Biscuit Spread Flapjacks

I'm pretty sure every human with even the faintest interest in food has come across Biscoff, or Speculoos as I first knew it. But just in case you haven't, let me tell you what you're missing. You know those little spice biscuits that are often served with coffee? Tiny, melt in the mouth and jam packed with flavour? Well Biscoff is those biscuits all whizzed up into a spreadable delight. 

Having gone through an embarrassing number of jars with just a spoon, I thought it was high time I tried to do something slightly more socially acceptable with it. After some trial and error, I came up with my second super easy, moving house, not much equipment required recipe. Flapjacks with a twist. The Biscoff replaces the butter, giving the flapjacks a really unique, incredibly moreish flavour. Ready for that? Definitely? Then let's go!

Biscuit Spread Flapjacks

 

100g Caster Sugar

250g Biscoff Spread

130g Self Raising Flour

80g Porridge Oats

120ml Milk

150g Raisins

Combine the sugar and the Biscoff. Add the flour and the oats, then the milk. Finally, stir in the raisins. Press into a greased and lined tin, and bake at 180 for about twenty minutes. Leave to cool, and then slice into squares. 

I apologise for any funky formatting. Blogging from an iPad is NOT fun.

Week Thirty

Another set of photos, another week of holiday! We're two weeks in on our holiday, we have just over one week, and two cities left. I've been reading the odd blog here and there, in hotel down time, but not very much, so I'm looking forward to a huge pile to get stuck into when I'm home. 

Monday - We drove to Provincetown in Cape Cod and went for a wander down the pier because the weather still wasn't playing ball.

Tuesday - The weather finally decided to be kind, so we hit the beach! 

Wednesday - That mango salsa. I'm still thinking about it. It's added to the list 'things I'm going to have to try and recreate when I get home'.

Thursday - Everyone knows this. We knew this but we didn't listen. Don't drive on Manhattan. The grey hairs aren't worth it. Never have I been more relieved to give a hire car back to the company.

Friday - Walking the High Line in Chelsea.

Saturday - For graduation Ben bought me tickets to see Les Mis on Broadway. I was very proud of myself and only cried a tiny bucket. It's an incredible show.

Sunday - Breakfast (those are bagels, I swear...) and blogging before we head to Brooklyn to explore. 

The Graduate

After four wonderful years of undergraduate study, last week I finally graduated! There was a long hot formal ceremony (in Latin!), followed by something a bit more lighthearted in the Botanical Gardens.

My family joined forces with Ben's, and we went for dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant, Rustico.

Finally, later in the week, Ben and I headed off to our Graduation Ball with a group of friends. It was the night before we left the Frozen North, and it was the perfect way to end our four years.

Week Twenty Nine

A little glimpse into week one of holidaying.

Monday - Time to fly! Heathrow-Amsterdam-Toronto makes for a very long day.

Tuesday - Lake Ontario looking lovely.

Wednesday - Canada what is this? Why go beyond the standard toffee in November? And more importantly why would you put this idea into my head? I hope everyone is excited for some dipped apple loving in the Autumn, because after seeing this I CAN'T NOT GO THERE.

Thursday - Getting ready to set sail across Lake Ontario, Toronto-Niagara on the Lake.

Friday - Road trip! I can't begin to talk about the nightmare we had crossing the boarder and picking up the car, but once we were on the road we were flying.

Saturday - We bought a fabulous card called GoBoston, which got us into basically everything in Boston for free. Whilst overall we thoroughly enjoyed our day, I was stamped when we visited the aquarium, which we were seriously unimpressed by, primarily because of the high volume of animals in relatively small spaces.

Sunday - We may be having a fabulous time, but the weather is not being our friend. What a sky we woke up to this morning!

99 Bar and Kitchen, Aberdeen

The week before last Ben and I went out for dinner with our flatmates. Now I'm always excited for a meal out, but this time I was particularly excited, because this was where I'd been promised to be taken for Valentines Day, but plans (*cough* badminton match *cough*) changed, and it took us until July to get to the same place! 

I am delighted to say that 99 Bar and Kitchen was absolutely worth the wait! We started out with cocktails for the girls, gin for Anna and rum for me. I'll be honest, the way they looked would have been enough to impress me (such a pushover for cute) but they completely followed through with the taste.

We were just as happy when the food arrived. We shared nachos piled high with cheese and homemade salsa, with guac and sour cream on the side. The salsa was the highlight, simply because it was so fresh.

The mains were just as delicious, and equally as well presented, as the cocktails. We particularly enjoyed the homemade tomato sauce in the teeny tiny mason jars!  At the table there were two beef burgers, one veggie burger and one steak sandwich.

We had a veggie burger, two beef burgers and a steak sandwich at the table. The burgers definitely had the edge on the steak sandwich, except in one small factor - the sides. The steak sandwich came with vegetable crisps, which were homemade, and absolutely to die for! I'm a little bit addicted to Tyrells vegetable crisps, and I really just expected a pile of those (and probably would have been relatively happy), but the homemade ones were really something else. I think I'm going to have to look into making them myself.

Close up of the crisps!

We finished off with sticky toffee pudding, and even more cocktails. Pleasingly, my last cocktail could have come straight off a valentines day menu!

You can find 99 Bar and Kitchen at 1, Back Wynd, Aberdeen, and they have lots more information on their website just here. If you're ever in the Frozen North I highly recommend it, even if it's just for a drink. The staff are really friendly, they have their own menu of special cocktails, but will also make you anything you can dream of. Perfection!

Malteser Bars

Oh it's been a while since I posted a recipe! But moving house is not conducive to baking, so recipe posts will be heavily interspersed with more general life posts for the foreseeable future. But to make up for this, I promise that these recipes are THE BEST. They're all little gems that are easy to make, even with the most limited kitchen equipment. They also pack up really easily so you can take them with you to enjoy on long journeys.

First up, not for anyone looking after their figure, Malteser Traybake. There are a million and one versions of this online, and there's a simple reason for that. It's absolutely delicious. So I'm going to jump in on the action and share my recipe. Be warned  though, once you've made the traybake, it won't be around for long - they're so naughty, they are impossible to resist!

Malteaser Traybake

100g Butter

300g Milk Chocolate

100g White Chocolate

3tbsp Golden Syrup

250g Digestive Biscuits (crushed)

225g Malteasers (half crushed)

1. Melt the butter, golden syrup and 200g of the milk chocolate together.

2. Mix the crushed digestives into the melted liquid, followed by the crushed maltesers.

3. Press into a lined tin and leave to set for around two hours. Melt the remaining milk chocolate, spread evenly over the surface of the bake, then melt the white chocolate and drizzle over the top.

Week Twenty Eight

GUYS! We're more than halfway through the year!! Isn't that madness? Only half of 2014 left! I'm really proud I've managed this long on my weekly photo posts, so fingers crossed the rest of the year is as successful.

Monday - This is a slight cheat, as I didn't take this photo on Monday, I took it about two years ago on a field trip. But, on Monday it won me the School of Biological Science Prize for Photography, so I think it's fair to share it. I was so excited to win, and there's some truly talented photographers in our year so I'm not really sure how I managed it!

Tuesday - Drinks with friends. 

Wednesday - The best fish and chips in the UK (like actually).

Thursday - Clearing out the alcohol cupboard made me want to party not pack.

Friday - Grad ball!

Saturday - Last meal at my favourite place, the Sand Dollar (I've talked about it MANY times on this blog). We popped in before our long drive south, and savoured every mouthful. A wonderful meal was topped off with an incredibly generous gesture from the manager, who refused to let us pay because we'd been there so often in the last four years. I have to admit, I nearly burst into tears in the middle of the cafe! I'm excited to move on, but leaving the Frozen North isn't going to be easy.

Sunday - At the station with our bags, ready for a big adventure! There's a few posts scheduled in the next three weeks, and I'll endeavour to keep up my usual Sunday posts, but I may be on the quiet side. Fear not though! You'll be able to follow all of my adventures on my Instagram, @dearbaker92