BANANA PRETZEL SHEET CAKE WITH BUTTERSCOTCH FROSTING
Mari-Louis Guy and Callie Maritz’s cake is delicious, even without Scotch
We often get asked what the difference is between caramel and butterscotch. Caramel starts with “burnt” sugar, while for butterscotch, brown sugar is melted into the cream and vanilla is added. The flavour is enhanced with sea salt. Some say the “scotch” comes from the colour of whisky.
3 eggs, room temperature 400g (2 cups) sugar 375ml (1½ cups) vegetable oil 3 ripe bananas, mashed 85ml ( 1/3 cup) buttermilk 15ml (1 tbsp) vanilla essence 420g cake flour 5ml (1 tsp) baking powder 5ml (1 tsp) bicarbonate of soda Pinch of salt 90g (¾ cup) mixed walnut and pecan nuts Butterscotch icing: 200g (1 cup) soft brown sugar 190ml (¾ cup) cream 70g butter, unsalted 1 vanilla pod, halved Decoration: 100g salted pretzels Handful fresh raspberries
Grease and line a 23cm square baking tin. Whisk the eggs, sugar, oil, bananas, buttermilk and vanilla essence together in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together. Add the dry to the wet mixture, and stir in nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 30 minutes. Cover loosely with foil and bake for a further 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool before turning it out onto a wire rack.
To make the butterscotch icing, combine the sugar, cream and butter in a large saucepan with high sides. Stir gently over low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then scrape the vanilla seeds into the mixture. Simmer gently (about 15 minutes) until the sauce has thickened. (Optional: sprinkle in a little Maldon sea salt.)
Once the cake has cooled completely, decorate with butterscotch icing, pretzels and fresh raspberries. Serves 12