Caramel Candies + Recipe

After making my rice pudding last week I was left with about a cup of condensed milk still waiting to be used in the fridge.

satisfying to cut, yet premature; it's too soft

After making two caramel sauces within 24 hours, I really didn't feel like standing over the stove again to melt the butter, sugars, etc to make these candies. After doing some quick research I found some consensus on timings when using the microwave, and as the mixture requires stirring at frequent intervals, it was a good way for me to do so some spirited tidying up and dishes while the caramel was cooking.

Ready to Set

Caramel Candies

Time: 10 minutes + cooling time

Yield:

Storage: in an airtight container out of direct sunlight for up to 2 weeks

Ingredients*

• 1 cup condensed milk
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup light syrup
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (114 g) diced
• 1 tsp sea/freshly ground salt + extra for sprinkling

Method

1. Butter a 20 x 22cm dish
2. Mix all the ingredients into a large microwave safe bowl
3. Heat on high for 9 minutes, pausing every 90 seconds to stir the mixture thoroughly**
4. As the mixture is very hot, pour VERY carefully into the prepared dish
5. Lightly sprinkle with salt (and/or melted chocolate if you want to use some up)
6. Leave to cool completely before cutting into small bitesized pieces

*adjust the recipe and setting dish size according to the ingredient you must use. The sugars, syrup, and condensed milk should be equal in quantity, and the butter should be half the quantity of the condensed milk. Use 1 teaspoon salt per cup of condensed milk.

**I made this in an 800w microwave. You should heat it in 90 second intervals for at least 6 minutes, and keep checking the consistency every 90 seconds after that.

Butterscotch Caramel Popcorn + Recipe

It's the early hours of 2nd January 2016, and I am watching Seinfeld. Jerry was eating some popcorn, and I had serious food envy.

Attempt 2: Finished article. Way too much syrup, but super yummy

Attempt 1: Homemade Caramel

I didn't want ordinary popcorn, so made an easy butterscotch caramel to pour over it, and baked it for that signature texture.

Popped

Preparation time took around less than 15 minutes, plus another hour in the oven, and don't forget you can store your caramel sauce in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, and use it for many other things, so do not feel obliged to make 3 bags of caramel popcorn.

1st attempt: Just before baking

Unfortunately, I must have overcooked the caramel so I had an unpleasant burnt sugar taste that was also giving me an actual headache.

2nd attempt: with salted peanuts

I decided to stop playing games, and seeing as I had some heavy cream that needed using, I tried again with a salted butterscotch caramel recipe that I felt more confident making.

Attempt 2: Not such an amazing colour or clarity, but AMAZING taste!

I made much more than needed and had to gestimate the proportions as it was dictated by the remaining cream I had, but now I'm getting into sterilising hats, I just put the extra in the jars I had for later use.

Repurposed Jars

Butterscotch Caramel Popcorn

Time: 75 minutes preparation + 1 hour cooling

Yield: 2-3 large bowls

Storage: popcorn can be stored in an airtight container out of direct sunlight for up to 5 days,, caramel can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks

Ingredients

• 1/2-1 cup popcorn kernels/2-3 bags of plain* microwave popcorn
• Optional: 2 cup peanuts
• Optional: 1-1,5 tsp sea salt*

Butterscotch Caramel Sauce

• 75 g unsalted butter
• 50 g brown sugar
• 50 g white sugar
• 50g syrup
• 100 ml double/heavy cream
• 2 tsp sea salt

Method

1. Put the oven on to 120 °C.
2. Melt the butter, sugars, and syrup ingredients in a medium sized saucepan until simmering. This should take 3-5 minutes.
3. Whilst step 2 is happening, pop your corn using your chosen method
4. Take the saucepan off the heat, and add the cream and salt, and stir well.
5. Return to the heat for 1 minute, constantly stirring.
6. Place the popped popcorn in a large bowl, add the peanuts if you are using them, and pour the butterscotch sauce over everything in the bowl.
7. Stir the mixture thoroughly to evenly coat the dry ingredients with the sauce.
8. Spread the popcorn evenly on a lined baking sheet, sprinkle with 1-1,5 tsp salt if desired*, and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes
9. When finished, place the baking tray in a safe place to cool completely.
10. Break into bite-sized pieces, and store in an airtight container. Or snack immediately.

*If using a saltier variation of microwave popcorn, adjust the salt sprinkled accordingly.

Maple Coconut Caramel Bites

Recipe base from Not Quite Nigella

Mrs NQN has many ideas and gives many inspirations. My one issue is that I feel that prior knowledge is required for a few recipes, and therefore vital pointers are omitted in the instructions.

I felt that this recipe was one such case.

I was so excited that I had all the ingredients and also an opportunity to use my new cooking thermometer, that I did not do my usual sense check when I was reading the recipe, so did not realise until the crucial moment that I did not know what the final tinder toffee, perhaps(?) was meant to be like either in appearance or texture.

Bubbling away

I ended up with a bit of a roue after adding the final ingredients that somehow devolved into a granular breadcrumb like mixture that in no way resembled caramel or toffee or indeed gel or liquid like.

Baked Caramel

I was not willing to go through this process of getting the syrup to 150°C again so grabbed the last of my homemade caramel from the fridge and my jar of Dulce de Leche and added enough to spread it over my tin, baked it for just under 10 minutes, and ended up with a chewy coconut-ty mess. I could see that this would never harden to be able to be broken into the signature brittle pieces, so I went through the sticky procedure of rolling clumps up into balls or bites.

Jar o' Poo? Sorry, maple coconut bites

I have since written to Lorraine of NQN, and I am hoping that she updates her instructions so I can try it again with more confidence!

Chocolate Surprise Microwave Brownie Cake + Recipe!

Ooooh, guess what?! No recipe base link this time, as this was my first, and very own original recipe.

I shall concede that the recipe follows the basic rules and ratios of any cake, so originality is a bit of a loose concept here.

So it was a Friday night after a long week. I reserve one guilty pleasure, which is: Friday Nights Off. No work, no guilt, just unadulterated freedom. Obviously that means Netflix and junk food. Small problem. I don't have any junk food outlets in my local area; at best I can get some sushi, which is undoubtedly delicious, but doesn't hit That Spot.

I haven't baked in a while, and this is purely a case of 'the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak'. Like most people in my profession at this time of year, I am dog tired, weary, and somewhat in shock that I am still able to function.

I was craving something sweet and naughty, and really did not feel like going through the rigmarole of baking a huge batch of something or a big cake just to feel so guilty about not presenting it more or less complete at work* and not have any of it. I decided that this was the moment. Hell was about to Freeze Over.

I have a problem with microwaves. Yes, they are a convenient and cost effective way of cooking and heating, but I can't help but feel the heat is half-arsed. The heat seems to leave the food as quickly as it enters it, and I have an embedded impression that if the microwave is allowed to give the food a big zap for more substantial heating, it somewhat 'denatures' ingredients, changes the taste, and consequently, the end result. I tend to limit my infrequent use of microwaves to heating complete food dishes that contain the carbohydrates such as rice and noodles (yes, last night's dinner... if there was a dinner last night).

I also have a distinct memory of wandering into an unintended and ill-advised discussion about 'microwave cakes vs. oven cakes' with a class, and somehow upsetting a student. Sorry! My personal gripe with microwaves is mine, and mine alone.

I must admit that I have become more curious about developing recipes for microwave cakes since I started Pinterest-ing a couple of months ago, and after making emergency freezer cookies for a friend's birthday, I wanted to make her a few sachets of microwave cake mixture so she could simply snip a corner and squeeze it into a mug then bake it in the microwave.

My interest was further piqued after I found microwave cake mixture being sold in my local supermarket. This actually made me rather indignant. I feel that the spirit of the microwave cake is to use ingredients that you are quite likely to have knocking about, and whip up an individual portion of cake that (in my opinion) wouldn't taste quite right after being baked by a microwave, but the satisfaction it provided would far outweigh the work it required to make and clean up afterwards. I didn't check too closely, but I imagine, like ready boxed cake mixture, it would taste generic, without personality, and processed. I am being completely elitist here. I have never used ready made cake mixture. I have an unshakeable belief that it is not thrifty.

Back to the present. Such was my immediate need of something sinful, that I decided that I needed to step over to the dark side, and make myself a microwave mug cake. I had a few rogue ingredients cluttering the fridge that were left over from other bakes, and had no use, so decided to chuck them in there too.

Hubba hubba

This whole event was a double surprise (for me), as I was not only using the microwave, but making a chocolate cake too, which readers of my blog may have realised is not my favourite flavour.

Not the best picture, but it's all full of chocolate-y-ness

Anyway, although I could still taste the 'microwave' flavour on the cake, it was actually quite yummy, and hit the spot. Just don't compare it to an oven cake. It is a different animal, this microwave cake.

Cakey texture at the bottom

*Ok, ok, I do have a sample of batches just for Quality Control purposes, but have had a very small proportion of my own baking, sometimes not tasting recipes entirely. For some reason, I view eating it myself as selfish. Now I write it, I see how ridiculous that it. I made the stuff; I should enjoy it!

Here's the recipe! I don't imagine I will make the same one twice, so please feel free to use this as a base, and have fun with your ingredients!

Chocolate Surprise Microwave Brownie Cake

Time: less than 6 minutes

Yield: 1 serving in a microwave safe mug that can hold 350 ml/12 oz volume

Storage: the batter can be refrigerated for a day, the microwaved cookie can be covered in its mug and kept in the fridge for 2 days. Heat on low for a few seconds before serving.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup self raising flour (plain is fine, just add 1/4 tsp of baking powder)
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp cream (some or all can be substituted for milk or non-dairy alternative)
• 2-4 tbsp milk (some or all can be substituted for water or non-dairy alternative)
• 2 tbsp mild flavoured oil such as rapeseed (can be substituted with liquid margarine)
• OPTIONAL: 1 piece chocolate treat (e.g. a Rolo)
• OPTIONAL: 1-2 tbsp chocolate chips + extra for topping (dark for vegan)
• OPTIONAL: 1-2 tbsp caramel + extra for topping, any variety. Can be substituted with peanut butter or dairy-free alternative for vegans
• OPTIONAL: 3 tbsp maximum whipped cream/dairy-free alternative for topping (spray cream or similar is fine)

Method

1.  Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl using a small whisk or fork to remove lumps.
2. Add the oil and cream, and mix to combine.
3. Add 2 tbsp of milk and mix. You want a soft dropping texture that takes 3-4 seconds to drop from a spoon. Add 1 tbsp of milk at a time until you reach this point.
4. Add a couple of spoonfuls into a microwaveable heatproof mug, then drop your chocolate treat in.
5. Add more mixture until you have spooned about half of it into your mug.
6. Add your caramel and chocolate chips so that they are evenly spread over the surface of the mixture.
7. Spoon the rest of the mixture into the mug
8. Heat on Medium power for 30-45 seconds at a time until you reach the texture that you want, and being mindful that you must avoid burning the chocolate. Maximum 3 minutes in four intervals. I used a smaller mug on the High heat setting, so had to stop heating it after 2 30-second intervals, as it was about to overflow. The texture at the top was just firmer than batter, but it was baked with a more cake-y texture at the bottom. Be aware of this, to avoid over-heating.
9. I whipped some cream in a small bowl and spooned it over the mug cake, drizzled some caramel and sprinkled some chocolate chips on top. This was purely personal; again, have fun with it!
10. This is very hot, so let cool for a minute, and eat with caution!

Note: If you just want to 'get on with it', and make a simpler cake, mix this directly into your mug, dry ingredients followed by the wet ones, mix thoroughly so it's combined, then add any or all the optional ingredients in afterwards (ensuring the chocolate treat is towards the bottom if you are using it), and only adding the whipped cream if you want to!

Brownie Cake with Peanut Caramel Butterscotch

Recipe Base here from Jacquelyn Clark

Now as much as I am a huge fan of being frugal, I also appreciate that you must risk waste in order to discover greatness, so my inner scientist gets her chance to play quite a bit.

I have on countless times metaphorically shaken my fist at the sky when a recipe hasn't worked out, and 9 times out of 10, the recipe is from the Internet. This is not to say that all internet recipes do not work, they all work on some level, but they don't always meet my expectations.

Yesterday I had some friends come around for a donut party; I had some piecrust ideas of two evenings of baking beforehand so that my guests could decorate them using the left over glazes that were accumulating in my refrigerator, requiring precious Tupperware tubs. That of course didn't happen, considering that my day job has been especially busy over the past few weeks, and my motivation to do anything when I get home is very low.

I decided to compensate by making a 'base' cake so that there was something for my guests to eat whilst donuts were being made, and made an uncharacteristically non-cautious move to try a new recipe as my only option. Risk taker, that I am.

In the last few months, I have really been increasing my usage of Pinterest, I didn't really get the concept at first, and to be honest, I probably still don't, however it has proved to be a great source of recipes and ideas for me. Check out my Social Media buttons at the top right of this window to see my perception of the site. Constructive opinions always welcome of course!

Anyhoo, the picture of this recipe was far too much for me to resist, however as it has peanuts, it's a recipe I would avoid making as taking it to work where there are many people who have nut allergies would not be such a good idea.

The recipe worked well... I did add a 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda rather than 1/4, and the cake rose well in the oven, nearly to the top of my springform tin. This was far more than I thought it would seeing as it is a brownie cake, but not an unpleasant surprise.
No, no, that occurred after I took it out of the oven. It was all very sad. The cake sank in the middle, quite possibly a combination of the excess bicarb, or over beating when adding the dry ingredients.
I must admit that I am reluctant to blame myself as it is not my style to over beat... I have a knack for 'lagom' mixing, and as much as it is feasible as a principle, the amount of bicarbonate does not usually affect the rise unless it is in excess of a 1.5 teaspoons, so unfortunately, innocent or not, I am holding the ratios of the recipe responsible here. It doesn't help the recipes's case that the caramel timings were a bit off, but I can be more forgiving of that as I believe the person who made the recipe lives in a warmer climate than I do, so that is understandable.

Hey! The first time I can use a cake stand I received
over a year ago for my birthday

I haven't had an opportunity to taste the cake just yet, but I did taste the peanut caramel butterscotch, and was suitably impressed. Such a great combination. I just love caramel, in its many different forms: caramel, caramel sauce, butterscotch (yes, I have been researching, as the word 'caramel' is bandied about covering many different things with a similar taste and/or consistency, yet varying ingredients). Adding peanuts to pretty much any of these forms is a natural combination, and was a joy to be able to do it myself for once with no guilt or worries about striking someone down with an anaphylactic reaction.

I really need to buy a cake lifter so I can
protect my lovely tins

I am not completely writing this recipe off as a base, but I do have plenty of other sure-fire brownie recipes I could use. I will however always remember that peanut caramel butterscotch sauce, and have some ideas of how to tweak it... I guess I need to have some more guests over so I can test it out!

Caramel Toffee Cheesecake

Recipe base here

Although I am a cheesecake novice, I HAD to try this from one of my favourite recipe blogs: yammiesnoshery.com

I love Yammie's style, It's effortlessly beautiful and her photos are inspiring. She embraces the 'nobbly', homemade look, yet her creations are ones you would pay top dollar for. Plus like my baking muse, Nigella Lawson, she doesn't shy away from using the ingredients that without, would compromise the flavour. I'm not used to using cup measurements, but I bought a fun set of cups that I am only hoping are the same size as their American counterparts - it's all about ratio, anyway - and I just convert the butter measurement into grams so I can use my scales.

This was a recipe that had a five components: the toffee biscuity base, melted chocolate topping for said base, the cheesecake mix, of course, toffee topping, and cream decoration. The ingredients list consisted of 13 or so items.

Daim and the Gang!

Just taking a photo of the ingredients all together was a challenge! I rarely do such a stunt, let alone even take all my ingredients out as I dislike being surrounded by anything other than my duvet, but I felt this one was special. And indeed it was,

That would usually be enough to put me off, but I had a guest coming that I wanted to impress. So much so that I KNEW this had to be the recipe, as much I also knew I had to do a test run, such was my lack of confidence in my cheesecake making abilities. This would be the second one I had ever made.

Buttery Biscuit Base
(Masterchef UK fans might get that reference)

Lining the tin! Oh my goodness, what a kerfuffle! That was arduous.
Then I got on with the biscuit base with crushed toffee bits. Once I worked out what Heath bars were, I realised they were similar to Daim bars (or Dime bars, as I'm old skool, innit!).
Simple enough... but it later turned out that I have poor depth perception and made the base way too thick. I improved this for the 'real thing', but I think I need to be governed by the needs of the cake rather than the prescribed amounts of the recipe.

Then we melt the chocolate. I won't lie: it pained me to use so many of my precious chocolate chips just to melt them. Yes, yes, I could have chopped or grated a bar of chocolate, but who has the time?! Chocolate chips are only just becoming a bit more common in supermarkets in Stockholm, Sweden, in the last 15 or so months, and as is so often my complaint, prices for them are not low. I buy them in a suspicious bulk pattern and then hoard them like a dragon over its... erm... loot. I didn't want to say 'hoard' again!

The Hoard! It's melted, melted!
What a cruel, cruel, world!

A-ny-way, Then the caramel... again fairly straightforward American style with cream, very yummy. The knee weakening moment was actually when that caramel was mixed in with the cheesecake mixture. Oh. My. Goodness. If I was more dramatic, which is hard to believe, I would have sat down. That mixture was to die for. Soooooo gooooood. I almost didn't want to bake it. I did, though.

That mixture! Wooh!

Wrapped in damp dishcloths as I have no
tray large enough to hold it

Bekked

The decoration. Oh la la, I royally messed this one up. I didn't read the instructions properly so I mixed the caramel with some whipped cream and made... what?! I'll settle with caramel cream. I cheated and used a spray can for the whipped cream topping, and yes, it was impressive. I learned the hard way that whipped cream sinks, so had to re-spray the next day.

Decorated with erroneous caramel cream

2nd attempt

The sheer weight of it plus the stickiness from the fat in the base made it difficult remove from the base of the tin, so I had to just sit by and cry into my lap whilst my colleagues cut on my tin. With metal knives!!! Oh, the agony! The base was too thick on both occasions to cut through with plastic utensils, so it was an unfortunate necessity.

Attempt #1. The assault weapons, your Honour

Attempt #1 Slice.
Doesn't do her justice, really.

Whilst this is most certainly a show stopper and has had repeated requests for a return, I feel overwhelmed by this cake and it had better be a very special occasion for me to make it again.

Thank you all, and good night!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes

Recipe base: LINK

I have a problem. If I see an interesting ingredient AND it's on some kind of promotion, I get filled with an increasing need to purchase said ingredient.

This happened with a jar of Dulce de Leche on offer in my local supermarket. Keeping in mind that I live in Sweden, whose grocery prices are pretty lofty, and whose price saving promotions are few and far between in my humble opinion. Even when there are offers, the price saving is not usually that great. However! You mustn't look a gift horse in the mouth regardless of the size of the gift, so covet it I did. Well I coveted two. Crafty producers offered two variations: Baking, and Classic. How could I choose?! I decided that as I wanted to use it with cake, I would opt for the baking option.

I went home, found a recipe, made it, was suitably disappointed, yada yada, more about that later.

You would think that the purchase would satisfy my needs, if not dampen them. Well, no, it did not. I am all about possession, and as with Pokémon, I gotta catch them all! The price promotion was still on at least three weeks later! They were really tempting me. I managed to talk myself down from the ledge of hopelessness, and put the jar down. I didn't really need it. Turns out, I had already bought the Classic jar in some sort of Supermarket Sweep blackout. I really didn't know, and happened upon the sneaky pot nestled behind a box of cocoa. Kerazy.

Anyhoo, so I was desperate to justify my initial purchase of the Baking Dulce de Leche so I scoured my usual suspects that I could search by ingredient with, and stumbled across a recipe for iced cupcakes. Huzzahs all around, everybody.

It seemed fairly straightforward except for the coring, filling, de-coring (is that a word?) of the cupcakes. Fiddly, monotonous stuff that I really had no time for, but beggars cannot be choosers: I had selected this recipe based on the limited ingredients at home, so I plowed on.

From memory, the cupcake mixture seemed nice and smooth, however proved to be heavy and close textured after baking. Big disappointment. Still edible nonetheless.

The Army

Reflection: add equivalent of bicarbonate of soda to baking powder for extra lift.

At the coring stage, I had a twinkling of a doubt that seeing as I was not baking the Dulce de Leche, I should have bought the other one, but I figured it wouldn't be much different. Kämpa kämpa. It turns out, I'm a mean corer; I could definitely have left more space for the gooey filling, but I retrospectively justified my actions by figuring that these were not results I could waste expensive ingredients on.

The icing was a bit grainy, maybe because I used the wrong sugar, but I don't quite remember. They were impressively uniform looking once they were frosted, so I surprised myself with my passable icing skills. Alas I did not think this through, so my transportation methods resulted in a few sad squashed fellows. Boo.

Cupcake

I have since invested in a 24-cupcake carrier. It is certainly a beast, however somehow more comfortable to carry than my old case.

Better luck next time... watch out for attempt 2!

Butterscotch Layer Cake: Attempt 2

Recipe based on Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

Big news! I've finally set up an online store for local deliveries and collection (Stockholm only).
I am just as surprised as everyone, as I have no real inclination to make a profit from baking, or indeed a living from it either. A friend directed to me a lovely site called Tictail.com, which gives you free online store space to set up a shop and sell items that you advertise.

The close up

Not one to blow my own trumpet, but in my category, my shop looks pretty polished, even though there are many things to improve.

Twins!

Anyhoo, as of 08/11/15, I have received two orders. One was for a chocolate layer cake that I will wax lyrical about in another post, and the other order was for a bumper 6 items!

One of the items in this order is... you guessed it, the Butterscotch Layer Cake that this post is named for!

Lovely smooth batter

This was the second time I'm making it, however I was fairly confident, although some doubt lay in the oven in the flat I am currently renting, and am still yet to get used to. It's a hasty oven, so I have been extra vigilant after 2/3 of the baking time has passed as I have been burnt before. As were two of my cakes.

So grateful for my stackable cooling racks

The cake is intended to be a naked one, so unlike my first attempt, I decided to present it that way, and instead of being governed by the quantity of icing and caramel I had made, I was governed instead by the aesthetic. Kinda. You know me, not one for frou frou. They looked better than the first attempt anyway. In a manufactured sort of way.

Homemade caramel

Butterscotch Cream Cheese Frosting

Anyhoo, they* turned out well, I was pleased, I will hopefully update with pictures of The Cut later.

Nice Slice

*They were twins! Otherwise known as two cakes made at the same time!

Available at Samara's Baked Goods

Chocolate and Sea Salt Caramel Bundt Cake

Recipe based on Tesco.com (LINK)

So I have been eyeing this recipe up from across the virtual room, and decided to give it a go seeing as I'm in a bundt and ring cake phase.

The instructions were very clear, however I would amend the instructions to adding the dry mix to the egg mixture, rather than the other way around that was directed. I found doing it that way made it difficult to stir.

I managed to mess up royally - twice - after adding too much baking powder to the first dry mix (2 tablespoons rather than teaspoons), I decided to bag that mix for another time, and make another dry mix. So... second time lucky? No chance. Instead of using self raising flour, I used plain flour. So ironically, I ended up adding another 5 teaspoons to the dry mix in a bid to convert the plain flour into self raising.

batter. tin was buttered, floured, and cocoa'd

This all seemed like a crafty plan, however the self satisfied smile was soon on the other side of my face after the cake sank like the Titanic after I checked it at my usual 40 minute mark.

turned out cake after 20 mins cooling in tin.

I was feeling pretty low at this point, as my cakes have lost their quality, and frustratingly I don't quite know why. I bought a new hand mixer as the variable speed switch on my old one has stopped working and therefore it only operates on one speed.

I digress. I decided to plough on, because as much as I dislike presenting food (or anything) not quite to my standard, I dislike waste more (obviously I am a tupperware fan), so onwards!

Caramel

The caramel is the crowning glory of this cake, and was the best caramel recipe I have ever used, but beware: it is potent! It tastes so rich that it glides down your throat in a way that would make you believe it had alcohol in it. I used about 25g of lys sirup, and 25g of the real deal: Tate & Lyle Golden Syrup.

Melting chocolate, and making caramel

I managed to decorate the cake as directed, however omitted the almonds in case of nut and seed allergies. As you can see from the final picture, the cake was very covered in chocolate shavings... for that reason I would halve the chocolate used for it.

Final Product

Available at Samara's Baked Goods

Butterscotch Layer Cake

Recipe base from Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess.

I would like to say I followed the instructions exactly but right off the bat, I added too much water to the sugar for my caramel. First time excuse still valid??

Caramel

I managed to rescue it somewhat, and the cake was a success. Moist, and not overly sweet. Obviously no oil painting, but it was gone in 15 minutes from the staff room, which I was pleased with.

Finished Article

The cut! The top was missing a piece as it stuck to the tin

Read about my second attempt here

Available at Samara's Baked Goods

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Snickerdoodles

Recipe base from The Recipe Critic (LINK).

This recipe was sent to me by a colleague who I misguidedly believed was actually going to make them himself. After two or so weeks, I realised that the expectation was for me to bake them. So with some misgivings, I did.

'Why the misgivings?', I hear you cry, or more likely not. Well, firstly, I have never even heard of a snickerdoodle*, let alone know what one is meant to taste like. Secondly, the recipe involves Cream of Tartar (not commonly available as far as I know in Sweden), as well as caramel squares (after looking at the pictures, I think this is what I as a Brit, would refer to as fudge). Thirdly it requires browned butter, and after the last recipe that required this (see Triple Chocolate Merlot Bundt Cake), I was sceptical about going through the process for what I viewed as very little reward. Do Americans habitually brown butter for their baking?? I have only used it for one recipe, in which its unique flavour is key, and therefore is worth the trouble.

There! My three reasons for not doing them. I ploughed on, as once a recipe has piqued my interest, it will keep tickling my brain until I try it.

*I have since found out that a snickerdoodle is a biscuit (US cookie) rolled in cinnamon and sugar prior to baking.

Alterations to/Notes for recipe:
I had grand ideas of making my own fudge (yeah, right), so settled on that awful 'pick 'n' mix' fudge instead. I bought around 300g, which was more than enough for two batches. Upon reflection, I would get a better quality, or at least, softer fudge that would melt more readily to get the desired effect.
I used freshly ground salt that was at home - I do not think it was sea salt, however it seemed a smidgeon better than table salt.
All purpose flour is self-raising flour (not plain as I thought it would be) - 313g*
Butter - 227g
Dark Brown Sugar - used dark brown muscovado sugar - 250g
Granulated Sugar - 100g
Greek yoghurt - replaced with filmjölk (closer to buttermilk)
Cream of Tartar - replaced with white wine vinegar, added to the egg, egg yolk, filmjölk and vanilla extract
The batter was very soft when it came together, therefore was very easy to combine - I love recipes that require the butter to be soft (melted rather than browned).

First batch:
I refrigerated the batter for around an hour, and it was still very pliable and easy to handle.
I had cut the fudge into very small pieces, so used two or three pieces within the ball of dough.
After the first tray with six biscuits, that spread more than I expected, I reduced the number of biscuits per tray to four.
I think I made 20 biscuits, baking at 170°C for 9 minutes per tray.

Second batch:
Batter was refrigerated for around 6 hours, so was a lot stiffer. I would disregard the note to chill the batter overnight, as it would be impossible to work with.
Learning from the first batch, I cut the fudge lengthways into halves or thirds so that rather than using three cube-like pieces, I would use one or two slab-like pieces.
Four to a tray again, I made 21 biscuits, baking at 170°C for 9 minutes per tray.
Consistency next day, and day after that was still pleasantly chewy.
The browned butter definitely made a positive addition to this recipe.
I felt the 'rolling' sugar and cinnamon could have been reduced to 40g and 1.5 teaspoons respectively.

I may make these again, however I found them exceedingly sweet even with the contrasting salt sprinkling, so will not be rushing to make them again.

*correction! All purpose flour is plain flour. Not sure which information led me astray before!