Banoffee Pie

Recipe from Sprinkle Bakes

Banoffee Pie

Ingredients:
For the base
2 cups digestives
½ cup chocolate sprinkles or chips
¼ tsp salt
113g (8tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
25g (2tbsp) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1tbsp caster sugar
For the filling
4 large bananas
2tbsp lemon juice
227g (1 cup) butter
2 x 14oz cans sweetened condensed milk
283g (1 1/3 cup) light brown sugar
60ml (¼ cup) golden syrup
For the topping
320ml (1 1/3 cups) double cream
chocolate shavings


Method:
1. For the base, crush the biscuits with a rolling pin or in a food processor and mix in the chocolate sprinkles/chips, salt and sugar. Pour the melted butter into the centre and mix together until thoroughly combined. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 x 2.5 inch springform pan and refrigerate.


2. Slice two of the bananas, place in a bowl and toss with 1tbsp lemon juice. Arrange the banana slices over the bottom of the base and refrigerate.

4. Place the butter, brown sugar, condensed milk and golden syrup in a large saucepan. Stir over a medium heat and raise to a medium-high heat once the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Keep the mixture bubbling gently for 6-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature before pouring over the bananas in the crust. Chill for several hours or overnight, until set.

5. Slice the remaining bananas and toss with 1tbsp lemon juice. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Place a few of the banana slices over the top of the pie, top with the whipped cream and then add the remaining banana slices and the chocolate shavings.

Caramel Hazelnut Chocolate Tart

Recipe from Bakingdom

Caramel Hazelnut Chocolate Tart

Ingredients:
For the crust
115g unsalted butter
70g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
130g plain flour
18g cocoa powder
pinch of salt
For the filling
200g granulated sugar
60ml water
1tbsp golden syrup
60g unsalted butter
120ml double cream
1tsp salt
210g hazelnuts, toasted and skinned

40g plain or milk chocolate, melted, to decorate



Method:
1. For the crust, cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg yolk. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and salt and mix until just combined. Ensure the texture and colour is uniform and refrigerate for 15 minutes.


2. Press the dough into a 9 inch tart pan and freeze for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/mark 4. Bake for 30 minutes and cool before filling.


3. For the filling, combine the sugar, water and syrup in a large pan and stir to combine. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then increase the heat and cook until the mixture takes on a pale-honey colour. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter, in tablespoon-sized portions. Gradually whisk in the cream and salt. If clumps form, continue to heat the caramel to remelt the sugar. Mix in the hazelnuts and heat until the caramel darkens slightly (about two or three minutes).


4. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake for 20 minutes, or until the caramel is bubbling. Leave to cool before decorating with the melted chocolate.

Rolo Chocolate Brownie Cake

Recipe from Raspberri Cupcakes

Rolo Chocolate Brownie Cake

Ingredients:
400g unsalted butter
200g plain chocolate, chopped
4 eggs
200g caster sugar
200g plain flour
2 tubes rolos (+ extra for the top)
For the filling and ganache:
400g dulce de leche
400g milk/plain chocolate, chopped
300ml double cream

Method:
1. Pre heat the oven to 150°C/ 300F/Gas 2. Grease and line a couple of 20cm cake pans with baking paper.

2. In a bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt together the butter and chocolate.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and creamy. Mix in the melted chocolate mixture and once well combined, sift and fold in the flour.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared pans and gently press in the rolos over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until just firm.

4. Once the cakes have cooled, remove from the pans and spread the dulce de leche over the top of one of the cakes and refrigerate to allow the caramel to set a little. Sandwich with the other cake layer.

5. For the ganache, Heat the cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and pour over the cream. Mix until homogenous, place in the fridge to set a little if necessary, and spread over the top and sides of the cake. Top with rolos.

Salted Caramel Brownies

The swirls of caramel enveloped in blankets of chocolate velvet comprising this dessert really do render it more of a truffle than a brownie. These do need to be refrigerated before slicing and serving, but they could also be served after freezing to give a more solid, frosty result.

Recipe from Poires au Chocolat

Salted Caramel Brownies
Makes about 30

Ingredients:
For the salted caramel:
75g caster sugar
50ml double cream
10g unsalted butter
1/8 tsp salt
For the brownie:
100g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
100g light brown sugar
75g golden syrup
275g dark chocolate, broken
4 eggs
70g plain flour, sifted
sprinkling of cocoa nibs or chopped quality chocolate

Method:
1. For the caramel, heat the sugar in a heavy based saucepan, and without stirring, allow to melt into a deep-golden colour. Remove from the heat and quickly whisk in about 1/3 of the cream. Whisk in the rest of the cream and return to the heat, if necessary, to re-melt any re-solidified sugar. Mix in the butter and salt and set aside.

2.Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/mark 2 and line  a 20x20x2.5cm baking pan with greaseproof paper.

3. For the brownie, place the butter, sugars and golden syrup in a saucepan and heat gently until completely melted. Remove from the heat and mix in the chocolate, stirring until melted and well combined. Beat in the eggs and then fold in the flour.

4. Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared pan and pour over the caramel in dollops. Run a knife through the mixture to swirl the caramel and batter together. Bake for 20 minutes, or until just about set. Remove from the oven, leave to cool and chill in the fridge overnight or allow to firm up in the freezer. Slice into portions.

Coffee, Caramel and Chocolate Mousse Cakes & Mock Caviar

The idea for these cakes came from a photo I saw a while ago on flickr. The recipe for the chocolate sponge is from From BA to Paris, the caramel and coffee mouse recipes are from Sweets and Loves and I found the the mock caviar recipe from Sprinkle Bakes.

Coffee, Chocolate & Caramel Mousse Cakes

Ingredients:
For the chocolate cake layer:
5 eggs, separated
100g plain flour
90g caster sugar
10g cocoa powder
For the coffee mousse:
60g egg yolk
60g caster sugar
5g custard powder
5g powdered gelatine
250g milk
10g instant coffee
250g whipping cream, whipped to medium-firm peaks
For the caramel mousse:
140g caster sugar
160g whipping cream
50g unsalted butter
½ tsp salt
4g gelatin
160g whipping cream, whipped to medium-firm peaks
20g granulated sugar

Method:
1. Pre heat the oven to 180°C/ 350F/Gas 4. Grease and line a baking sheet (approximately 38x27cm), leaving some paper hanging over two of the sides.

2. Whisk the egg whites to medium-firm peaks.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy. Sift and whisk in the flour and cocoa powder. Carefully fold in the egg whites and once well incorporated, pour the mixture onto the baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back a little when pressed. Remove the sponge from the sheet once cooked and leave to cool on a wire rack.

4. For the coffee mousse, soften the gelatine in cold water. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale, then whisk in the custard powder. Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan and stir in the coffee. Pour the milk and coffee mixture into the egg yolk mixture and mix well. Transfer the mixture into a saucepan and bring to 80C. Remove from the heat and cool in an icy water bath. Once cool, fold in the whipped cream.

5. For the caramel mousse, dissolve the gelatine in some cold water (according to packet instructions). Make the caramel by heating the sugar in a medium sized saucepan over a gentle heat until melted and amber in colour. In a separate saucepan (or in a heatproof bowl in the microwave), gently heat the whipping cream and gradually mix it into the browned sugar. Remove from the heat and cool in an ice bath. Once the caramel is 40C, mix in the butter, salt and softened gelatine. Once well mixed in, pass through a sieve and fold in the whipped cream and sugar.

6. To assemble, cut out evenly-sized disks (or rectangles) from the chocolate sponge. Slice each portion in half horizontally to produce two thin layers for each cake. Sandwich the layer pairs together with the coffee mousse. Place the sponge-mousse sandwiches into pastry rings and cover with some caramel mousse, ensuring the caramel mousse layer is about twice the height of the sponge/coffee mousse layer. Smooth the tops and refrigerate until set.

Mock Caviar

Ingredients:

approximately 500ml vegetable oil

4tsp powdered gelatine

3tbsp cold water

105ml hot liquid- i.e. coffee

ice

60ml salt

Method:

1.Place the oil in an appropriate container (jug, saucepan, etc) and refrigerate overnight.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the gelatine and water and set aside to firm up. Pour the hot liquid over the set gelatine and stir to dissolve. Transfer the mixture to a squeeze bottle and leave it to stand for a few minutes, or until just warm.

3. Fill a basin/large bowl with cold water, ice and the salt. Rest the container of oil inside the water bath, without letting water enter the oil container.

4. Slowly drop the gelatine mixture into the oil- you may need two or three drops to make each ‘caviar’ blob. Once all the mixture has been used up, leave the droplets for at least 3 minutes before scooping out with a spoon and draining excess oil with a sieve. Store in a jar or air tight container, covered in some of the remaining oil, in the fridge until ready to use (up to 10 days).

Caramelised Apple Tartlettes, Apple Sorbet & Apple Chips

I saw this picture a little while ago, and realised that not only did it look great, but that I had the means to whip up my own version without masses of fuss. The dessert is made up of an almond and apple tartlette, apple sorbet, vanilla ice cream, apple chips and some caramel.

For the apple tartlettes, I cut some puff pastry into little rectangles, spread them with a couple of tablespoons of frangipane each (leftover from these bakewell tartlettes, which I had frozen) and baked in a medium oven (around 180C/350F/mark 4) until light golden. I then coated very thin apple slices in sugar which I had melted until golden, and I used these to top the tarts.

For the apple chips, I baked some thin apple slices in a very low oven until dry.

For the apple sorbet, I cooked chopped apples, a little water and enough sugar, to taste, until soft. I then mashed up this mixture and churned in an ice cream machine, adding apple juice as necessary. This could be done without an ice cream machine- just pour the mixture into a container, freeze and mash up every couple of hours.

The caramel I used was left over from this cheesecake.

White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

Boy, have I been waiting to make this cheesecake. It has featured on the top of my bookmarks bar for many months now- though I love it so, I don't often make cheesecake, but I thought that it would be appropriate to make for National Cheesecake Day (July 30th). 

I find that the caramel isn't too difficult to make, but if you don't fancy it, you could top the cheesecake with shop-bought caramel, or one from another recipe. I considered using a different recipe, but the buttery richness of this one works so well. I also found that, despite my expectations of it firming up upon cooling, this caramel remained smooth and fluid and didn't really require reheating in the microwave oven.

The recipe is from Not So Humble Pie

White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the Crust

180g digestives

7tbsp unsalted butter

½ tsp salt

For the Filling

225g white chocolate, chopped

120ml double cream

340g white chocolate, chopped into little chunks

3 x 225g packs of cream cheese

250g granulated sugar (1 1/4 cup)

5 eggs, beaten

1tsp vanilla extract

pinch salt

For the Caramel

300g granulated sugar (1 1/2 cup)

570ml double cream

4tbsp unsalted butter

     

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/mark 5.

2. For the crust, crush the biscuits to fine crumbs and mix in the salt and butter. Press into a 10 inch spring form pan, covering the base and an inch and a half up the sides. Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool. Lower the oven temperature to 170C/325F/mark 3.

3. For the filling, place the chocolate into a heat proof bowl and bring the double cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and leave for a minute before stirring until the ganache is smooth. Leave to cool.

4. Lightly beat the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl to soften. Add in the sugar and mix to combine. Gradually beat in the beaten eggs, roughly one egg at a time. Fold in the ganache (once cool), vanilla extract and salt.

5. Pour the filling into the pan with the crust. Cover the pan with two sheets of foil and place the pan into a fairly deep roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan, about 1 inch deep (it must not exceed the height of the foil. Bake for 60 minutes, reduce the oven to 160C/300F/mark 2 and leave to bake for a further 60-90 minutes, until the centre has just set. Allow to cool completely before covering, refrigerating and leaving for at least 8 hours before serving with the caramel.

6. For the caramel, gently heat the sugar over a medium heat in a heavy based saucepan whilst stirring with a wooden spoon. Once the sugar has melted, gently shake the pan, continuing to cook the sugar until it turns light-medium amber in colour. Be careful not to overcook. Take the pan off the heat and carefully whisk in the cream. If any of the caramel solidifies, heat until it melts. Return to the heat and allow to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter. Allow to cool and pour into a heatproof container/jar. Pour over the cheesecake.

Billionaire's Shortbread

So, after a somewhat unexpected hiatus for work-related purposes, I finally am able to return to the blog. It has been difficult, willing myself into focusing on the Cold war, population change, reversible reactions, Cepheid variables, respiration, poetry and countless other topics, when all I (desperately) wanted was to get back into the kitchen.
Just one more, little exam left. 45 minutes away from freedom- until September. And not a moment to soon. Thankfully it is (for once) not the kind of exam which could be revised for (well, for prolonged periods, anyway), which leaves me time to begin ticking off my endless list of baking goodies.

I have already done a post on Millionaire's shortbread, which I still stand by, but this is something more luxurious. The caramel is more intense and the dark chocolate also adds richness (you could substitute this for milk chocolate, which I would usually be tempted to do, but it works well with dark chocolate). This does take more time and care, but it is definitely worth trying.

Just a little more chocolate...

This can be made over a couple of days; the shortbread can be kept for around 5 days in a tupperware once baked and the caramel can be stored in the fridge.
I couldn't find a 20x30cm tray, so I used a slightly smaller tins. Most of the pieces I did were around 3x5cm rectangles- the rest were little squares.

Recipe from Heston Blumenthal.
He notes that in the Fat Duck, the shortbread is topped with golden nuggets made from fleur de sel dusted with edible gold powder. I couldn't obtain fleur de sel, so just rolled little pieces of rock salt in edible gold dust. This is good for balancing any bitterness of the dark chocolate.

Billionaire’s Shortbread

Makes 20 (or so) bars

Ingredients:

For the shortbread

125g plain flour 

50g ground almonds 

½ tsp baking powder 

½ tsp salt 

110g cold unsalted butter, cubed

100g caster sugar

40g egg yolks (about 2 large egg yolks)

35g olive oil

A little more caster sugar, for dusting

For the salted butter caramel

200g double cream

190g caster sugar

150g unsalted butter

1 tsp salt

185g liquid glucose

190g whole milk

For the chocolate

250g plain chocolate, chopped

10g unsalted butter

     

Method:

1. For the shortbread, sift the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until the appearance is similar to breadcrumbs.

3. In another bowl, beat together the egg yolks and olive oil and gradually add to the breadcrumb mixture until a soft dough is made.

4. Shape the dough, on a very lightly floured surface, into a flat rectangle and wrap in cling film. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.

5. Unwrap the dough and place between two pieces of baking paper, then roll out into a rectangle measuring around 20x30cm. Cut the dough and baking paper to fit a 20x30cm tray and place in the tray. Place the tray in the freezer for at least 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/mark 2.

6. Remove the tray from the freezer and discard the top layer of baking paper. Place the tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes, before turning it round to bake for a further 3-5 minutes, or until lightly golden all over.

7. Before allowing the shortbread to cool, slide it from the baking tray with a palette knife and transfer to a chopping board. Slice into little bars measuring approximately 3x5cm, or however desired. Dust with sugar and leave to cool.

8. For the caramel, line a 20x30cm baking tray with baking paper. Warm the cream in a small saucepan, without allowing to boil.

9. Put the sugar, butter, salt, glucose and milk in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.

10. Begin whisking the caramel, and once it reaches 100C, make sure you continue whisking until it reaches 153C. At 153C, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the cream, in thirds, whisking quickly to incorporate.

11. Pass the caramel through a sieve and pour into the prepared baking tray. Let the caramel cool and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

12. Remove the caramel from the tray and slice into 3x5cm rectangles, or whatever size the bars of shortbread are.

13. For the chocolate layer, break the chocolate into a bowl over a small pan of simmering water and heat until melted. Stir in the butter.

14. To assemble, top the shortbread pieces with the caramel slices and cover with the melted chocolate. Leave for a few minutes before transferring to the fridge for 30 minutes to set.

Triple Chocolate Caramel Brownies

For these brownies, I used three types of chocolate- there is melted dark in the batter base, and white and milk chunks throughout. In order to incorporate some caramel, I used Cadbury's Dairy Milk Caramel chocolate, but you could use any chocolate bar that has runny caramel within. Another way would be to marble the batter with some plain caramel. All in all, a pretty chocolatey brownie.

(under an hour post-bake)

These did remain nicely gooey post-bake, but by the next day, they had firmed up considerably (though not too much)- I usually prefer the brownies the day after the bake, and if you're worried about a lack of solidity, it'll definitely be there after those hours out of the oven.

I found the base for this recipe on Mr. P's blog- originally from Martha Stewart, and adapted it slightly. Of course you could omit the chocolate/chocolate caramel chunks for some plain brownies, or add  whatever you like in your brownies (dried fruit/nuts/chocolate/caramel/frosting etc.).

Triple Chocolate Caramel Brownies

Makes 16 5cm squares

Ingredients:

butter

75g dark chocolate

plain flour

200g caster sugar

30g cocoa powder

½tsp vanilla extract

¼tsp salt

75g white chocolate, chopped into small chunks

100g milk chocolate, chopped into small chunks

100g caramel-filled milk chocolate, chopped into small chunks  

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas 3, and grease and line a baking 20cm square tin.

2. Melt the butter and dark chocolate over a low heat in a saucepan, add the vanilla extract and cool.

3. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a large bowl and add the caster sugar and salt. Break in the egg and pour in the melted chocolate mixture and beat until well-combined. Fold in the white and milk chocolate chunks.

4. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared tin and stud it evenly with the chocolate caramel pieces. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out from the centre mostly clean, but the brownie retains some squidge. Leave to cool on a wire rack before removing from the tin and peeling off the greaseproof paper. Slice the brownie into squares.