On the eve of my glutard diagnosis at the peak of (or descent into) my gluten grief, my sister brought me a tub of Duck Island roasted white chocolate and miso ice cream. Insanely delicious, this tub of gluten free gold restored my faith that maybe there was life after gluten. 

Featuring the well-established combination of salty, unami, and sweet, the roasted white chocolate has a nutty, toasted flavour which elevates the ice cream far beyond its Milky Bar heritage.

In the months since I’ve demolished one or two tubs (gross under exaggeration) and introduced friends and family to the joy of the best ice cream ever, and the inspiration for this, the best blondie ever. 

Roasted white chocolate & miso blondie

For the roasted white chocolate:

decent quality white chocolate 250g (I used Whittaker’s)

Preheat oven to 120°C (not fan-bake). Break the chocolate into pieces and place into a rimmed baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir the chocolate with a spatula so that it forms a smooth paste and place it back into the oven. Bake for further ten minutes, then remove and stir; at this point the chocolate will be starting to dry out and form chalky clumps which you can break up a little as you stir. Repeat this process another two times, keeping a close eye on the chocolate for the final 10 minutes. The chocolate is ready when it has turned a golden, nutty colour. Remove the chocolate from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 180°C (not fan-bake).

For the blondie:

butter 200g

shiro (white) miso paste 4 tablespoons

roasted white chocolate (see recipe above)

icing sugar 1 cup (check it’s gluten free if that’s a concern)

gluten free or plain flour 6 tablespoons (I used brown rice flour)

a pinch of sea salt

free range eggs 4, at room temperature

Line a square baking dish with baking paper. The best way to do this is to tear off an over-sized square of paper and place it under a running tap while you crease it up with your hands. Shake off the excess water and then dry the paper with a tea towel. The baking paper will now be malleable and easy to mould to fit your baking dish. 

Place the butter, miso and roasted white chocolate into a medium-sized saucepan and stir over a low-medium heat until the butter has melted and the mixture has formed a fudge-like paste. It will seem like there’s too much butter, but trust me, it’s the right amount.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the flour and icing sugar and stir until you have a smooth batter. Scrape the blondie batter into your prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and leave the blondie to completely cool before slicing, but that’s completely a case of do as I say not as I do.