Vanilla Porter Gingerbread

Baking with beer is awesome! You get to make something tasty and drink while you do it. This is a great recipe, easy to make and makes a delicious gingerbread that is light and full of flavour.
I am partial to a good vanilla porter and it adds a richness to this gingerbread recipe, although I'm sure any dark beer would work just as well.

This recipe has been modified from the Beau's Vanilla Porter Gingerbread.

1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 Tbsp baking soda
pinch salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (or 120g) butter, melted
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup mashed banana
1 large egg
1/2 cup vanilla porter

Preheat the oven to 180 C, grease or line a loaf tin.
Sift together the dry ingredients. In a saucepan melt the butter with the maple syrup. Remove from the heat and add the banana, egg and vanilla porter.
Fold the wet mix into the dry ingredients.
Pour into the prepared tin and place into the oven.
Bake for 40 mins, or until a skewer into the centre come out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 mins before turning the loaf out onto a cake rack.

Lolly Cake

A little while ago I had a craving for Lolly cake and without having access to all the required ingredients meant I had to wait. Luckily my call for fruit puffs was answered and after a long trip from NZ to Canada the lollies arrived! (Thanks Z!) 

One bag of fruit puffs already transformed. 

I immediately started making the long awaited Lolly cake. It's so easy to make with no cooking required, the hardest part is not eating all the lollies before its done and leaving it to set. It's as good as I remember and reminds me of New Zealand. 

Lolly Cake

120 g butter

250 g malt biscuits - crushed

1/2 tin (200 g) sweetened condensed milk

1 packet (190 g) fruit puffs 

Desiccated coconut 

Warm the butter and condensed milk together until the butter has melted.

Cut lollies in half, add into crushed biscuits.

Add the melted butter mixture into the biscuits and mix until well combined. 

Roll into a log shape. Roll in coconut.

Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hrs. 

When set cut into slices and serve.