Salted Caramel Banoffee pie

I love love love the Salted Caramel Ice Cream we get in France so fancied a saltier, less sweet Banoffee.  Tried this with a can of Carnation Caramel instead of the condensed milk.
Recipe from sweetthingyoumakemyheartsing.blogspot.com

Following below is my adapted, smaller, less sweet version.

Salted caramel banoffee pie (the full Monty)

If you like leave the salt out and make a more traditional banoffee pie, I do find the salted caramel adds a sophisticated edge and cuts through the richness ever so slightly.

Salted caramel banoffee pie

100g butter
250g chocolate digestives

100g butter
100g brown sugar (light or dark)
tin of condensed milk
sea salt

2 large bananas
standard pot of double cream

Smaller less sweet version  (method the same, just different ingredients)
Notes: after blitzing the biscuits, chop the pecans and add to the crushed biscuits before adding butter.

Crust
1/2 pack double chocolate Maryland cookies -about 120g
50 g butter, melted
25g pecan nuts

Filling
50g brown sugar
50g butter
1/2 tin Carnation Caramel
sea salt (3 large pinches -err on the side of caution, you can always add a bit more to taste)


Topping
1 banana
Lemon juice
1/2 tub creme fraiche
2 rounded tblspoons natural yogurt (I used low fat)
Spoonful icing sugar (to taste)
whipped together and enough sugar to counteract the tartness, but not sweet)
Pecans nuts to decorate.
6" springform cake tin

First of all grease a springform tin with butter, line the base with baking paper and grease the paper too.

Bash the biscuits in a bag or bowl, with a rolling pin, until they are fine crumbs. Alternatively use a food processor. Gently melt 100g butter and pour over the biscuit crumbs and stir to combine. Tip the mix into the prepared tin and level the top. Pop in the fridge to set for ~ 30 minutes.

To make the caramel melt the butter gently in a pan over a low heat. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Add the condensed milk and gently increase the heat, stirring all the time. Bring the mix to the boil and allow to boil for at least a minute. This is important to make sure the caramel sets nice and thick and squidgy! Add sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon at a time, until salted to your liking.

Allow the caramel to cool slightly for 5 minutes then pour over the biscuit base. Pop the pie back in the fridge for another 30 minutes or so.

Slice the bananas and arrange over the top of the caramel.

 Finally whip the cream and use it to top the pie. Pop the finished pie back in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

I kept this pie in the fridge and it was just as good on Easter Monday.

Another sweet treat. Salty caramel profiteroles.

In my ongoing search for easy and Yumscious Chritsmas pud alternatives I came across this on a blog called 'Not Quite Nigella'

Giant Salted Caramel Ice Cream Profiteroles

An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella

Preparation time:

Makes 4 large profiteroles

Choux pastry buns:

• Water 80g/2.82 fl ozs
• Milk 100g/3.5 fl ozs
• Sugar 5g/0.17 oz
• Salt 5g/0.17 oz
• Butter 75g/2.65 ozs
• Flour 100g/3.5 ozs
• 3 eggs

To fill:

• 500ml tub Woolworths Gold Salted Caramel and Fudge Ice Cream
• Half a jar of Woolworths Gold Salted Caramel Dessert Sauce

Step 1 - Make choux puffs. Preheat the oven to 210C/410C. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Combine the butter with water, sugar, milk & salt in a large heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and using a wooden spoon quickly beat in the flour. Return to the heat and continue beating until the mixture comes together and leaves the side of the pan. I always find this bit a bit magic and love watching it happen. Cook, beating over low heat for 1-2 minutes to cook flour. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly for about 5 minutes.

Step 2 - Transfer to the bowl of a mixer. Beat the mixture to release any more heat. Gradually add the eggs, one at a time making sure that they're well combined between additions. Beat until the mixture is thick, glossy and smooth.

Step 3 - Spoon the choux mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large plain nozzle or usually I just snip the bottom of a plastic piping bag and use it without a tip. Pipe mixture onto tray in a spiral starting at the centre. You want it to be about 8-9cms (about 3.5 inches) in diameter. Then pipe another log of choux pastry on top of the original spiral between the dips. Repeat with the rest of the pastry to form four large profiteroles.

Step 4 - Bake for 15 minutes and then turn the heat down to 180C/350F and bake for a further 20-25 minutes. Once it is baked, prick small holes in the pastry with a skewer to release the steam and return to the oven to completely dry out for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to completely cool - it shouldn't take long and you can slice it in half horizontally to speed up the cooling process.

Step 5 - Meanwhile, scoop out three small or two large scoops of ice cream per profiterole and place in the freezer until needed. Heat up the salted caramel just before serving. These are best assembled just before serving as the ice cream will melt. Serve with warm salted caramel sauce either on top or on the side so that guests can help themselves.

Tip: You can bake the profiteroles ahead of time and freeze them. Defrost them on the benchtop and crisp them up in a 180C/350F oven for 5 minutes.

Toffee apple crumble

Excellent variation on traditional apple crumble. Quantities seemed excessive so I made about 50% quantity of spice and dried fruit, 4 apples and about 75% crumble mix which provided 5 ample portions. I did over cook it a bit as it was in with the Yorkshire puds (too hot) so the sugars caramelised, which just added to it really.

Altogether more successful than last weeks miserable pork curry which has now been removed in the Hope of finding a tastier alternative,


For the apple layer
100g raisins
100g pitted soft dates, snipped into small pieces with scissors
85g light muscovado sugar
3 tbsp dark rum (or use orange juice)
25g unsalted butter
1 tsp mixed spice
zest and juice 1 lemon
4 Bramley apples, about 800g, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm rings

For the crumble
125g plain flour
100g unsalted butter
50g light muscovado sugar
3 tbsp jumbo oats
25g flaked almonds (or use other nuts if you like)
custard or ice cream, to serve

Method

Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Put everything for the apple layer, except the lemon juice and apples, into a bowl and microwave on High for 1½ mins until the butter has melted and the sugar is syrupy. Toss in the apples and lemon juice, then spoon into a medium baking dish, making sure the dried fruit is evenly distributed.
Rub the flour and butter together, first into fine crumbs, then keep going until the mix forms bigger clumps, a bit like a rough biscuit dough. Stir in the sugar, oats and almonds. Scatter over the fruit, then cover with foil and bake for 1 hr, removing the foil for the final 30 mins, until golden and bubbling. Rest for 10 mins, then serve with custard or ice cream.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2013


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Location:BBC good food

Grandma Val's Hot Fudge Sauce and Profiteroles

I cruise the netosphere a lot looking for recipe ideas and came across this while looking to see if I could make profiteroles ahead of time (answer - yes, make them and freeze before cooking, bake from frozen and add 5 mins to baking time). Detailed instructions after I have saved this little gem:

From http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Grandma Val’s Hot Fudge Sauce
Author: originally from The Houghton College Community Cookbook submitted by Janet Spegen (with a pinch of salt added.)
Recipe type: Dessert, Condiment
Prep time: 2 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 12 mins
Serves: 8

Seriously fudgy hot fudge sauce that firms up ever so slightly when poured over ice cream to form caramel-like ribbons of chocolatey goodness. Oh yes. It does.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup light corn syrup (Golden Syrup substituted)
¾ cup boiling water
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt
Instructions
Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally.
Stir in sugar, corn syrup, and boiling water.
Increase heat to medium and stir mixture until it reaches boiling.
Boil without stirring for 8 minutes. Really. Do not stir that stuff.
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract and salt. It will bubble up violently, so be careful.
Let rest for 5 minutes before pouring into a heat-proof container with a tight fitting lid. (A canning jar works perfectly for this situation.) Be certain the container you use is small enough to fit into the microwave for reheating purposes.
Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator.
To Reheat:
Remove lid from the jar and microwave for about 30 seconds.
Stir.
Heat in additional 10 second bursts until the hot fudge flows freely when poured.

Did you know you can freeze cream puff dough (choux paste) and bake cream puffs from the frozen dough any time you want? It's true. Bake them up and fill those crispy, brown, mostly-hollow poufs with your favourite ice cream then drizzle with warmed hot fudge sauce as the ultimate reward for having a well-stocked freezer. Happiness is a warm cream puff with cold ice cream!

Ingredients

For the Cream Puffs:
1 stick (4 ounces by weight) butter
1 cup (8 ounces by weight) water
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces by weight) all purpose flour
4 large eggs (preferably at room temperature)
For the Profiteroles:
Ice cream
Hot Fudge Sauce

To Make the Cream Puffs:
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet (or two) with silpats or parchment paper.

Bring the water, butter and salt to a rapid boil in a heavy-bottomed, 2 quart capacity saucepan over high heat. Remove the pan from the burner and add all the flour at once. Stir strongly until the flour is completely wet. Return the pan to medium high heat and continue stirring strongly until a light film forms over the bottom of the pan and the dough is smooth and soft and forms a ball when stirred. Remove the pan from the heat. Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (or to a large, heat-proof mixing bowl if a stand mixer is unavailable.) Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. After the final egg is added, beat on high for at least 2 minutes, but not more than 4. (If beating by hand, you can count this as a large part of your daily workout. Beat it into submission!)

You must pipe or scoop out your cream puff dough immediately, but there are two options for after you portion them out. Either way, begin by using a pastry bag with a large plain tip or spoons to portion the dough into 16 equally sized rounds on the prepared pan(s). I use a pastry bag to pipe circles, piping in smaller toward the top. Traditionally, you tap down the little peaks that form, but my kids like to bite those off, so I leave them. Alternatively, you could use two large tablespoons portion it out, using one spoon to scrape the dough from the other over the pan.


At this point you can put the pan directly into the freezer, transferring the cream puffs to a resealable zipper top bag or freezer safe container with a tight fitting lid for up to 3 months.

~or~

To Bake the Cream Puffs:
(If preparing from frozen, simply add 5 minutes to the baking time at the end.) Place pan in the oven, bake for 15 minutes. Do not open that door! After 15 minutes, lower the heat to 375°F and cook for an additional 15 minutes. When the time is up, turn off the oven and stick the handle of a wooden spoon in between the body of the stove and the door to hold it open just a little and let the cream puffs cool in the oven like that for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. You can serve them immediately or cool to room temperature.


To Make Profiteroles:
Break open a cream puff at the midline (much like a muffin). Place the bottom on a plate, put a good sized scoop of ice cream on the base, add the top part of the cream puff and drizzle with warmed hot fudge sauce.


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Rhubarb crumble recipe - Recipes - BBC Good Food

Classis crumble recipe, good with ice cream. Yum. Rhubarb crumble recipe - Recipes - BBC Good Food

Salted Caramel Sauce

In France we get the most delicious salted caramel ice cream. I came across this as part of an apple pie recipe so I just had to squirrel it away for future reference, maybe to use more like a tarte tatin, but still within the spirit of the sweet original. Perhaps I should save for when I am not on a diet (!!!) or maybe even try making ice cream with it and blow the diet. Yum.


Salted Caramel Sauce

This salted caramel sauce is good on everything! Drizzle it over ice cream, dip apples in it, whip it into a buttercream frosting, or my favorite, just eat it by the spoonful.

Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 17 minutes
Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (I prefer Maldon sea salt flakes or fleur de sel)
Preparation

Heat sugar and water in a 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to help the sugar dissolve, but stop stirring when the sugar comes to a boil. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want.
When the liquid sugar hits a dark amber color, add all the butter to the pan. The mixture will foam up and thicken. Whisk until the butter has melted. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat.
Add the cream to the pan (the mixture will foam up again) and continue to whisk to incorporate.
Add the sea salt and whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. (Note: if making Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce, add 3 tablespoons of bourbon at this time.)
Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass jar and let cool to room temperature. Don’t worry if the sauce seems a bit too thin at first, it will thicken as it cools. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving to loosen it up again.