No Bake Speculoos Tarts

                                             no bake speculoos (biscoff) tarts

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What are Speculoos? A lightly spiced caramelised biscuit (cookie). You can buy them in biscuit form or as a jarred cookie paste (butter). I'm using the popular Lotus brand speculoos/biscoff paste and biscuits from Belgium in these no bake "pantry ingredients" tarts. 

 

'Speculoos' in Flemish and 'Biscoff' in English

The world is in love with cookie butters. Available in smooth or crunchy, spread on bread straight from the jar it looks like peanut butter but tastes... umm, well like "squooshed up cookies". 

Lets get started, today I've used four 11 cm x 6 cm (4.5 inches x 2.5 inches) individual tart tins. You could also use 8 smaller tart tins. The recipe is easily doubled so if your loving your cookie butter go for it!! 

Little tart tins; a gift from Ireland .. thank you Emer, I love them!!  

Ingredients

1 packet (124 grams) Biscoff/Speculoos biscuits 

62 grams (2.18 oz) unsalted butter melted

80 grams (2.82 oz) chopped dark chocolate

8 tsps of homemade or store bought dulce de leche or thick caramel sauce

500 ml (16.90 oz) whipping cream

400 g jar of Speculoo/Biscoff cookie paste

Biscoff biscuits (cookies) in Australia come in 124 gram packets. 

A basic crumb crust for cheesecakes and desserts is half the ratio of melted butter to biscuit crumbs.

So for 124 grams of biscuit crumbs I used 62 grams of butter.

Method 

Crush the biscuits, by either pulsing in a food processor or popping in a zip lock bag and bashing with a rolling pin. Place the crushed biscuits in a medium mixing bowl. 

Melt the butter. Make a well in the biscuit crumbs and *quickly mix together with a wooden spoon.

Divide mixture between the tart tins you have chosen and press firmly with your finger tips or small spoon. covering the bases and sides. Chill for 20 minutes.

Melt your chopped chocolate. Using a pastry brush or a small spoon coat the inside of the shells with melted chocolate. Chill until chocolate sets. 

Spread two teaspoons of caramel per tart tin (one teaspoon each if using eight smaller tins). Refrigerate whilst you prepare filling.

To make the filling put the whipping cream and speculoos/biscoff paste into a bowl.

Whip (briefly) to combine. You are just "combining" it is literally seconds not minutes, your mixture will thicken almost immediately. Do not over beat you don't want your mixture to split. 

Pipe or plonk. Probably best suited to plonking more than piping, but you can pipe if desired. If you are plonking, spread a generous amount of filling in each tart shell and either swirl or lift up soft peaks with a small flat knife. If piping, you get a soft "almost hold" finish.  Pop them in the fridge for a final chill.

Either way you will have some leftover filling, this can be enjoyed from small dessert glasses with whipped cream, a drizzle of caramel, chocolate decorations.... oh and cookies for dipping if you bought extra.  

Unmould your chilled tarts ready for serving.  Top with a dark chocolate decorations if desired. 

*Notes: all biscuit (cookie) crumb bases are much easier to press into tins if used quickly whilst the mixture is still warm from the butter. If your room is cold or you were called away briefly you can find it more difficult to get a neat finish. A quick microwave on low for a few seconds will make the mixture easier to work with again. 

In Australia Biscoff biscuits are available from Coles supermarkets for under $2 a pack. Speculoos (Biscoff) butter is available from Dutch Grocery stores in Australia including "It's all Dutch to me"   "Dutchfood" online and Continental Delicatessens.

Want to swirl up your own Biscoff Spread? Jamieanne at the Sweetest Kitchen does exactly that swirls up her own out of the biscuits, coconut milk and more. Find her here.   Go a step further and bake your own Speculaas, Martha Stewarts recipe here. 

Happy Baking or No Baking :) 

Chocolate Oreo Fudgy Peppermint Christmas Treats

chocolate oreo fudgy peppermint treats

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Melt, mix, pour, chill and eat.

A quick, easy recipe for chocolate Christmas treats... they taste yummy and are perfect unadorned for gift giving or decorated with mini Oreo's for your Christmas get together.

makes 36 to 40 squares

23x23cm (9x9in) cake tin lined with non stick baking paper... as there is no baking involved don't worry if you don't have the exact matching tin size.

Ingredients

360g (11.5 oz) dark eating chocolate... just pick one you like the taste of and roughly chop. 

1 can sweetened condensed milk

30g (1oz) butter

I pack Oreo's, lightly crushed

1/3 cup crushed candy canes

Optional decoration; more crushed candy canes, mini Oreo's and a dab of pure cream or ganache or frosting to hold the decorations on. 

Method

Place the roughly chopped chocolate, butter and sweetened condensed milk in a medium large saucepan. Stir over low heat until about 3/4 of the chocolate is melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until the *chocolate is fully melted. The mixture should be barely warm at this stage.

Stir in your lightly crushed Oreo's and crushed candy canes. Pour into prepared tin and smooth top with a dampened spatula. 

Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before cutting into squares. Decorate if desired. 

Store in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Happy Baking :) 

*Note: I know it's tempting but do melt the mixture slowly, if you turn up the heat the chocolate risks overheating and becoming grainy and you want smooth and creamy :)

adapted from Christmas 'AWW little Christmas treats' 'dark chocolate nougat fudge bars'

Try your hand at making your own fruit mince

star fruit mince pie pops 

or how about traditional shortbread... wonderful crushed and added to melted chocolate too!

Mars Attack!! No bake Mars Bar "planets".

mars attacks!!! push pops

Have you entered the cake push pop container competition yet??  I have sample packs of six push pop cake containers to give away to six lucky people.   All you have to do is leave a comment here or on facebook explaining in 25 words of less "your idea" for pops... could be for the cake part or perhaps an event idea. Hubby Mark and Step son Dan will choose two winners each and I'll choose two winners. Competition drawn the last weekend of October. 

Last minute non-scary Halloween treats for the little ones, fun no-bake Mars Bars Planet push pops.  A versatile quick and easy mix that can be pressed into cupcake cases, roll in balls to make "planets" and either pop two in each push pop cake container or insert a lollipop stick for planet pops. 

Give the kids assorted coloured fondant to make simple aliens, a food marker can be used to draw the eyes, mouth or nose if desired. Encourage simple shapes and supply a small paint brush and a glass of water so arms and legs can be attached. 

simple shapes, easy for little hands to manage

Mars Bar Planet Balls

adapted from no-bake chocolate cakes Australian Women's Weekly 'Cupcakes' 

Ingredients 

265 grams  ( 9.34 oz) Mars Bars....  (5 bars)

60 grams (2.11 oz) butter 

3/12 cups Cocoa Pops (Cocoa Krispies) 

Topping

200 grams (7oz)  milk or dark eating chocolate (melted)

Assorted small lollies/candies ... I used choc rocks

Method 

Slice Mars Bars and place them in a medium saucepan with the butter. Melt over low heat, stirring until smooth.

 Stir in Cocoa Pops until well combined and roll firmly into 24 balls (about 2 heaped teaspoons per ball).

Top each ball with a little melted chocolate and a few lollies. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set.

Top with fondant aliens and package in cake push pop containers or in cellophane bags. 

Other Ideas; Mars Bar mixture can also be used to replace LCM's (Rice Krispie Treats) as structural elements in your cake decorating. Easy to carve, shape and it's not as sticky as the marshmallow mixtures.

Edible ice-cream bowls can be made by turning smalls bowls upside down, cover each bowl with plastic wrap and spray with oil in a can. Press Mars Bar mixture over the bowls to cover, trim edges if necessary and refridgerate for 30 minutes. Ease off the bowl moulds, peel away plastic wrap and you have "edible ice-cream bowls".

Happy Halloween and Happy Baking :)