Prague in November

Sinterklaas

I know it's been over a week now, and Christmas is approaching rapidly. But I didn't have a picture, and I hate posting without one. True, I still don't have a picture, but these muffins are too much fun to go unnoticed.

So, what do I look for in a Sinterklaas-snack? Well, speculaas of course, and spices. But to make them real special, they have an almondpaste filling, with chopped almonds on top.

Sinterklaas-surprise-Muffins

150 g Speculaas, crushed
150 g All-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Speculaas spice*
80 g Brown Sugar
250 ml Buttermilk
60 ml Vegetable Oil
1 egg
100 g Almondpaste, divided
50 g Almonds, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line or grease muffin tins.

In a medium bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg and oil. Add in dry ingredients. Only mix until no streaks of flour remain visible.

Put enough batter in each muffin tin just to cover the bottom. Place a cube of the almonpaste in the center of the tins, and fill with the remaining batter.

Pour some chopped almonds on top, and bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

* Speculaas spice is a mix of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, white pepper, ginger, cardamom and mace.

From A Horse's Point of View

Muffins for a day like this

Not bad, for a first view-of-the-day. And I díd go out and about quite a bit. But by midday I had seen enough of it. It's cold outside.

When checking Anne's blog I discovered that there's a new flavor in Marabou Chocolate: Vinter! With ginger, cardamom and cloves. The sound of it makes me feel better already.

Alas, no Marabou shops around. But I do have some very nice pears that need a purpose...

Honey Gingerbread-muffins, with lots of juicy pear


2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 Tbsp Orange zest, grated or chopped
180 g All-purpose flour
70 g Rye- or whole-wheat flour
1 heaped tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
a pinch of salt
large pinch of each: allspice, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom
2 eggs
100 g Sugar, I used a combination of brown and white
170 g Honey
1 Tbsp Coffee-granules in 3 Tbsp hot water
1 very large pear, diced, don't bother peeling

Preheat oven to 190 C (375F). Line muffin tins (you will need about 14 cups total) with paper liners and set aside.

Mix the Orangepeel and butter. Heat until the butter starts to sizzle, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, cream together butter and egg's until light. First add honey and coffee, then the orange-butter and whisk until the batter is smooth. Add in dry ingredients. Only mix until no streaks of flour remain visible. Cerefully fold in the diced pear.

Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each just over 3/4. Bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.

I ate two of them right from the oven. The second one with a large spoon full of ice cream. The pear just tastes só good, together with the sticky honey and warming spices. I'm in love...

Morning Glory

There's just no better way to start the day, is there?

From the Start

So here it is... A blog!
Or a new world, more like it. But in time there will hopefully be some comfort here.

For those who are not familiar with the dear Mrs. Nanny Ogg: What went wrong? Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels should be on anybody's booklist. There's some serious catching up to do. Have Fun!