Banoffee Spiced Cake filled with Dulce de Leche and Caramelised Banana - Gluten Free

This was the birthday cake made for a very special friend of mine. Years ago we used to go camping where there is no electricity, hence baking options are very limited. Being me, this did not stop dessert from happening. We would take biscuits bases and caramel sauce made before me left and fill it on the night with chopped banana, whipped cream and chocolate. Nothing better than that on a hot summers night on the beach in the beautiful Bay of island in New Zealand. This inspired this banoffee cake so here we go. 
The cake starts with a cinnamon and ginger spiced vanilla sponge, filled with fluffy vanilla butter cream, homemade Dulce de Leche, candied banana and chopped hokey pokey squiggle biscuits!
Happy Birthday Georgia and everyone else enjoy the recipe xx

Ingredients:

2 cups Gluten free baking flour (I use Healtheries Baking mix)*

2/3 cup of corn flour **

1 tsp baking powder**

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp allspice 

1/2 tsp ground ginger 

½ tsp baking soda (dissolve in the milk)

1 teaspoon salt 

4 large eggs 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1 cup milk (room temperature or microwave for 20secs)

* Can also use regular flour if not needing to be GF

** Doubled check to make sure these products do not contain Gluten

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray / line two 7inch cake pans. 

Beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth and light in colour. Add brown & caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy, add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and mix well

Add the flour, milk, corn flour, baking powder and ground spices be careful not to over mix, beat till just combined. Be careful not to over-mix as this will toughen the mixture and result in a heavy cake.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two cake pans and bake for 25-30min or till golden. Insert a tooth pick towards the centre of the cake, if this come out clean, the cake is done. Leave to cook for 10 minutes before taking out of the pan and cooling on a rack.

Once the cakes are cool, use a wire cuter (if you have one) or a sharp knife to cut each of the cakes in half - this will create the layer of the cake.

Caramel sauce:

Ingredients 

1 cup (200 grams) dark brown sugar 

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 56 grams) butter 

salt (a pinch for classic caramel sauce or ½ teaspoon for salted caramel) 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Instructions 

In a medium saucepan, mix together the sugar, heavy whipping cream, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the mixture simmer for about 4 minutes, whisking occasionally. 

Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the vanilla extract (be careful, the mixture is hot) and stir. Let mixture cool in the pan for 2 minutes, then pour into a jar. 

Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 5 days). Warm it up in the microwave before using.

Vanilla buttercream frosting: 

Ingredients: 

150g softened unsalted butter 

1/4 cup milk 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

4 cups icing sugar 

MAKES 4 cups of frosting - KEEPS 1 week

Method:

Cream the butter for 2-5 minutes till light and fluffy. Add the milk, vanilla extract and half of the sifted icing sugar, and beat for at least 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat for a further 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy and of a spreadable consistency. Add extra milk if the mixture is too dry or extra icing sugar if the mixture is too wet. If you wish to colour and/or flavour the buttercream then this is the time to do it. Add a drop at a time and beat in until you reach the required colour and/or flavour. 

Caramelised banana:

2 medium banana - chop into 1 cm pieces 

Butter for frying pan 

Method:

Heat a medium-large fry pan and melt a generous amount of butter to grease the pan. Once sizzling place the banana carefully in the pan. Fry for a few minutes until golden brown and flip to complete. Cool in the fridge before using on the cake. note: all banana may not fit in the pan at once so repeat till all it cooked. Can add more or less banana for desired flavour. 

Assembly:

You will need the: 1. Caramel Sauce - recipe as above, 2. The ready cut equal layers of the spiced sponge cake, 3. The Vanilla Buttercream all ready to go and 4. Pre-made Caramelised Banana and chopped squiggle biscuits!

Place one layer of the cake on your chosen board, cake plate or turn table. Add the layer of the Caramel sauce and spread around the middle of the cake, leave the edged clean. Pipe or carefully spread the vanilla buttercream around the edges and continue to fill the rest of the layer with icing. Sprinkle 1/2 of the banana and the chopped biscuits evenly over the buttercream and caramel.

Add the next layer of cake and continue these steps for the next layer of cake. 

Add the top layer of the cake and ice as desired. Now is the time to add any sprinkles or flowers if you are wanting to use any <3 ENJOY

Spiced Brown Sugar Sponge with Salted Caramel and Maple Buttercream - Gluten Free

It has been a while since I have had time to get in the kitchen and create more sweet goodness. After exams I was really hoping to be able to add a lot on here but sadly with work and other commitments I really haven't had any time at all. Now being my last day on holiday, I am making sure it is a baking day so this was the first creation!

This is a cake I have been meaning to make for a while. It starts with a brown sugar sponge, spiced with cinnamon, allspice and ginger. These spices help cut through the super sweetness of the cake. It is filled with a home made salted caramel sauce and maple butter cream. The maple oil in the buttercream adds to the complexity of the caramel and smokey flavour. I also toasted a little coconut and sprinkled this though out the layer however this is optional or could also be done with candied apple or poached pear, yum! This was also my first attempt at dribbling white chocolate ganache down the side of the cake and although this needs work, hopeI'm off to a good start.

Enjoy the recipe xx

Ingredients:

2 cups Gluten free baking flour (I use Healtheries Baking mix)*

2/3 cup of corn flour **

1 tsp baking powder**

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp allspice 

1/2 tsp ground ginger 

½ tsp baking soda (dissolve in the milk)

1 teaspoon salt 

4 large eggs 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1 cup milk (room temperature or microwave for 20secs)

* Can also use regular flour if not needing to be GF

** Doubled check to make sure these products do not contain Gluten

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray / line two 7inch cake pans. 

Beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth and light in colour. Add brown & caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy, add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and mix well

Add the flour, milk, corn flour, baking powder and ground spices be careful not to over mix, beat till just combined. Be careful not to over-mix as this will toughen the mixture and result in a heavy cake.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two cake pans and bake for 25-30min or till golden. Insert a tooth pick towards the centre of the cake, if this come out clean, the cake is done. Leave to cook for 10 minutes before taking out of the pan and cooling on a rack.

Once the cakes are cool, use a wire cuter (if you have one) or a sharp knife to cut each of the cakes in half - this will create the layer of the cake.

Caramel sauce:

Ingredients 

1 cup (200 grams) dark brown sugar 

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 56 grams) butter 

salt (a pinch for classic caramel sauce or ½ teaspoon for salted caramel) 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Instructions 

In a medium saucepan, mix together the sugar, heavy whipping cream, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the mixture simmer for about 4 minutes, whisking occasionally. 

Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the vanilla extract (be careful, the mixture is hot) and stir. Let mixture cool in the pan for 2 minutes, then pour into a jar. 

Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 5 days). Warm it up in the microwave before using.

See more here: http://prettysimplesweet.com/quick-easy-caramel-sauce/ 

Vanilla buttercream frosting: 

Ingredients: 

125g softened unsalted butter 

1/4 cup milk 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

4 cups icing sugar 

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

A few drops of maple oil, to taste 

MAKES 4 cups of frosting - KEEPS 1 week 

Cream the butter for 1–2 minutes. Add the milk, vanilla extract and half of the sifted icing sugar, and beat for at least 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat for a further 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy and of a spreadable consistency. Add extra milk if the mixture is too dry or extra icing sugar if the mixture is too wet. If you wish to colour and/or flavour the buttercream then this is the time to do it. Add a drop at a time and beat in until you reach the required colour and/or flavour. Pipe or use a round edge kitchen knife to apply the buttercream to the cupcake.

Assembly:

You will need the: 1. Salted Caramel Sauce - recipe as above, 2. The ready cut equal layers of the brown sponge cake and 3. The Maple Buttercream all ready to go (4. option white chocolate ganache which can be seen as i dribbled over the top of the cake).

Place one layer of the cake on your chosen board, cake plate or turn table. Add the layer of the Caramel sauce and spread around the middle of the cake, leave the edged clean. Pipe or carefully spread the maple buttercream around the edges and continue to fill the rest of the layer with icing. (Optional: Sprinkle with toasted coconut or fruit even throughout the layer of the cake). Add the next layer of cake and continue these steps. If you are using ganache, pour over the top of the cake and slowly and carefully pour over the edges to create the dribbles. Wait for this to set and continue to ice over the top of the cake. Now is the time to add any sprinkles or flowers if you are wanting to use any <3 ENJOY

Candied Rhubarb and Strawberry Brown Sugar Sponge with Dulce de Leche and Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

This was the pretty pink cake made for Mums birthday last year. This was quite an extravagant layered cake. I started off as a brown sugar sponge that was lightly spiced with ginger and cinnamon. I then put a generous layer of a Dulce de Leche caramel, topped with whipped cream cheese icing then with an abundant layer of candied rhubarb and fresh strawberries! It was taken to one of Sunday family lunches and enjoyed by all!
The cake seen in the photo was not gluten free however the recipe below is my vanilla cake recipe which i have adapted for this cake. I has been tests many times on both gluten free and regular flour and always works a treat! Enjoy xx

Recipe: 

2 cups all-purpose Gluten Free flour *

2/3 cup corn-flour ** 

2 tsp baking powder **

 1 teaspoon salt 

4 large eggs 

1 cup (250 grams) unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup caster sugar 

3/4 cup soft brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1/2 tsp ground ginger 

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup milk

* Can also use regular flour if not needing to be GF

** Doubled check to make sure these products do not contain Gluten

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray / line two 7inch cake pans. 

Beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth and light in colour. Add brown & caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy, add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and mix well

Add the flour, milk, corn flour, baking powder and ground spices be careful not to over mix, beat till just combined. Be careful not to over-mix as this will toughen the mixture and result in a heavy cake.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two cake pans and bake for 25-30min or till golden. Insert a tooth pick towards the centre of the cake, if this come out clean, the cake is done. Leave to cook for 10 minutes before taking out of the pan and cooling on a rack.

Once the cakes are cool, use a wire cuter (if you have one) or a sharp knife to cut each of the cakes in half - this will create the layer of the cake.

Whipped Cream Cheese icing:

250g Cream Cheese 

150g Butter 

3 1/2 cup Icing Sugar 

1 T Milk (may need more or less depending on desired consistency) 

2 tsp Vanilla Essence or Vanilla paste 

Method: Beat cream cheese on high until light and whipped. Add the butter and continue to beat till light and fluffy. Add vanilla and icing sugar (about 1 cup at a time) till icing has a fluffy and whipped constancy - this may require more or less milk than stated in the recipe. 

Assembly:

You will need the: 1. Dulce de Leche pre made (can buy or other make a thick caramel sauce) 2. The candied rhubarb (can be made by roasted cut chunks of rhubarb in the oven, sprinkled with a generous layer of sugar for 10mins at 180'c - needs to be watched) and 3. Freshly cut Strawberries 

Place one layer of the cake on your chosen board, cake plate or turn table. Add the layer of the Dulche de Leche or caramel sauce and spread around the middle of the cake, leave the edged clean. Pipe or carefully spread the cream cheese icing around the edges and continue to fill the rest of the layer with icing. Sprinkle the fruit even throughout the layer of the cake. Add the next layer of cake and continue these steps. On the top layer be care if you are using any caramel as it may leak down the cake. Make a small pile of the fruit, on tops of the icing, in the middle and top with a pretty pink flowers. Now is the tome to add any sprinkles if you are wanting to use any <3