Blondes have more fun...

White chocolate, maple, macadamia nut blondie topped with a bacon creme anglaise, candied lardons, and pink peppercorn brittle.

Yep. Re-read that a few times.

Take it all in. Go ahead, I'll give you a minute.

Yes, white chocolate, macadamia nut, BACON creme anglaise and yes, yep you got it, candied lardons.

PINK peppercorns? Brittle?

Did I mention this is house cured bacon? Smoked to perfection?

Yep.
Pretty epic, huh? Pretty freaking weird too (in this case weird is synonymous with magical).

My boss/life coach/idol, set me free this weekend, and told me I had to run my own dessert. With her help, guidance, and moral support I came up with something I felt pretty great about.

Sweet, smokey, and savory. This dessert is definitely different and definitely will get your taste buds going. Each bite is a new flavor and each component was carefully thought out. The guys at the shop ooo-ed and ahhh-ed with each bite, especially the candied lardons. I usually don't give into the hype of savory desserts (or diet desserts or any of that jazz) and I'm a firm believer desserts are by naughty by nature (yep, I said it) so why try to change that? But I'm a HUUUGE sucker for maple, especially this time of year... so I put my thinking cap on and gave it a whirl--I hope you will too.

White Chocolate, Maple, Macadamia Nut Blondie:
2 cup sifted flour all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup toasted Macadamia nuts, coarsely ground
2/3 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 c pure maple syrup
1 cup white chocolate chips (use the good stuff)

-Preheat oven to 350 F and grease baking pan of your choice. (I used a special silicon circle mold at work because I was making individual portions, and had a fancy silicon mold, you can easily make these into bar cookies.)

-Sift flour, add baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift again. Add nuts. Mix well and set aside.

Melt butter. Add brown sugar and mix well. Add egg and vanilla extract and maple syrup. Blend well. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well. Stir in white chocolate chips. Spread in a pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean or with slightly fudgy-looking crumbs.

Maple Bacon Creme Anglaise:
1/2 cup half and half
6 oz sugar
5 egg yolks
2 oz bacon and it's juices (pan fried and crispy)
2 Tablespoons of pure maple syrup

-Bring half and half, syrup, bacon and bacon fat to a boil.
-Meanwhile stir together yolks and sugar.
-Add a bit of boiling half and half to egg mixture and stir. Then pour the egg mixture into the boiling half and half and continue cooking until 160F. (mixture will thicken slightly and begin to foam).
-Pour through strainer and trash the bacon.

Let sauce thicken slightly as it cools, and then pour on top of your warm blondie.

**The candied bacon lardons and peppercorn brittle are a little tricky, but if anyone really wants to know the recipe for those too leave me a comment and I'll be happy to share it with you!!