I made this for a cake-sale fundraiser at work today, and they went down pretty well - the caramel flavour perhaps could have been a wee bit more pronounced? Never mind, they looked fantastic. This is a recipe I've had my eye on for a while, and it has cropped up on many brilliant blogs, including
Smitten Kitchen and
Annie's Eats. It consists of a base of crushed digestives and butter (about 80g and 40g respectively) baked in a foil-lined 8" square square tin for 10 mins. Whip up 250g of mascarpone, a tin of Nestle Caramel, 60ml of single cream and two eggs. Pour this over the cooled base, and bake, prefereably in a
bain marie at around 160 degrees for 35 minutes. Chill well, then top with a 'glaze' of 100g dark chocolate, not too bitter, 50g butter and 2 teaspoons liquid glucose, gently melted together and poured over the top. When set, cut with a sharp long-bladed knife, dipped in hot water and wiped after each cut, to give dinky bite-sized portions. This recipe yielded 36 squares, so great for gifts, buffets, after-dinner treats.
Another one for my Christmas recipe folder! Christmas is going to have to start on December 1st and finish around Easter to fit in all those lovely recipes I want to try!
ReplyDeleteThanks.
J x
It was very nice, it's just that I was expecting a stronger caramel flavour. But Hubby said he was glad it wasn't too caramelly, as it would be too cloying, and on reflection, he's right. A very elegant little treat! Do make sure you use the hot knife and wipe it down, though, as that way, you get sharp, neat cuts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hint. I might have a go at them for our KS1 Christmas staff meeting. We have a lot to do and it's nice to lighten the load with something tasty! I don't mind about the gentle caramel flavour, it sounds really rather good.
ReplyDeleteJ x
What, prey tell, is Nestle Caramel? And, as a non-nestle consumer, what could I substitute for it?
ReplyDeleteNestle caramel is a tin of sweetened condensed milk that has been boiled for you so it turns into a caramel. Some alternatives - use non-Nestle sweetened condensed milk - Fussels is a good olf brand that I hope is still available and boil it, covered with water and unopened, for a couple of hours. Be warned, there is a risk here that it might explode! Altogether safer is to get some Merchant Gourmet Dulce de Leche, which comes in a jar. It is so delicious it can be eaten out of the jar in obscene quantities. Thirdly Marks and Sparks do a jar of rich toffee sauce - again, very good to eat out of the jar but a little pricy? If all else fails, and you can be bothered to boil 3 litres of milk with 2lbs of sugar for many hours, then here is a recipe for making it at home http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/1373/dulce-de-leche.aspx
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