Sticky toffee squares

I have a sweet tooth and that’s not a secret, but there are sweets and desserts that have a special place in my heart for something other than their taste: they remind me of certain periods of my life, certain days and occasions, and that makes them extra special.

When I was a kid my grandmother would make dulce de leche at home every now and then, and it was one of my favorite things: it was delicious on its own, by the spoonful, spread on sliced of bread, with cheese… The thought of it makes my mouth water already – grandma used to make a big pot of dulce de leche at a time, but it never lasted long. :)

I still love dulce de leche, but I have never tried making it at home the way my grandmother used to – so far I’ve only made it by cooking a can of sweetened condensed milk in the pressure cooker, but nowadays it’s so easy to find Argentinean dulce de leche around here I don’t even do that anymore – all I do is open up a jar, and to stop myself from eating it all by myself I bake with it, too, making yummy things like these squares. :)

Sticky toffee squares
slightly adapted from the delicious Olive magazine

Cake:
175g all purpose flour
1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons ground almonds
175g unsalted butter, softened
150g light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs

Icing:
2/3 cup dulce de leche
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square baking pan, line the bottom with a square of baking paper and butter it as well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and almond meal. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Beat in the vanilla.
Beat the flour mixture into the sugar and butter in 3 batches, adding an egg each time. Beat the mixture until smooth and then spoon it into the pan and level the top. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then carefully unmold, peel off the paper and invert onto the rack to cool completely.

Icing: place dulce de leche and cream in a small bowl and mix to combine. Spread over the cooled cake. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16

Toffee-glazed white chocolate mud cakes

My vacation is over and tomorrow morning I'm back at work; I still have things to organize at home, therefore a quick post with an equally quick recipe (despite the steps), so delicious that will certainly put a smile on my face, even now that I no longer remember what it feels like waking up early. :D

Toffee-glazed white chocolate mud cakes
from the always delicious and oh, so beautiful Donna Hay Magazine

Cakes:
200g unsalted butter, chopped
200g white chocolate, chopped
1 cup (175g) brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons water
1 ½ tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (58g) almond meal

Toffee glaze:
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
½ cup (120ml) water
2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter six 1 ¼ cup capacity (300ml) mini cake or muffin pans.
Place the butter, white chocolate, sugar, water, golden syrup and vanilla in a heavy saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the flour and almond meal and mix to combine. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then carefully turn onto a wire rack. Cool completely, then transfer to the serving plates.
Make the glaze: place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir just until sugar is dissolved, turn heat to high then cook, without stirring, until golden and caramel forms (8 minutes or so). Remove from the heat and immediately add the butter and cream – carefully, mixture may spit – and stir until smooth. Spoon over the cakes and allow to set before serving. Transfer any remaining glaze to a small bowl to serve with the cakes (if glazes hardens, place it over a bowl of very hot water and stir until smooth).

Makes 6 – I made ¾ of the cake recipe above using ¾ cup (180ml) capacity pans and got 8 cakes; I halved the toffee glaze recipe and it was more than enough to glaze all the cakes

Macadamia crunch ice cream + my favorite cookbooks

Every other day I receive emails from the readers asking which are my favorite cookbooks; for each of those emails I reply two more arrive in my inbox – not a very practical thing. That is why you’ll find below the list with my all time favorite cookbooks – the ones I love the most (in no particular order):




This delicious ice cream – if you think I’ve become addicted to praliné, you’re right, how could I not? – comes the cookbook I’ve used the most so far: the one that comes to mind whenever I think of making something sweet – which, let’s be honest, is something that happens quite often. :D

Macadamia crunch ice cream
from the fantastic and always delicious Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful

Toffee:
2/3 cup (94g) roasted salted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter

Ice cream:
1 ½ cups (360ml) heavy whipping cream
1 ½ cups (360ml) whole milk
pinch of salt
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
6 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Toffee: butter small rimmed baking sheet. Combine nuts and baking soda in a small bowl. Stir sugar, water and butter in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and butter melts, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high. Boil until dark amber colored, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Mix in nut mixture and immediately pour it onto buttered sheet, spreading it as much as possible. Cool completely, then chop with a sharp knife into small pieces.
Ice cream: bring cream, milk and salt to a simmer in a heavy large saucepan. Whisk sugar and egg yolks in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into yolk mixture. Return mixture to same saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across – do not boil. Pass through a sieve into a medium bowl, stir in vanilla and refrigerate until very cold, 3-4 hours.
Process custard into ice cream maker according to manufactures’ instructions. Add toffee during last 5 minutes of churning. Transfer to an ice cream container, cover and freeze until firm.

Serves 8-10