Caramel Speculoos Blondies

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!!!!!

FFWD - Coupetade

This week for French Fridays with Dorie recipe is Coupetade, a bread pudding made with French toast instead of ordinary bread.

As a kid, Mum made bread pudding to use up the egg yolks after she'd made pavlova.  Neither of us really liked bread pudding much back then - it was the poor cousin to the main event, the pavlova.  However, I now love the stuff. 

Because I didn't want temptation in my house, I scaled the 6 serve recipe down to 2 serves made individually in ramekins.  I chose apricots and cranberries for the fruit component, and, sin of sins, I made French toast out of rye bread instead of brioche.

This pudding was delish - what is not to like about custardy bread with fruit - but I don't think it trumps Donna Hay's marmalade bread pudding.  I tried it both warm and cold - I think I liked it better cold because everything had had a chance to meld together into a smooth, sweet mouthful.

To see what everyone else thought of Coupetade, visit the LYL section of the website.

WWDH - Moussaka

One of my favourite TV shows at present is Silk, the BBC series about criminal defence barrister Martha Costello on her path to becoming a Queen's Counsel (called "taking silk" - hence the name of the series) and her colleagues and clients at Shoelane Chambers in London.  I think that the character of Martha is fantastic, but she lives a pretty hard life - she works all day, then comes home with the next day's brief(s) and starts again, working late into the night.  Martha seems to subsist on a steady diet of beer (she has a built in bottle opener on her fridge), wine and cigarettes, and neither cooking nor eating seems to play a large part in Martha's life.

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay is a dish that Martha's lifestyle would never give her the chance to make.  Our host, Kayte, chose Moussaka from Modern Classics Book I.

This dish is very tasty - it's tomato-ey, it's cheesy, it's meaty, it's rich.  It is perfect comfort food for a cold night.

The only drawback is the length of time it takes to prepare this dish.  The longest part is preparing the eggplant.  It has to be thinly sliced, salted, left to rest for 15 minutes, rinsed, oiled and lightly fried before it can be used to construct the dish.   

To see what Kayte, Margaret and Chaya thought of this dish, visit their websites on Wednesday, US time.

BWJ - Rhubarb Baby Cakes

Last night, I watched an amazing performance on The Voice by Kiyomi Vella singing Paloma Faith's Upside Down.  I had never heard of this song before, but after seeing Kiyomi's performance, I was sold. 

For Baking with Julia this week, we turned our own worlds upside down and made Rhubarb Baby Cakes, hosted by Erin of When in Doubt - Leave it at 350.  I had thought this would be similar to the Ginger Baby Cakes we have already made, and except for my own laziness, I was going to make these in mini muffin tins.  Now that I know how these cakes go together, I know that would have been a huge mistake - phew!

I made my baby cakes in a 12 hole muffin tin and got 12 cakes out of the recipe.  These cakes are comprised of a nutty caramel topping (I used macadamias instead of pecans),  followed by a layer of sliced rhubarb, and topped with a butter cake batter.  There seemed to be so much rhubarb packed into the tins, I was not sure that the cakes would hold together, but they did.  And they were amazing!!!  The sweetness of the caramel, the crunchiness of the nuts, the tartness of the rhubarb and the soft, tender cake make for a magical dessert.  I ate one of these served warm, and it was fantastic.  I would definitely make these again.

To see what the other Julia bakers thought, visit the LYL section of the website on Tuesday, US time.  If you want the recipe, buy the book, or Erin will have it on her site.

Polka Dots and Stripes Cake for Sandra's Birthday

Last Friday was Sandra's birthday, and of course I made her a cake to celebrate.   I wanted to trump last year's tomato soup cake, so I dug deep into my limited decorating skills and made the Polka Dots and Stripes Cake from the Australian Women's Weekly Decorating Cakes.  This cake comprises 4 layers of butter cake - one yellow, one pink, one purple and one green - put together with white chocolate ganache, then covered with white fondant and decorated with fondant dots to match the colours of the layers in the cake.

Here is Sandra cutting into her cake:

 

 

This is the surprise hiding inside the cake:



 

The cacophony of colours inside the cake is a wonder to behold:

Instead of using 4 packet cakes, as suggested in the book, I made two butter cakes, each of which I divided into two layers, using this recipe (which is also featured in the book).  I used liquid colours to colour the cake batter and gel colours to colour the fondant.

You can use your own favourite cake and ganache recipes to make this cake, which is simple but effective.

I was excited when the layers were sliced through and I finally got to see the colours inside the cake!

Hope you have been having a great weekend. 

 

FFWD - Creamy Mushrooms and Egg

This week's French Friday with Dorie recipe is creamy mushrooms and egg.  This comprises mushrooms cooked with shallot and cream and herbs (rosemary - I left out the mint - blech!), perched atop a piece toast (I used rye toast instead of brioche) and crowned with a poached egg.

The egg is the best bit - look at that gooey yolk:

To see what the other Doristas thought of this "recipe", visit the LYL section of the website.

WWDH - Lemon Chicken Pasta

For Wednesday with Donna Hay this week, I have chosen Lemon Chicken Pasta from Donna's Off the Shelf.  The recipe is also online here.

The title of this recipe says it all - it comprises pasta with shredded chicken, lemon zest and lemon juice, with garlic, capers , chilli and basil thrown in, and parmesan on top.  I used spinach linguine as I had half a packet left over from some other project, and I didn't want to make as much pasta as the recipe suggested.

This was simple to make and good - I do think it could use more sauce though.

To see what Kayte, Margaret and Chaya thought of this recipe, check out their websites.