Monday, June 14, 2010

Banana Puddings with Ginger Butterscotch Sauce

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At the moment, my blog is my happy place. Work is not. Work is the thing that sucks the life and joy out of me, but it's okay because I can come home and bake and blog. So it becomes incredibly frustrating when I am in a total baking funk. Lately I've been lacking ideas and inspiration. I've attempted a few baking experiments which have ended in disaster. It kind of makes me want to tear my hair out. So when a banana pudding was requested for dessert, I was more than happy to do it because it was something simple and safe. There was only so much that could go wrong, right? And nothing beats a warm, sticky pudding in the middle of winter.
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I was too lazy to go to the supermarket. There are some days when I would love to bake, but I just cannot be bothered to leave the house. Even though I would have loved to try Linda's beautifully light looking steamed banana pudding, I didn't have all the ingredients I needed. So I just sort of made one up to match the ingredients I had at home (hence the weird mixture of cup and weight measurements, sorry!). I thanked my lucky stars that I had a container of mashed bananas in my freezer (I do this everytime I have some super black bananas that are about to get thrown out). So I went about with the usual beating and stirring, I was a little nervous because the batter was looking a bit like scrambled eggs. Uncomfortable feelings of doom were starting to build in the back of my mind, but to my surprise they baked really nicely, turning golden brown and fragrant, slightly softer and denser than a banana cake. They were reeeeallly buttery, so I've adjusted the amount of butter in the recipe below.
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The real winner in this dessert is the ginger butterscotch sauce. It's thick and smooth, with just the lightest tinge of ginger. It might not be the very first flavour that you might imagine matching well with banana, but it really does the trick. I could imagine this sauce tasting just and lovely with a sticky date or chocolate pudding. The sauce it quite rich and sweet, so it was perfect with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. It's the type of dessert that you just want to snuggle up on the couch with. Too bad it wasn't enough to pull me out of my baking bad place, let's just say I've wasted a lot of eggs, butter, sugar and lemons this weekend. My house smells like lemons and failure :( Apologies in advance if it's bit quiet around here for the next few weeks while I try to get my baking mojo back!
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Banana Pudding Cakes with Ginger Butterscotch Sauce
(makes 12 servings)
For the banana pudding:
1 cup mashed over-ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
3/4 cup caster sugar
160g unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
3/4 cup self-raising flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the Ginger Butterscotch Sauce:
3 tbsp golden syrup (preferably Lyle's brand)
1/2 cup pouring cream
1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar
30g unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease a 12-hole cupcake or muffin tin well. Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl and set aside. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with electric beaters until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well to combine after each addition. Beat in bananas, then gently fold in sifted dry ingredients.
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Spoon mixture evenly into the greased cupcake tin, so they are about 3/4 full. Bake until golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the centre of the puddings comes out clean, around 20-25 minutes depending on how big they are. Leave to cool in their tray for about 15 minutes, then using a flat bladed knife, carefully remove puddings from the tray.
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To make the butterscotch sauce, place golden syrup, cream, sugar, butter, salt and ginger in a small saucepan and gently bring to the boil. Reduce heat slightly and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly until sauce is thick and smooth. Remove from heat and serve puddings with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a generous serve of sauce on top.
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21 comments:

  1. That's seriously delicious.. and the bird background is sensational!

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  2. I love your table cloth, its friggin adorable.

    I've never been a pudding girl, for me the consistency is just too weird.

    The sauce looks delicious, I love the picture where it's dripping down the edge of the bottle.

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  3. You had me at ginger butterscotch sauce! These look fabulous. I hope you get back into your baking groove soon *hugs*

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  4. Great looking little puddings. So warm and tasty for a winters night. I love the idea of a ginger butterscotch sauce.

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  5. funk. baking funk. like the funky glee ep? give up the funk steph!

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  6. Hi Steph! Sorry to hear about work - but things are definitely looking up in the kitchen! I do love the homeliness of your banana pudding. With that fantastic sauce to boot!

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  7. Aww, sorry to hear there are some things not going so well! You always make me want to bake even though I'm no good at it; I'm sure this phase will pass and you will keep inspiring us all! The banana puddings look yumyumyum. :)

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  8. Aww hope work gets better! And dw I ALWAYS change something when I try to follow a recipe... something I probably shoudn't but oh wellsss haha. This looks soo tastyy and oh boy that sauce does look winnah!

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  9. Oh Steph. You can have some of my baking mojo if you like - it's almost too hot to bake here anyways, 34C and super-humid... but it's obvious you still have it - that pudding looks amazing. Sending you good vibes to get through the work blahs.

    xo Patty

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  10. aww Steph, for you to make something so delicious when you're in a "baking funk," I can't wait to see what you come up with when you're not in the slump. Your banana pudding sounds delicious when paired with the butterscotch sauce, I think the ginger add the much needed kick.

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  11. The sauce looks divine - as does the pretty pink print in the background! Very nice. Hope works gets better. When it does get very bad and you're feeling at the end of your tether - just remember whilst murder would be satisfying, it's not worth going to jail for!

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  12. Sorry to hear about your baking slump. Hope you get your mojo back soon.

    Banana and ginger does sound like an interesting combination. Glad to hear that it works so well together :)

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  13. Love the bottle that holds the syrup! Perfect pudding for current weather.

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  14. Love the birds! Mmm nothing beats a warm pudding in winter, this sounds great. I hope work gets better, and I hope you get out of the funk soon. But I'll still be your friend, regardless of baking funk situation!

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  15. Just discovered your blog and I can see this is where I need to come for baking inspiration and sweet recipes :)

    I love the idea of combining the ginger with banana. I just combined pear with ginger in a steamed pud and I think it really lifts the sweet fruit.

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  16. I can relate to your post with work / blog = not happy / happy. I hope your job gets better for you!
    Lovely photos and the background (is that a tablecloth?) is beautiful. Love it!

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  17. My, my! I just found your blog, and I must say it's gorgeous. This recipe sounds scrumptious. I love the way you presented it.

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  18. Sorry to hear work is so draining these days. But glad you got to recharge by baking. I, too, find it the perfect escape that never ceases to relax me. That ginger butterscotch sauce sounds totally heavenly. I bet it would be dazzling poured over ice cream, too, or even simple roasted apples.

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  19. This is the perfect dessert for winter! Served warm and with the ginger to give you and extra kick. Beautifully photographed too

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  20. Thang - Thanks so much! I had to buy the bird paper when I saw it!

    Laura - Thanks, it's actually wrapping paper :) I'm only a pudding girl when it's this cold!

    Lisa - Heehee we are both ginger fiends! I hope so too :(

    Mark @ Cafe Campana - Thanks! It adds a little bit of extra heat which is always welcome in winter

    chocolatesuze - HAHAHA that did come to mind after I reread my post :P

    Trissa - Thanks Trissa :) The sauce was to die for!

    Here Comes The Aeroplane - Thanks

    FFichiban - I hope so too!! Haha I do that sometimes and it usually doesn't end well! Thanks!

    Patty - Ouch, that humid weather doesn't sound so good! Thank you!!

    linda - Hahah aww :) Yes I think it definitely needed the ginger!

    Forager - Thanks so much! ROFL thanks, I will definitely keep that in mind :)

    Simon @ the heart of food - Try it sometime! It really does work!

    Ellie (Almost Bourdain) - Hehe thanks, it was actually the vase from my neopolitan melting moments post ;)

    Betty @ The Hungry Girl - Hehe they're from burnt orange. :D *hugs*

    Sarah @ For the Love of Food - Aww yay! Thanks for visiting :) Pear with ginger sounds amazing!

    Kristen - Thanks! It sucks doesn't it? It's actually a really nice printed wrapping paper, not that i'd ever use it to wrap presents!

    Erica Lea {Cooking for Seven} - Thanks so much! :) Thanks for stopping by!

    Carolyn Jung - Yes baking is definitely one of the best escapes from all the crap! Yum you make that sound good!

    Betty - Thanks!

    Brenda - I agree :D Thanks so much!

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