butterscotch Archives

Butterscotch Cake With Orange Sour Cream Glaze And Figs

26|02|2015

A delicious butterscotch cake that is topped with an orange sour cream glaze and decorated with fresh figs. Made in one bowl and tastes amazing.

In summer every year, I take on a new role. Not the one I enjoy but more like an involuntary participation. Traffic police! Yes, supervising refrigerator traffic! You don’t know what that means? Let me explain. During my growing up years in India, traffic on the roads was not controlled by traffic lights or signage. It was manually controlled and supervised by a human being..a policeman stationed in the middle of important roads. As scary as it sounds, this was how entire cities functioned. He would signal with his hands and typically all driver’s eyes would be glued on to his actions. He obviously had to be completely perfect and alert at his job or else I cannot even imagine the repercussions! On my way to school every day, I would pass a very stern looking traffic policeman on a busy intersection. My sister and me would wave at him and he obviously would never wave back. Thankfully, he didn’t. I find it quite funny though when I remember how silly we were.

So, summer time for me is about managing inventory, reading labels, organizing contents only to re-organize in a couple of days and of course, gaining weight. Where do you think the fridge contents will end up? Because I am a fresh produce freak who gets so carried away looking at the beautiful fruits and veggies, my refrigerator is loaded to the point of things falling out if you opened the door. And the situation is somewhat like this ‘ricotta out…cream cheese in’….nectarines for lunchbox….strawberries have made it. Yay!

On Monday, I came back with two boxes of fresh figs. Beautiful, ripe, delicious figs…you can’t be accused of buying FIGS, right? Even with a loaded fridge. We ate a few in a salad, then with yogurt. Then I told my husband ‘how can we eat beautiful figs without putting them on cake?’ And I made this Butterscotch cake. Butterscotch is my favorite flavor from childhood but we hardly come across it these days. To get the flavor into the cake, I have used golden syrup. Golden syrup is just so effective to get the caramel-ish flavor into a recipe. You could substitute it with honey, if you do not have golden syrup at home but the taste is not exactly the same. This Buttersctch cake is really easy to make and the batter comes together in one bowl. You could also enjoy it like a tea cake by adding dried figs or fresh pears into the batter and skipping the glaze. The texture is soft, moist and the citrus glaze gives it a nice punch. The figs are a lovely addition to the not-too-sweet cake.

Having said this, our Summer is officially over in less than a week. Makes me sad. But yes, I can do without this supervisory role for some time:-)

Butterscotch Cake With Orange Sour Cream Glaze And Figs
Serves 8

180 g butter, room temperature, softened
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3 eggs
1/4 cup golden syrup (or honey)
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
1/2 cup dried figs (optional)

Preheat oven to 160 degrees c.(140 degrees C for fan-forced). Grease a 19 cm round cake pan and line the base and sides with baking paper.

Place all the ingredients together in the bowl of your electric mixer excepting the dried figs (if using). Beat on low for 1 minute or until just combined. Beat on high for 3 minutes or until mixture is pale and thick. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean (cover cake with foil if over-browning during cooking). Stand cake in pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Once cooled completely, pour over the citrus glaze (recipe below) and allow to set. Serve the cake with fresh figs and grated orange zest.

Orange Sour Cream Glaze

1/4 cup sour cream
11/4 cup icing sugar,sifted
Grated zest of 1 orange (leave some for garnish)

Mix everything together in a medium bowl. Stir until well combined.

Apple and Cinnamon Beignets with Cinnamon Sugar and Butterscotch Sauce

17|09|2013

For as long as I can remember, I have associated rains with comfort food. And comfort for me means warm, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, deep-fried, with a hint of spice…that kind of food. The category of food that best fits this kind of craving would be fritters, beignets or pakoras as they are called in India. And, that’s not all! You did know about my little sweet tooth, didn’t you..? So, I next visualise the deep-fried fritters tossed in sugar and spice and then drizzled with honey or some kind of a rich sauce and then served with ice cream on the side. Oh…why am I so obsessed with sweet things!

Apples and bananas are fruits that I generally have at home. So when the craving struck, I was instantly chopping, mixing, frying, humming to myself…while the rain flooded my balcony and my mind with memories. I chose to make a choux batter as I love the way they turn out..puffed up, airy, crunchy little beignets. They tend to be lighter than a normal fritter. If it helps to make you feel a bit less guilty about eating this, you do give your arm a little workout when you whisk vigorously while blending the ingredients together.

I also made 4 eclairs out of the batter before mixing in the apples. They were puffing up in the oven while I was frying the beignets. I ate several before I was convinced to remove a few for photographs. It was comforting indeed watching the rain with a plate of these addictive little pastry puffs and thinking about flavour pairings for the eclairs. What did I tell you! I am so very…TOTALLY obsessed with desserts!

Apple and Cinnamon Beignets with Cinnamon Sugar and Butterscotch Sauce (adapted with variation from Taste.com)
Yields 18 small Beignets

1 granny smith or any tart-sweet apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
vegetable oil for frying

For the choux batter
60g butter, chopped
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup plain flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Cinnamon sugar
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Butterscotch Sauce: Use this recipe.

Make the cinnamon sugar: Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

Make choux pastry: Combine butter and 2/3 cup cold water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until butter has melted and mixture just starts to boil. Reduce heat to low. Add flour. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture comes away from side of pan and forms a ball. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Using a wooden spoon, gradually beat in eggs until well combined and dough is glossy. Stir in apple and cinnamon.

Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Drop 1 level tablespoon mixture into pan. Repeat, making 6 fritters. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beignets to cinnamon sugar. Toss to coat. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining dough. Serve drizzled with butterscotch sauce and with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

If its a Sticky Date Pudding it has to be sticky!

14|03|2013

This morning as I was cleaning my refrigerator I found myself conflicted. There were bits of this and that everywhere. Egg whites, egg yolks, a cup of lemon curd, some ganache, dates, nuts, shortcrust pastry and a lot of others. I gave my brains a workout and it came up with a world of possibilities all of which were cold. Not surprising! Normally I wouldn’t want to waste a second once i make a decision especially if the outcome excites me. But today was different. The younger twin contracted an infection 3 days ago and has been down with fever and cold ever since.

Naturally, i had to make a warm dessert. Something I myself would enjoy during minimal taste sensations. No chocolate this time though.

Before I come to the dessert, there is something else I wanted to convey. Since I write so often about my boys, for the sake of blog identity henceforth I will refer to them as Twin 1 and Twin 2. I don’t feel I am justified in calling them older and younger. And incidentally that is how they were addressed after birth for hospital and immunisation records before they had a name.

Lets talk pudding now. There are two parts to my association with Sticky Date Pudding. Before Australia and after Australia. There were a few recipes I followed before moving to Australia which were alright back then. After I ate it at a cafe in Sydney slathered with sauce and downright delicious, I realised that my puddings were not sticky enough. What! It was a Sticky Date Pudding after all. It had to be sticky.

That one was stuck in my head for a fact.

I kept looking for the perfect recipe that would be close to the one I had till i found till one. The butterscotch sauce is what makes the difference. I have made this on a number of occasions and I love the simplicity of the recipe. Make it for your guests and try to stop them from licking the plates. At least don’t risk inviting me over.

The boys joined me in the kitchen. Twin 1 counted the dates while Twin 2 whisked the batter with utmost care. Before we realised the puddings were happily rising in the oven as we waited impatiently trying to save some of the butterscotch sauce. Most of it disappeared before the puddings came out. It was a lot of fun.

A day that started with coughs, sneezes, gloomy faces ended on a delicious note between snuggles, cuddles, mischievous grins and a good deal of spoon licking. Such is the magic of food when made and shared together.

The puddings were for my little boys and the praline for the blog.

I did tell you that I am mothering a new responsibility lately…didn’t I?

Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch sauce and Almond Praline (Adapted from the Masterchef Australia Cookbook)

Makes 8

180g dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1 1/4 cups (310ml) water
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/4 cup (165g) firmly packed brown sugar
60g butter, softened chopped
2 eggs
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
Almond praline
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
1/4 cup (35g) slivered almonds
Butterscotch sauce
50g butter
1 cup (220g) brown sugar
1 cup (250ml) cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C fan-forced). Lightly grease eight (1/2 cup capacity) metal dariole moulds. Place dates and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Remove from the heat. Add bicarbonate of soda, stir until dates start to break down, set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.
Beat butter and sugar in a bowl using a hand beater, gradually add eggs one at a time, beat until light and fluffy. Add date mixture, stir to combine. Carefully fold through sifted flour, divide mixture evenly between the eight moulds, until 2/3 full.

Place moulds in a baking tray, carefully pour water in tray until it comes up 1/3 of the sides of the mould. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until golden and skewer comes out clean.

Meanwhile for the almond praline, combine sugar and 2 tbsp water in a saucepan and cook caramel over medium heat without stirring, swirling pan until deep golden. Scatter almonds onto a baking paper lined tray. Pour caramel and cool until set. Break praline into pieces.

For the butterscotch sauce combine butter, sugar, cream and vanilla extract in a saucepan over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 5-6 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly.

To serve, invert the hot pudding onto a serving plate, top with butterscotch sauce and shards of praline.