A lightly spiced, classic brandysnap baskets recipe that not only makes for a simple yet impressive dessert, but also offers a delightful balance of flavors. Filled to the brim with ripe bananas and a wonderfully spiced rum whipped cream, the baskets, in addition, provide a delightful crunch, adding texture and enhancing the overall experience of this amazing dessert
There was a time when you would see brandysnap baskets a lot more often a dessert offering. But, now, they seem to have fallen to the wayside like may other classics. Well I want to bring them back, being one of my favourite desserts I don’t know why I stopped making them. They aren’t complicated or difficult to make, in fact they require very few ingredient and come together very quickly.
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Ingredients for brandysnap baskets
- Butter.
- Sugar, either granulated or castor works fine. It is going to be melted down either way, the granulated may take a minute longer that is all.
- Maple Syrup. Try to use a good quality syrup. if you do not have maple syrup then you can substitute this for either a golden syrup or a dark corn syrup.
- Plain all purpose flour.
- Spices
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- All spice, I have struggled to find ground all spice before so I ended up buying a small simple coffee grinder like this one and I just grind my own. I have found that you cannot beat freshly ground spice.
- Cloves, again I usually grind my own using the coffee/spice grinder.
- Whipping cream
- Vanilla Extract
- Icing sugar
- Any blended scotch whiskey, something like Grants is a great choice. You could also use a bourbon too.
- Bananas
How to make brandysnap baskets
Preheat your oven to 350F, 175C
Begin with placing the butter sugar and syrup into a medium sized saucepan
On a medium heat melt the ingredients down. Make sure that the sugar has fully dissolved and there are no longer any crystals.
Remove the pot from the heat and add in the flour and spices giving it all a good stir. So that the flour and spices have been fully incorporated.
Take a large cookie sheet and either line it with parchment paper or if like me then I like to use a silicone mat. Take a little bit of flour and sprinkle it over the surface of the mat or paper.
Place around a heaped teaspoon or dessert spoons worth of the mixture onto the cookie sheet, making sure that they are spaced apart really well. I would suggest roughly 4 inches apart is good. As the brandysnaps bake they spread out. How much they spread will depend on how much mixture you used for each one.
Place them into the preheated oven for 10 minutes, you want them to spread out flat, look golden and lacy.
While they are baking take either very small bowls or drinking glasses and turn them upside down. You will need however may baskets you have made, these are the basket molds.
Waft and mold
Remove the tray from the oven using oven mitts or something similar. Then being very careful, and making sure you have a good grip of the parchment paper or silicone mat waft the pan gently up and down a few times. This will allow the baskets to cool slightly.
Using a spatula or fish slice, I have found that the metal ones tend to work the best. Very carefully drape the brandysnap over a glass or bowl don’t forge they they are quite fragile, they are also still hot.
Repeat the process for all of the brandysnaps.
Leave them now to cool and harden up this should only take around 10 minutes. In fact they will harden up and can be removed from the molds pretty quickly.
The whiskey whipped cream and bananas
While the brandy snaps are cooling or if you aren’t serving them right away then just before serving make the whipping cream.
In a small to medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer add all of the ingredients. Cream, vanilla, icing sugar and whiskey.
Whip the mixture with an electric whisk or the stand mixer until the cream is thick and has lovely soft looking peaks. Remember you can over whip cream so keep an eye on it especially when using a stand mixer.
To serve the brandysnap baskets place one brandy snap basket on a plate and fill half of it with the whiskey cream. Then top the cream with sliced bananas. Optionally you could also add some caramel sauce too. This one from Natasha’s Kitchen is really good.
Different filling options
Other great fillings for brandysnap baskets include:
- Strawberries and cream
- Vanilla ice-cream and blueberries or raspberries
- Strawberry Ice-cream and fresh strawberries
- Selection of berries and maple syrup
- Whipped cream, bananas and chocolate sauce
Brandysnap baskets with bananas and a whiskey cream
These spice crunchy brandysnap baskets look so impressive and yet are so easy to make. With lots of fillings to choose from bananas and spiced rum cream have to be one of the best.
Ingredients
- 75g Butter
- 75g Sugar (any white)
- 2 tbsp Maple syrup
- 75g Plain all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp Ground allspice
- 1/8 tsp Ground cloves
- 1/8tsp Ground nutmeg
Whipped cream
- 250 ml (1 cup) Whipping cream
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 cup Icing sugar
- 1-2 tbsp Whiskey, Something like Grants blended scotch whiskey
- 1-2 Bananas
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F, 175C
- In a medium to small saucepan add the butter, sugar and syrup
- Over a medium heat melt the ingredients down until the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove the pot from the heat and add the flour and all of the spices
- Mix it all together really well so that the flour and spices have been totally incorporated
- Take a cookie sheet and line it with parchment or a silicone mat and lightly dust the surface with flour.
- Put a generous teaspoon or dessertspoons worth of the brandysnap mixture onto the cookie sheet making sure to space them far apart as they do spread quite a lot when they bake.
- Place the tray into the preheated oven and bake for around 10 minutes or until they have spread out, are golden and look lacy.
- While they bake take either glasses or very small bowls, you need enough for however many baskets you made or if you bake them in two batches enough for half. Turn them upside down these are our basket molds
- Remove the tray from the oven using oven mitts or something similar.
- Making sure to have a good grip on the parchment or silicone mat take the cookie sheet and gently waft it up and down. (see pictures above).
- Using a metal spatula carefully lift each brandysnap, they are fragile and drape them over the upturned glasses or bowl.
- Repeat the process for each brandysnap.
- Leave them to cool and harden, they will firm up pretty quicky.
When you are ready to serve them make the cream.
- Take all of the ingredients and place them into a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Using and electric whisk or stand mixer with the whisk. Whisk the cream until it is thick with soft peaks.
- Peel and slice the bananas as well.
To serve take a basket and place it on a plate, fill the basket half way with the whiskey cream and top it with the sliced bananas.
Serve right away.
Notes
- You can use golden or dark corn syrup in place of maple syrup.
- Another filling option I love is just basic strawberries and whipped cream.
- The baskets can also be wrapped around tubes so that you have brandysnap tubes.
- The baskets will store for a day or two so they can be made in advance. Once they have completely cooled just store them in an airtight container
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