Butterscotch Slices

After the success of my first recipe experiment earlier in the week (my brother proclaimed that my macarons were the best thing I've ever made!), I took to the kitchen again for a relaxing Sunday afternoon of baking. With a birthday at work this week it was the perfect excuse to try something new.

A few months ago I went to York for the weekend to have a few days with my best friend. After a lovely stroll around the cobbled streets we stopped for tea and cake - both of us choosing a butterscotch cake served warm with ice cream. It was delicious so I've had a go at creating my own recipe to remind me of that lovely day, with my favourite person, in my favourite place.

These little sponge slices use light brown sugar instead of caster sugar to give a slight toffee flavour and are topped with butterscotch flavoured swiss buttercream. I also added little pieces of fudge for decoration but you could omit this or add something different if you wanted.

For this recipe I used my tried and tested sponge recipe which I always measure in ounces rather than grams (this is how I was taught by my Mama) but converted to metric measures it is 55 grams of everything (2 ounces) per egg.





Recipe makes 24 individual slices or 1 large teared cake.

For the sponge you will need:

• 10 oz light brown sugar
• 10 oz unsalted butter or margarine 
• 5 large eggs
• 10 oz self raising flour

For the butterscotch sauce:

• 190g golden syrup
• 210g caster sugar
• 150g light brown sugar
• 60ml cream or milk
• 240ml water

For the swiss buttercream:

• 3 large egg whites
• 250g caster sugar
• 375g unsalted butter

This recipe did make enough to ice all of my sponge fingers and left a lot behind so you could halve the quantities for the buttercream and sauce to avoid waste - or do as I'm doing, making another quantity of sponge so that my Mum can treat her work colleagues too! If I wasn't doing this I planned to make a biscuit base (crumbled digestive biscuits and melted butter), layering on bananas and topping with the left over buttercream to construct a 'banoffe pie' of sorts.

To decorate:

• Fudge - cut into small pieces

To make the sponge:

• Make the sponge using the creaming method - this means beating the butter and sugar until light and fluffy before gradually adding the egg and then sifting the flour and gently folding it in. Making a sponge is as simple as that!
• I then spooned my mixture into a lined individual loaf tin. If you don't have one of these you could make them into cupcakes or make a two teared cake sandwiched with the buttercream.
• Cook the cakes for about 15 minutes (longer is making a teared cake) at 180c (fan). Once cooked allow to cool completely before decorating.

To make the butterscotch sauce:

• Put the sugars, golden syrup and water into a plan. Bring the mixture to the boil and allow to bubble for a couple of minutes to ensure the sugars are completely dissolved.
•  You can test to see if it has boiled for long enough by dripping a small amount into really cold water - if it forms little balls in the water it is done.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the butter before returning to the heat to boil for 3 minutes.
• Then add the cream / milk - I forgot to buy cream to I just used the 1% fat milk we had in the fridge which worked just fine. As its such a small amount you need I wouldn't bother buying cream just of 60ml.
• Allow to cool completely - it will start to thicken slightly as it cools.

To make the swiss buttercream:

• This recipe and method comes from Ed Kimber's Patisserie Made Simple.
• Put the egg whites and sugar in a heat proof bowl over gently simmering water. Whisk gently until the sugar dissolves. 

Gently whisk to prevent the
egg whites from cooking

The buttercream is thick
but very light and fluffy

• To test the mixture is ready dip your index finger in and rub it against your thumb - you shouldn't be able to feel any sugar granules. If you can, keep going for a little longer. If you have a thermometer it should read 60c.
• Transfer the mixture to a freestanding mixture with a whisk attachment, or just use an electric whisk and whisk until the mixture is cold, glossy and forms stiff peaks (approximately 8 minutes).
• Whisk in the butter and then whisk in the cooled butterscotch sauce.
• 
  

You're now ready to add the finishing touches - transfer your buttercream to a piping bag and decorate your slices however you fancy. I then added 3 little pieces of fudge to each slice to finish.

Refrigerate any left over buttercream in a sealed container and use within a couple of days.

And that's all there is too it! My Dad is normally a harsh baking critic but he loved these little treats and had no constructive criticism at all - on this occasion!

Happy baking - let me know how you get on!

Rach x