There once upon a time was a little sandwich press. For all intents and purposes, let us name this sandwich press Susie (since let’s be honest, can you be bothered to type sandwich press every time?)
Susie lived in a moderately sized kitchen with all her other kitchen friends and she should have been happy. After all, she was regularly used (though the competition between her and the focaccia maker was quite intense) and she was well maintained and cleaned. But poor Susie wasn’t. She had a secret. The poor thing loved sweets!!
Now being a sandwich maker, she got stuffed with bread, and *god forbid* ingredients like capsicum, tapenade, cheese, tomatoes – as far from sweet as one can possibly get! Once, a little girl who was obsessed with Nutella did make a Nutella-Banana grilled sandwich – but she used the focaccia maker and not Susie! (Susie, if you are reading this, I am so sorry!)
She longed to be with the oven, the grill and even the microwave! To feel caramelised sugar and give a little *ping* when a cake was ready and to let off an aroma that didn’t scream savoury. She was quite distraught and the thought that her dreams of being part of a baking league would never come true made her cry.
But then, on the summery eve of December 31st 2011, Susie made a wish. She was packed away in her cool little cupboard, about to put down her lid and shut the door for the night, when she saw a falling chocolate rock out of the baking cupboard. It fell like a dream, swirling in the light breeze and she made an impulsive wish.
*****2 Days Later*****
It is the morning of January 2nd and the little Nutella girl who shunned Susie once (again, Susie I am so sorry!) found a recipe that caught her eye. Languidly going through the sweet Ambreen’s site Simply Sweet ‘N’ Savoury, it was for a Vanilla Triangle Cake. ‘What an odd shape’ she said to herself. But the fluffiness of the cake and the delicious pictures made her impulsively want to make the cake there and then. She was scanning through the recipe and saw the most extraordinary thing – it was made in a sandwich maker. And little Susie downstairs was about to have her wish come true. Imagine her surprise when she saw the Nutella girl open the cupboard, take her out and heat her up, a batter of vanilla scents wafting up her… um… nostrils…
I think you all know what happens next. Poor Susie, the epitome of savoury food machines, made a sweet cake. An extraordinarily fluffy, fast and delicious cake. And right now, she sits on the bench, an aroma of chocolate and vanilla mixing together wafting away from her cooling grills. And Susie smiled for the first time in 2012.
*****************************************************************************
Awww, I am so happy for Susie. And for myself. Since I ate the cake – oh were you expecting me to share? Oops.
May I just say one thing, or maybe two. This cake is fabulous. Replacing all microwave cakes, this is just as fast and so much tastier. And it is so easy to make different styles and flavours with it since the recipe is of simple vanilla therefore forever adaptable.
This cake, if baked for the right time of course, is not rubbery at all. It is easy to slip out of the well greased sandwich tin, it cools fast, cuts like a dream and is perfect with a scoop of ice cream (New York Super Fudge Chunk to be precise from the magical Ben & Jerry’s)
I made this using chocolate rocks in the batter, and decided to name my version Confetti Vanilla Cake Triangles 🙂
I just love the ribbons of colour throughout + the added crunch of chocolate in each bite!
I also adapted the recipe a bit:
- Making 1/8 of the recipe, I didn’t put in enough egg so I added in a couple of tsp of full cream milk and the more liquidy batter was perfect
- I melted the butter instead of having it softened
- I increased the amount of vanilla essence to 2 tsp for the whole recipe (though if you are using additional flavouring, keeping it at the original amount is fine)
And here are some different flavours I believe you could do with this remarkable cake baking style recipe:
- Jam – Make cake as usual and pour in half batter, add a heaping tbs of warmed jam, then cover with remaining batter
- Nutella – Add in 1/2 cup warmed Nutella to batter after essence
- Elvis – Use peanut butter (do not need to warm or slightly melt) and pour in half batter, place a row of banana slices, then pour remaining batter on top
- Tropical – Add in desiccated coconut and drained, mixed fruit salad chunks into batter before baking
- Chocolate – Add in 1-2 tbs of cocoa powder into batter, pour in half batter then chocolate chips, chunks, cut up bars of difference chocolate flavours, then pour over remaining batter and bake
- Caramel – Use brown sugar instead of caster sugar and put in swirls of caramel sauce before pressing
- Apple Pie – Add cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice into batter according to taste, pour in half the batter, add in some thinly sliced, peeled apple pieces and the pour the remaining batter on top to cover
Goodbye microwave! And Susie and I = BFFL 😀
Enjoy and I shall see you in 2 days for a special celebration… involving lemons and coconut…
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Oh my, how clever! May have to whip out the old sandwich press and start experimenting 🙂
anne
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Isn’t it the coolest idea? I look forward to seeing your gorgeous creations with it 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Wow! You make it look so good, so tempting. Love your ideas, I had been thinking on some of these.Thanks for trying it out & for your sweet mention 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
And you deserve recognition for coming up with such a delicious idea – I hope you make and post all your variations 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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I love your writing voice. I’m happy for you and for Susie!
You should have shared. It looks so good that cake.
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Thank you 🙂
And as for sharing, since this is so easy to whip up, maybe I will make more next time 😛
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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This is amazing! Fast, easy, and looks wonderful! Now I need a sandwich press….
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You most certainly do – replace your microwave 😉
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Beautiful post and very delicious stuff you got here! Nicely done and have a very Happy New Year!!!!
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Thanks so much 🙂
Hope to see you around and a belated Happy New Year to you as well
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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This made me laugh so much! Plus, it almost makes me want to go buy a sandwich press just so that I can make this cake!
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Glad to make you smile – you should definitely go get a ‘Susie’!
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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What a marvelous story of Suzie the sandwich Press. I checked Ambreen’s post two days ago but yours inspired me to do. You made it so interesting. Good Job Uru Guru!
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Thank you my friend 🙂
I am glad Susie touched you so have fun making this mini cake!!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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This is a marvelous creation, love the confetti cake with that pocket of filling. I can see this idea spinning into something big. Next thing you know, you will find it as a pillsbury mix on the grocery shelves. Pocket cakes. Well done!
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I was also very happy to find it 🙂
And I love how there are so many adaptations possible – haha maybe a pillsbury mix is a bit too imaginative, but how about a Choc Chip Uru mix 😛
Hope you enjoying carrying a pocket cake!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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What a gorgeous blog! Thanks for the FB friend request, I never would have found it. Your recipe sounds delicious and easy enough to make with my nieces and nephews.
Happy New Year!
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Thank you so much for your kind words 🙂
And that is one of the reasons I love FB!
I definitely recommend this recipe as kid-friendly 🙂
Enjoy!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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This is such a cool idea! It makes me want to get a sandwich press just so I can do this. Unfortunately, I only have a panini maker. I love this though; delicious cake fast! And I like your taste in ice cream 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
And I recommend getting a sandwich press just because it cuts a sandwich too (I am so lazy :P)
Thanks for stopping by and I am glad you too have good ice cream taste!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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What a brilliant idea! I so need to get one of these little “Suzie” devices here in HK voltage!
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Haha I’m sure ‘Susie’ has a Hong Kong cousin waiting for you 😛
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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That looks amazing! Great idea!
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Thank you 🙂
And the credit of the idea goes to Ambreen – brilliant right?
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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OMG! I never thought of that. Sounds delicious! Happy New year to you and yours! xx
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It was awesome 🙂
And I loved the idea as well!!!
Happy New Year to you as well my friend!!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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