Little Box Brownie

A Baking Blog from Melbourne, Australia

Recipe

Caramelised Banana Cake

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I had great intensions of eating these bananas when they where young, yellow and beautiful yet once again I have let them wilt, turn brown and die only to be reborn as an amazing out of this world banana cake. I’m sure you are with me when I say whoooo hooooo banana cake.
The cake is really moist and quite light and fluffy. The cake itself is not overly sweet but the caramel topping makes up for that, it gives the cake an amazing warmth, just what you want in time for winter, mind you it would be perfect all year around. I have to say I am quite impressed with this cake. It was after all a throw anything in to the mixture cake and I think it turned out pretty Supercalifragilisticexpialidociously well, I think the sour cream I added in to the mixture just for the fun of it really worked a treat. Ok so I’m proud as punch go on give it a go.

The trunk that I photographed the cake on is an old trunk that sits in the front of my studio. It was my dad’s old school trunk, it has K Purvis stamped on to the front of it. I’m not quite sure how he moved it cos it weighs a tonne, but he would cart this thing off to boarding school with him back in the day when he was a wee lad:) He said he also took it to sea when he was a cadet engineer, so this trunk has quite literally been around the world. Oh the stories I’m sure it could tell. 🙂

Caramel Banana Cake
 
Topping
 
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of cream
2 bannans
 
Cake
 
100g butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 ripe bannans 
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 eggs
2 cups self raising flour (gluten free or plain)
 
Pre heat oven to 190C
 
To make the topping, sprinkle the sugar into a 20cm round cake tin, then pour over the cream. Cut up the two bananas into pieces about 3mm thick and lay them over the cream and sugar. Set aside
To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar together. Mash up the banana’s with a fork and add along with the sour cream, vanilla essence and eggs then stir through. Sift in the flour and stir until well combined. Pour over the bananas and bake for 40mins or until cooked.
 
Serve hot straight from the oven.
 
 

Gluten Free Apple and Berry Cake

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A good friend of mine is gluten intolerant and I continue to make cakes that have gluten in them, so to make up for constantly making food she can’t eat, I made her a cake she can.
I don’t think I could do it, not eat gluten I mean, I love my bread and cakes to much. I know there are all these special products and flours you can buy these days but imagine going to the local bakery and not being able to buy a loaf of bread or a cake. Thats my kind of nightmare.
I am going to try to experiment with different flours as the flour I used tasted like it had to much soda in it, Ally said she couldn’t taste it, so I think you must just get use to the taste. If anyone out there knows if it was the flour I used or just the way it is with all gluten flours I would love to know. Also can you recommend a good Gluten free flour to use?

Enjoy xxx

 
Gluten Free Berry Cake
 
150g butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup treacle
3 eggs
2 cups gluten free self raising flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
2 small apples (grated)
1 cup of berry’s fresh or frozen 
 
Pre heat the oven to 170°C
 
Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the treacle and the eggs and stir to combine. Sift in the flour, cinnamon and ginger. Add the grated apple and berry’s.
Pour the mixture into a lined 20cm cake tin and cook for 50 minutes or until cooked.
 
Serve with cream and crushed berries 

Brownies take two

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As promised Mr Whittaker’s brownies recreated for all of you who are in parts of the world where you can’t get his amazing chocolate. I have added extra peanut butter to the recipe as I found the original version didn’t have a strong peanut butter taste, this version I went all out. Most peoples comments have been they taste like a snickers bar so mission accomplished I think. I haven’t changed the recipe very much as it was so amazing to begin with, just extra peanutty.

Enjoy  xx

Peanut Brownies
 
200g butter 
2 cups sugar
200g dark chocolate  
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4 eggs
 
Caramel
 
50g butter
390g sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 tbsp golden syrup 
 
1/2 cup of extra peanut butter to assemble 
 
Pre heat the oven to 180C
Place the butter, sugar, chocolate and peanut butter into a double boiler and heat on a medium heat until the ingredients have melted and combined.
Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the chocolate mixture and stir though. Add the eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Set aside
 
To make the caramel place the butter, condensed milk and golden syrup into a saucepan, and on a medium heat boil until the mixture becomes golden brown. Make sure you constantly stir otherwise it will stick to the bottom and burn.
 
To assemble, pour half of the brownie mixture into a lined 20x30cm tin. Then dollop on 2/3 of the caramel and the extra peanut butter. Pour over the remaining brownie mixture and dot over the rest of the caramel. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked.
Recipe adapted from Whittaker’s Passion for Chocolate, Andrew & Brian Whittaker, 2012, Random House
 
 
 

Whittaker’s Peanut Butter Chocolate and Caramel Brownie

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This next recipe comes from the wonderful Whittaker’s Passion for Chocolate book. While on holiday in New Zealand I found this cook book and its a little gem. The Whittaker’s have been producing Chocolate in New Zealand for years, since about 1896 I think, and finally they have put out an amazing cook book, with an array of recipes for the chocolate lover in all of us.
This is one of those books you can’t walk past or put down as its filled with great photos and really interesting and diverse recipes. The recipes are from the Whittaker family’s treasure trove, some local chefs, and even some really cool local bloggers. Some of the recipes are savoury such as chocolate braised leg of hare and lamb rump with rosemary-infused dark chocolate sauce, the majority of them however are sweet, which is perfect for my sweet tooth. Truffles, brownies, fudge, meringues, custards, brulees, cookies, oh the list goes on. So I may be busy for a while making them all.
I have been eating Mr Whittaker’s famous peanut slab for years. I was reading that it use to come in a huge slab and when you went to the local dairy (Convenient Store) they would cut pieces off for you, however all my life I have only even known them to come as an individual wrapped chocolate bar.
 Mr Whittaker has in recent years put out some new blocks of chocolate, and one of them is peanut butter chocolate, holy yum. So it goes with out saying I was very excited to be able to make this recipe, a caramel and peanut butter chocolate brownie.
I thought I would have to get some of the chocolate sent over from New Zealand, however was really delighted to see that their selling this chocolate at Big W, and Woolworth’s in Australia. For those of you in parts of the world that can’t get the chocolate I will put up an additional recipe in the next few days, yes thats right I’m going to make a second batch just for you, not because I can’t stop eating it or anything 🙂
If you love chocolate, good photos, and great recipes, you have got to get your hands on a copy of this book. Did I mention that every recipe comes with a photo of the end result, go on find out where to get one and get it. It will make you so very happy.
Enjoy  xxx
Whittaker’s Peanut Butter Chocolate and Caramel Brownie
 
Brownie
 
250g Whittaker’s Peanut Butter chocolate
225g butter
450g sugar
8ml Vanilla essence
45g cocoa powder
175g plain flour
5 eggs
 
Caramel
 
80g Salted butter
390g sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 tbsp golden syrup 
 
Pre heat the oven to 180C
Place the chocolate, butter, sugar and vanilla into a double boiler and heat until the ingredients have melted and combined, remove from the heat. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the chocolate mixture and stir though. Add the eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Set aside
 
To make the caramel place the butter, condensed milk and golden syrup into a saucepan, and on a medium heat boil until the mixture becomes golden brown. Make sure you constantly stir otherwise it will stick to the bottom and burn.
 
To assemble, pour half of the brownie mixture into a lined 20x30cm tin. Then dollop on 2/3 of the caramel. Pour over the remaining brownie mixture and Dot over the rest of the caramel. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked.

Recipe from Whittaker’s Passion for Chocolate, Andrew & Brian Whittaker, 2012, Random House