Speculaas Bundt Cake...

 

 Speculaas is not entirely new to me and actually brings back very fond memories of travelling through Belgium with two of my favourite people in the world.

 

 

The  'Speculaas flavour' is becoming more and more popular and It's biscuit spread, Speculoos is even tipped off to be the next Nutella. The flavour is  based on a traditional shortcrust biscuit made around Christmas in the Netherlands and Belgium.        

 

 

The Speclaas spice I have used in this recipe is special and that's because of where it comes from, The Speculaas Spice Company.
Steven created this little taste of the Netherlands based on fond memories and old family recipes.

"The Vandotsch Speculaas is a spice mix of nine organic spices that delivers deliciously warm, sweet and spicy ‘layers’ of taste taking any simple cinnamon taste to another level. "  

It can be used in so many recipes, some of which you can actually pick up off their websites blog . I although tempted to try and bake the traditional biscuits, decided to bake a cake using this wonderful spice.

 



 

Ingredients

The cake

200g Butter

200g Sugar

200g Flour

1 tsp Baking powder

2 tsp Speculaas Spice

4 eggs, beaten

 

Icing

1/2 Cup icing sugar

a little milk

1/2 tsp Speculaas spice

 

Method

1. Cream your butter and sugar together then add your eggs one by one, mixing between each one.

2. Mix in your dry ingredients until all combined.

3. Prepare a bundt tin and then poor in your cake mixture. Tap the tin against the counter to ake sure its even.

4.Bake in the oven at 170 until cooked through and your skewer comes out clean. About 30min. Leave to cool completely.

5. Remove cake from the tin and then prepare your icing. If I am honest when it comes to icing like this I just wing it as exact measurements can vary when it comes to 'your' favoured consistency. But once you have got your icing how you want it and its nice and dribbely...dribble over your cake in a arty way ;)

 

This cake is FABULOUS with a cup of tea.

This cake and spice is something I will make and use over again as its delicious and because it reminds me of travelling with friends and one of my favourite places to visit the Netherlands. Which funny enough is where I am off to in the morning...in an hour to be exact. Better get moving...

 

PLEASE make sure to get your hands on this delicious spice mix and of course share your recipe. Hope you all have a fabulous week and I will post more deliciousness when I am back.

 

you can purchase the spice here .

 

Recipe - mine

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice-Cream ...

I have been wanting to make some ice-cream for ages and have been trying to decide if I should make a healthy one or a totally indulgent one... Of course I went for the one full of delicious hip expanding goodness! BUT for all my SW followers and healthier fans I will include a healthy recipe option too. One that is dairy free and vegan friendly :)

Let's start with the naughty one...

 

Ingredients

1 can of condensed milk

1 tub of single cream

2 tbsp. peanut butter, I used manilife peanut butter

50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

 

Method

1. Pop all the ingredients into a bowl except the chocolate and mix together well.

2. Once mixed fold in the chocolate and then transfer into a freezer proof tub.

3. This is non churn ice-cream but I do recommend mixing it a little every hour so the peanuts and chocolate don't sit on the top.

4. In about 3 hours it should be ready to serve but you can leave it over night,just remove from the freezer a few minutes before serving.

 

my happy helper today... handy when it came to drippy ice-ream



This ice-ream is so deliciously creamy, peanutty and chocolately that you could eat the whole tub in one go. But try not to as it is rather sweet.

 

For a healthier version just freeze couple of bananas in chunks. Once frozen whiz up adding your peanut butter and a spoon of coco instead of chocolate. Its instant ice-cream for half the calories but still super yummy!!

 

 

What is your favourite ice-cream, and have you ever made your own?

 

recipe - mine

syns - ALLOT sorry, maybe something for treat night.

Pork with Satay Sauce...

Today I met a lovely fellow Redbourner Hayley, who introduced me to Manilife Peanut Butter. It's so amazingly peanutty and delicious that I just had to cook with it...literally straight away!:P I had planned to create a recipe for the blog today and things just fell right into place and gave me one scrumptious lunch! WIN WIN!

Before I tell you how to make this super scrummy Satay sauce I will tell you a bit about Manilife all natural crunchy Argentinian peanut butter.

Manilife is all natural peanut butter. 'No sugar, no palm oil just really really good nuts sourced straight from Argintina.'

Manilife is peanut butter at it's best. They roast a fresh batch of nuts every week in their London factory and those roasted nuts are the only thing used to make their peanut butter, absolutely nothing else is added.
They say 'Argentine nuts are naturally sweeter and with a fat profile akin to olive oil, naturally better for you as well. You’ll taste the difference.' and believe me you do!

Now let's get into the tasty stuff... well... recipe...

Ingredients

Satay Sauce
2 tbsp , crunchy Peanut Butter - I used Manilife .
2 tbsp, soya sauce
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 chilli, finely chopped - I used my own home grown chilli's!
1 tbsp sugar
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Coriander, roasted peanuts and chilli to garnish.

Pork
Soya Sauce
Pork loin, cut into strips - you can use chicken in this recipe if you don't like pork or even tofu if you are vegetarian.

Method

1. In a wok soften your onions, garlic and chili in the sesame oil.
2. Add your sugar, soya sauce and peanut butter and stir to combine. Then slowly add your coconut milk till you reach your desired consistency. At this point give it a little taste and add more soya sauce if not salty enough. You want a balance of sweet and savoury with a fiery kick.
3. For the pork just marinade in some soya sauce, place onto skewers and then grill until cooked through.
4. Serve straight away with a sprinkle of fresh coriander and chilli.

Satay sauce can be made beforehand and stored in the fridge.

And there you have it, a quick and easy recipe perfect for lunch, dinner, as a snack or even as an horderve at a party.

And for the peanut butter lovers out there if you haven't tried Manilife peanut butter before...what are you waiting for! It's vegan friendly, its delicious and its nothing but NUTS!

Buy it online for just £5 at www.mani-life.com.

recipe - my own