Over the Anzac Day long weekend (created by taking Friday off as well as the official Thursday holiday), my family and I travelled to Adelaide for a mini break. My favourite part of that trip was going to Hahndorf, an originally German settlement in the Adelaide hills. Hahndorf is very beautiful at this time of year with the autumn leaves all yellow and red, and it has been kept cute-sy and touristy to attract visitors.
While in Hahndorf, at the Bavarian deli, I spied what is a very difficult to obtain product here - Speculoos spread (known as Biscoff spread in the US). I had seen the mania over this product in the blogging world, and I was keen to get my hands on some. I had tried a Speculoos chocolate bar from Trader Joes when I was in the US last year, but the Speculoos spread had eluded me until now.
Speculoos spread has a similar appearance and consistency to peanut paste, but it tastes of the spicy biscuits from which it is made. It is rather thick and cloying in the mouth, like peanut butter, so while I am glad to have tried it, it is not a favourite of mine.
To ensure that I don't fall into the trap of eating the Speculoos spread all from the jar (although it tastes very nice on a warm crumpet), I decided to make Caramel Speculoos Blondies. You can find the recipe that I used here.
I didn't put the soft caramels on top of my blondies, but these were not necessary, as the brown sugar makes the blondies very caramel-like without any help. These blondies had a chewy quality to them - which didn't surprise me, as the batter was very thick. The verdict at work was that these blondies are rather good. Though only one person commented on them, the fact that the blondies all disappeared speaks for itself.
In closing, I want to congratulate my friend Craig, who became an Australian citizen on Thursday night:
This lovely photo is courtesy of my friend Steve. I was firmly wedged into a row of seats, replete with paper Australian flags, so I couldn't really get up to take photos. Congratulations Craig!!!!!
10 comments:
Speculoos is one of those products that has me intrigued, so I hope it pops up on my radar one day. If it does, I'll follow your lead and make these as I suspect the straight-from-the-jar consumption would happen for sure otherwise!
Looks like you had a great weekend! Congrats to your friend. The dessert looks yummy. I'll have to see if I can make it here.
I'm crazy about speculoos spread-I wish I found it cloying but I'm a little obsessed with it!
Never had blondies with brown sugar before...
isn't it palm sugar???
tempting to try!
Aww congrats Craig :D
And I love your delicious blondies - awesome flavour combo!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Speculoos blondies- what a gorgeous combination!
The last time I bought a jar of the stuff I used a tiny tiny bit in a cupcake frosting and at the rest right out of the jar over the course of a week. I promised I would never buy it again unless I had a ton of things to use it in quickly. I'm into the blondies now so I printed this out and MIGHT venture back for another jar. Wish me luck.
@ Trevor - LOL - good luck! I only have a small bit left - it is just too easy to eat out of the jar.
I have a soft spot for Handorf - though the last time I was there I barely knew how to cook - am sure I would enjoy the culinary offerings now - would love to try these blondies
I always love it when you go places and report back! It's always something interesting and I learn new things. Your brownies look great and I would love to try them, especially as they don't involve chocolate! Happy you got to try the spread, and your description of it was spot on.
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