Tuesday, February 8, 2011

First Bake of the Year - Butterscotch Cake

Its B's birthday tomorrow & I'm planning to give the b'day boy a sweet surprise :-). It's the first time I'll be making a butterscotch cake but I'm sure it will be a hit... Since my work schedule is not the normal working hours, I had to make the cake today so it'll be all ready for the b'day boy to cut tomorrow morning. I can't imagine getting up in the wee hours to make the cake, not to mention the racket i'll be making & then a surprise won't be a 'surprise' anymore right? :-).

The cake is ready & I'm dying to eat it. I'll admit I'm not a butterscotch fan, but someone is :-). The butterscotch sauce came out nice & tempting, begging to take a bit. Pictures will follow soon. The recipe is simple enough. Here goes:

Recipe:
2cups flour
3tsp Baking powder
Pinch of salt
1-1/2 cups Brown sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 cup of Milk
1/2 cup oil/butter

Butterscotch Sauce
1/4 cup Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 Tbsp Corn Starch
1-2 Tbsp of Hot water

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease & flour an 8 inch pan
Sift Flour, Baking Powder & Salt.
Add sugar, milk & oil/butter & beat on average speed for 2-3mins
Add the eggs one at a time & beat till completely incorporated about 2mins
Add Vanilla Essence &
Transfer to the prepared cake pan. Bake at 180C for 25-30mins or till wooden skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10mins & transfer to wire rack. Allow to cool completely.

While the cake is in the oven, melt butter on a low flame & when it starts to turn brown, add sugar, vanilla essence, cornstarch & hot water. Stir together till everything is dissolved & form a smooth sauce like consistency. Turn off the flame & allow to cool.

Once cake is cooled, pour the butterscotch sauce over the cake & use whipped cream (if you so desire) to decorate the cake.

Serve with with lots & lots of love & it will be a hit :-D.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Delicious Deserts

Happy 2011! Oh well I am a little late in wishing that, I know! 2011 started out with all good things wrapped up in a bundle & handed down by a good God :-). I have been caught up with the latest development in my life, a job - a real one I must say. And so blogging has taken the back seat. I'm posting now b'coz Aliena's got the Delicious Deserts event happening & I thought I'd send two of my goodies to her... so here comes my Strawberry Tart
 & Yule Log


Strawberry Tart is one of my favourite deserts. I love the tart filled with strawberries, the custard & oh well the tart as a whole of course! If you plan ahead, this
desert can help you finish up your meal course on a light & fruit filled note.



Yule Log: This is the Christmas time favourite. Guaranteed to finish in moments after you cut the first slice. Especially so if you are a chocoholic. For those who'd prefer less of chocolate you can reduce the chocolate frosting that goes on top to give the real life tree look.





The l'le yule log is easy to make. Make a chocolate sponge cake in a baking tray & roll it up with a damp cloth on one side & the foil on the other, unroll once cooled. Make some chocolate frosting or you can use whipped cream to fill the inside of the sponge & roll once again. Place the seam side down on your serving platter & frost using chocolate frosting (or add some good quality cocoa powder to your whipped cream & use) & score using a fork to give the real tree like feel!

I'm sending these to Aliena's event as posted here:
http://recipesfortheverydaywoman.blogspot.com/2011/01/delicious-desserts-annoucement-and.html