The Butterscotch almond shortcake is an almond cake with butterscotch sauce.
But what is butterscotch sauce?
Historically, butterscotch was a hard candy made with unrefined sugar.
The suffix “scotch” means “to cut”. When the sugar or candy is hot, it is difficult to get a clean cut, so it needs to be scored while still hot to make it easier to obtain a clean edge later.
Butterscotch is traced back to Doncaster, a town in Yorkshire, England, where the word was first recorded. It is often attributed to Samuel Parkinson, a confectioner who began making it as a hard candy in 1817.
Made famous as a banana split accompaniment, butterscotch sauce became one of Americans’ favorite sauces since the 1950s and today is considered similar to caramel.
What is the difference between butterscotch and caramel?
Butterscotch and caramel are both caramelized sugar.
But the main difference between the two is the sugar used to make them.
Caramel is often made with regular white granulated sugar, while butterscotch is made with brown sugar*.
Caramel sauce doesn’t always contain butter, while butterscotch always requires butter.
Both benefit from the addition of salt, but butterscotch in particular doesn’t achieve its signature flavor until a bit is added.
A traditional recipe for butterscotch sauce requires only three ingredients: brown sugar, butter, and cream.
This version is gluten-free and lactose-free, with the shortcake base made from almond and rice flour, vegetable milk and cream, and lactose-free butter.
With Shortcake, it refers to a dessert with a crumbly texture.
Butterscotch sauce is often used for decorating:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 5 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour (or ground almonds)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 packet gluten-free baking powder
- 7 oz sugar
- 3 oz lactose-free butter
- 1 1/8 cups plant-based milk (e.g. almond)
- to taste ground cinnamon
- to taste almonds
- 2 oz lactose-free butter
- 6 1/3 oz brown sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 2/3 cup lactose-free plant-based cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Steps
Cream the sugar and butter for at least 5 minutes.
Add the plant-based milk, flours, and baking powder. Add cinnamon.
Pour into the baking dish and bake in the oven at 356°F for 40 minutes.
Add the brown sugar to the melted butter. Add the salt and bring to a boil until reaching 241°F.
Lower the heat.
Add the cream and reach 226°F, the sauce will have a slightly darker color but will not seem very thick (it will thicken as it cools).
Finally, the vanilla.
Let it rest for a few minutes and then cover the cake.
Decorate as desired with almonds.
The Brown sugar is the English term for brown sugar, which is white sugar with a percentage of molasses.
