to three days, or frozen for several months. The texture of the blondies will be more cake-like the first day, and begin to develop a more fudgy quality as they sit (which is just how I like them).