Brownies Ratio Analysis

I work in an investment fund and we look at financial ratios and other boring stuff all day long. So when I walked into the office with a box of brownies and said "I couldn't sleep last night so I was experimenting with ratios -" before I could finish my sentence, my colleagues gave incredulous "why would you do that in the middle of the night?!"

Hehehe I was working on the ONLY ratios that matter - the fat to flour content in determining the texture of brownies you get.

So in my attempt to find my absolute favourite brownie recipe, I decided to make all 3 variations to test them with various friends, family and colleagues and let them decide which one is best.

In making brownies, what determines it being cakey or fudgy is the amount of fat (chocolate and flour) versus the amount of flour that you put into the batter. Obviously, more fat means more fudgy, rich and wet, and vice versa.

Then, tweak yet another variable - the type of sugar - and you get chewy brownies!

The ingredients themselves don't change, but the ratios do and so to make it easy for you I've put the recipe in a table:

The winner for me though, definitely fudgy brownies! Especially when they're warm and paired with a glass of cold milk. YUM! 

Butterscotch Sauce!

On a night out with my friends several years ago, the question "If you were an ice-cream, what flavour would you be?" came up, and mine was butterscotch by general consensus. Recently, this came up again with an entirely different group of people, and the answer was still butterscotch! I suppose I haven't changed much... sickly sweet, burns the tongue if you don't take your time and wait for it to cool, slightly salty, drizzles smooth when warm... yeah, I kinda like being butterscotch.

But up until now, I have never made butterscotch! I've always relied on storebought butterscotch chips, but for some reason, when I woke up today, I just wanted to make my own butterscotch sauce. So I'll share the surprisingly easy recipe here.

Homemade Butterscotch Sauce
Yield: 2 cups

• 60g butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• Pinch of sea salt

1. In a saucepan (preferably one with a rounded bottom), heat the butter on medium until melted
2. When the butter has mostly melted, add the sugar and stir with a wooden spoon for a few minutes
3. When the texture resembles the picture in step 3 above (sandy, stir-able, but not too runny) sub your wooden spatula for a whisk and move onto step 4
4. Turn the heat down to low and gradually add in the cream while whisking to incorporate steadily, you don't want to let it curdle as the cooler milk hits the hot sugar and butter
5. When all the milk has been added, turn the heat up to medium again and let it boil for up to 10 minutes, whisking occasionally so it doesn't burn and blends nicely
6. Remove from heat, let it cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a glass bowl and stir in the vanilla and salt. Add more salt if you want a saltier flavour, but I like just a little touch to bring out the flavours

Serve over a warm slice of home made sticky date pudding! Or chocolate cake! Or on a cracker!

Passionfruit Curd

I seem to have a newfound obsession with passionfruit this year. Last year I couldn't get enough of raspberries, but it looks like 2014 will be a year of this gorgeous, tangy and tart fruit! My current favourite thing is this gorgeous passionfruit curd I whipped up in 15 minutes on a weeknight last week to act as a filling for a friend's birthday cake. I overdid it though (as I am wont to do) and made too large a batch, so I've been spreading this beautiful curd on toast, rolling it in my pancakes, and dolloping it on fresh vanilla cupcakes. Certainly doesn't do a body good to have jars of this stuff lying about...

Anyway, here's sharing what is likely to be the base of many recipes to come.

Passionfruit Curd (or butter)

• 200g passionfruit pulp
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 large eggs
• 140g butter, diced
• 200g caster sugar
• 2 tbsp cornflour

1. Strain the passionfruit pulp to get the juice from the seeds, set the strained seeds aside in a bowl for later
2. In a heavy saucepan and over a low heat, combine all the ingredients and gently stir until the butter has melted, then continue to whisk over low heat until it thickens. Shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to thicken. 
3. Remove from the heat, pop into a bowl, swirl in about 2 or 3 tbsp of the reserved seeds (this is optional, you can do without the seeds) and cool before storing in airtight jars and containers in the fridge

Happy Holiday Cake!

Holidaaay~!

It's been a very, very long time since I've taken a good break from work; with TWO public holidays falling on Tuesday and Thursday of this week, I did what any sane person with too much annual leave left over and took the three other days off for a total of 9 days to do whatever I want to do (or not do, rather).

So in addition to all the pampering and self indulgence I've been doing, catching up with my friends and family, I have obviously been taking this opportunity to try out recipes I've shelved for a while now. This particular recipe I'm about to share with you is of the cake I made for my sister's birthday earlier this year but was unable to snap pictures of. I finally have the time to revisit this cake, for no other reason than the fact that I want to eat it and take pictures of it.
I came across this recipe in Smitten Kitchen's blog years ago when browsing for classic birthday cake recipes, and it remains one of my top 5 cakes to bake for friends and family. Or really, just days off. Let's quit pretending to have reasons for cake. 

Here we go, according to Deb (Smitten Kitchen) the best birthday cake ever:

Yellow Cake

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 225 g unsalted butter
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 2 tsp mexican vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, grease and line 2 8-inch pans with butter and parchment paper then set aside
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside
3. In the large mixing bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter until light and creamy with paddle, then toss in the sugar and continue to beat until mixture turns white and fluffy
4. Beat in eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla. Be sure to scrape down the side of the bowl to ensure the entire mixture is incorporated well
5. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter and beat shortly, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, and continue adding the flour and buttermilk alternately and end with the flour
6. Divide the batter in between the two pans and bake for 35-45 minutes at 160C, until a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean. Take the cakes out and cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to cool completely on a wire rack

Chocolate Sour Cream frosting

• 450g good quality dark baking chocolate
• 2 tsp instant espresso
• 2 1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 tsp mexican vanilla extract

1. Melt the chocolate and espresso in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Once the chocolate has melted completely, remove from heat and allow to cool til tepid (basically just slightly warmer than room temperature)
2. Whisk the sour cream, light corn syrup, and vanilla, then slowly pour in the melted chocolate while whisking to ensure the mixture is fully incorporated
3. If you need to, pop the frosting in the fridge until it solidifies enough to spreading consistency (think, Nutella)
4. To assemble cake, dollop a good 1/2 cup - 1 cup of frosting on top of one layer of cake, then smooth it out before putting the other layer on top. Use an offset spatula to spread the frosting around and over the cake, then decorate as you please. I just used my spatula and went around, then dropped silver dragees around the edge of the top

Back to Basics Banoffee Pie

There has been a particular recipe sitting on my shelf for far too long, and now that I've tried it, I don't quite know what I was so afraid of. I've been terrified of trying Banoffee Pie, or any caramel based recipe, due to the fact that I'm afraid to make caramel.

I can't for the life of me understand why. It's incredibly easy, and oh-so-satisfying to taste the results. Unless you're an idiot like me and taste it right out of the hot saucepan. I'm still waiting for my lip to blister, wondering if it will be so unsightly that I may need to take some days off work. LOL, jokes.

A good friend of mine asked me last week if I can do Banoffee Pie, and I told her the truth: that I've never tried it, but have always wanted to try. She then went on to say that she's got a friend who may be interested in asking me to do the dessert for her wedding! 60 mini Banoffee Pies! Is it silly of me to even try and wish for this gig?

I whipped up (heh, geddit?) a sample for her, and made a test pie to go with it... from my side, the flavour and texture turned out great, and everyone here seems to like it. I just wonder if she'll feel the same. Sitting on tenterhooks here and biting my nails to boot!

But that said, whether or not she goes for my Banoffee Pie, I've not opened up a whole new world for myself! CARAMEL!

Banoffee Pie

Crust

• 250g plain digestives, passionately whacked with a rolling pin into fine crumbs
• 120g butter, melted

Filling

• 100g butter
• 100g soft brown sugar
• 397g condensed milk

Topping

• 3 medium bananas, ripe and soft
• 300ml whipping cream

1. To make the crust, mix the digestive crumbs and butter using a fork, then press into the bottom of a lightly greased pan (I used a round tin foil pan for ease of delivery, but springform or removable bottom is ideal). Use the bottom of a glass to firmly pat the crumbs down. Then chill in the fridge while you prepare the filling
2. In a non-stick saucepan, gently heat the butter and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour in the condensed milk and bring to a boil gently, making sure to stir continuously so the caramel doesn't burn
3. Pour the caramel over the chilled crust and smooth it out with a rubber spatula then chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour while the caramel sets
4. Just before serving, slice your ripe bananas to cover the caramel
5. To make the whipped cream, be sure to chill your bowl and whisk for 2-5 minutes beforehand. Then for a creamy, yet not overpoweringly sweet whipped cream topping, just whisk the cream for around 1 minute (if you're using an electric mixer) or until soft peaks form and you can turn the bowl over and the cream stays intact. Smooth or pipe the cream over the top
6. For extra decoration, you can grate some semi-sweet chocolate over the top of the pie, or decorate with slices of bananas

It couldn't be easier, and now I'm dying to make more pies to give away to friends and family members!

x Nabs

P.S. Sorry for the ugly, over-exposed pictures...