Speculoos Stuffed Brownie Bundt #BundtBakers

Fudgy brownie batter is baked with a filling of cookie butter for a delicious sweet treat I’ve named speculoos stuffed brownie Bundt. It is super more-ish and disappears in a jiffy.

Since my husband retired and we moved from Dubai, I’ve kept baking - because I love it - but I can no longer send my baked goods into his office. Or share with my wonderful taste tester Bible study ladies! I miss them a lot too. I've sent baked goods home with my mom but she can only eat so much.

We are having our almost 100-year-old front porch completely rebuilt so the last couple of days have been a bit noisy. On the other hand, I have a new home for treats I’m baking. I sent most of this stuffed brownie Bundt home with the construction guys the day I baked it, and then, because there was such swooning, they got the last two slices today.

There really is no substitute for appreciative eaters.

Speculoos Stuffed Brownie Bundt

Speculoos is also known as biscoff spread or cookie butter. It used to be quite a challenge to find in normal grocery stories but I bought my jar in Walmart of all places. That said, my porch worker bees had never heard of it so I showed them the jar. It's lovely!

Ingredients
For the brownie batter:
1/2 cup or 113g butter, plus extra for buttering the pan
3 1/2 oz or 100g unsweetened baking chocolate
1 2⁄3 cups, packed, or 332g light brown sugar
3⁄4 cup or 60g natural high fat cocoa
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1⁄3 cups or 166g all-purpose flour, plus extra for flouring the pan
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
3⁄4 cup or 100g chopped pecans (or your favorite nut)

For the filling:
3/4 cup or 210g speculoos spread aka biscoff or cookie butter

For the glaze:
1/4 cup or 70g speculoos spread aka biscoff or cookie butter
2-3 teaspoons warm water

Method 
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan. If your pan has a black interior surface, lower the temperature by 25°F or 4°C so it doesn’t brown more quickly than it bakes through. I’m not sure why but dark pans seem to cook quicker.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove it from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let it stand for 30 seconds, then whisk together until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl.

Add in the brown sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and espresso powder and whisk until smooth.

Whisk in the eggs one at a time.

Sift the flour along with the baking powder and salt into the bowl. Use a rubber spatula to fold it in, until all of the flour is almost combined.

Fold in the chopped pecans, which should take care of any visible flour. This is going to become a soft buttery dough.

Spoon half of the dough into your prepared Bundt pan. Press it down with a clean hand or spoon to form a channel in the middle.

Spoon the cookie butter filling in the batter channel.

Use your clean hands to make dough patties to cover the filling.

Tuck bits of dough all around to make sure the top layer is covered, even into the corners of your Bundt pan.

Bake your filled brownie Bundt for 30-35 minutes or until it is a little springy to the touch on top and baked through. The toothpick test is a challenge because of the filling.

If you aren’t sure, err on the side of a little under-baked. These are brownies, after all, and it’s best to leave them chewy. No one, I mean No One,  wants a dry brownie.

Cool the brownie Bundt almost completely in the pan before inverting onto serving plate. It's a good idea to loosen the edges with a toothpick before inverting.

For the glaze, whisk the speculoos with one teaspoon of warm water at a time until it gets thin enough to put in a piping bag. Use a Ziploc bag with corner cut off to pipe the glaze on to decorate the brownie Bundt.

Slice to serve.

I suggest you wait till it cools completely before serving. As you can see in my photos, the Bundt was still a bit warm so the cookie spread dripped out a little. Once completely cold, it was quite a solid filling.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month's Bundt Baker hosts, Catherine and Tammy of Living the Gourmet. Check out all the other lovely Bundts made with cookie butter:

• Biscoff Bundt Cake by Living the Gourmet
• Biscoff Lotus Crumble Toffee Bundt Cake by Patyco Candybar
• Biscoff Sock-It-To-Me Bundt Cake by All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
• Brown Sugar Bundt with Biscoff Glaze by The Sweet Sensations
• Gingerbread Bundt with Cookie Butter Frosting by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pumpkin Biscoff Bundt Cake by Making Miracles
• Speculoos Stuffed Brownie Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Swirl Biscoff Bundt by Sneha’s Recipe

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

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Shrimp and Poached Egg Stew #FishFridayFoodies

This rich shrimp and poached egg stew is a traditional dish from southern Louisiana so, of course, it starts with a roux and the holy trinity of onion, bell pepper and celery. It is thick and delicious and, if seasoned with ample cayenne, as spicy as God intended it should be.

When my mom was growing up, this was a dish that was on regular rotation on Fridays especially during Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter, when meat could not be eaten by the Roman Catholic faithful.

They didn’t call it shrimp and poached egg stew. In my grandmother’s house it was simply shrimp stew or Papa Tom’s stew, because it was a recipe her own father, my great-grandfather used to make. He was quite the cook apparently. I shared another family favorite of Papa Tom’s a few years ago, his chicken spaghetti, that also starts with a roux. It has the richest sauce and we love it!

For the very first time, a couple of days back, I searched the interwebs for shrimp and egg stew and I was surprised by how many recipes turned up. Most were from southern Louisiana, except a couple called North Carolina style shrimp stew in which eggs should be poached, certainly, but they also contained potatoes and were more of a clear broth, without a roux. Many of the Louisiana recipes were for shrimp stew with hard-boiled eggs. Interesting.

When I told my mother that other people made this dish, that it seemed to be a Cajun thing, she said, “Well, they must have known, Papa Tom.” This dish is one I also thought to be peculiar to our family. She also said that my grandmother would be proud by how mine turned out. Made my day.

Shrimp and Poached Egg Stew

You can, of course, leave the eggs out and you’ll still have a divine shrimp stew, but I encourage you to give it a try Papa Tom’s way. Eggs are relatively inexpensive and shrimp are not. They are a delicious way to add protein and stretch the budget.

Ingredients
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
1 cup or 125g flour
1 large onion
1 green bell pepper
4-5 stalks celery
1/4 cup or 45g tomato paste
4 cups or 946ml shrimp or fish stock or water with stock cubes to create equivalent
Sea salt
Black pepper
Cayenne
Good handful of green onion tops
Good handful of flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 lbs or 675g fresh or frozen shrimp, weight already peeled and cleaned
6-8 fresh eggs

To serve:
Cooked white rice

Method
Peel and finely chop your onions, bell pepper and celery.

Put your oil and flour into a heavy bottomed pot and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or other heat-resistant stirring implement, like a silicone spatula. Once all the flour lumps have been dissolved, turn the fire on medium and cook, stirring frequently at first and then constantly as the roux begins to dark.

Cook and stir until your roux is about the color of an old copper penny.  (For sequential photos of the roux as it darkens, follow this link.)

Add in the chopped vegetables in all at once and stir well to mix.  The mixture will be quite stiff.

Cook the vegetables for about five minutes, stirring all the time, and then add in the tomato paste.

Stir to incorporate the tomato paste and then add in the fish stock or water and stock cubes.  Stir or whisk to combine.

Bring to the boil and then simmer, covered, for at least one hour or until you are about 20 minutes from serving your stew. Check the level periodically, and add more water if it is getting too thick for stew.

Meanwhile season your shrimp with salt, black pepper and cayenne.

When you are about 20 minutes from serving, turn up the heat on your stew until it is gently boiling again and add the shrimp to the pot.  Turn the heat down again and stir ever so gently. Check the seasoning and add salt and cayenne as needed.

Stir in the green onion tops, reserving just a little for the finished stew.

Turn the heat off so the stew stops bubbling. Crack each egg into a small bowl or cup then gently slip each into the stew.

Turn the heat back on low and cover the pot. Leave to cook until the eggs are done to your liking. My mom likes them hard cooked, so I left mine for about 14 minutes. Normally poached eggs in water take a much shorter time, but somehow in the thick sauce they take longer. After the normal 5 minutes, the whites were still completely clear! I am sure there is some thermodynamic reason but I don’t know it. Use your own judgement on this. According to some of the recipes I found, some people like the yolk still runny in shrimp stew.

Serve over hot cooked rice. We also add extra hot sauce to each bowl at the table.

Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodie friends are all sharing seafood stews and soups from around the world. I didn't go far from home for this one but still felt it was unusual enough, and from a different enough culture from middle America, to qualify. Many thanks to our host, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla from Check out the other warming recipes our group is sharing.

• Bacalhoada (Portuguese Salt Cod Stew) by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Broget Fish Soup (Broget Fiskesuppe) by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Caldo de Camaron (Mexican Shrimp Soup) by Palatable Pastime
• Cullen Skink by Caroline's Cooking
• Moqueca - Brazilian Fish Stew by Making Miracles
• Portuguese Fish Stew - Caldeirada de Peixe by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Provencal Seafood Bisque by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shrimp and Poached Egg Stew by Food Lust People Love
• Quick Tom Yum Goong by Sneha's Recipe

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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Spicy Lamb Murtabak #BreadBakers

Spicy lamb murtabak starts with a soft dough stretched super thin, then filled with seasoned ground lamb and cooked till crispy and golden. Start a day ahead to allow time for the dough to rest overnight in the fridge.

This month’s Bread Bakers theme is Indian flatbreads, one of my favorite things to make and eat. If you’ve been reading here a while, you might have seen my spicy onion parathas, keema naan and spicy loli - a breakfast flatbread! - just three that I have shared over the years.

For this post I wanted to challenge myself to a flatbread I ate often in my teenage years in southeast Asia. According to Wikipedia, murtabak was first created by Overseas Indians, primarily Muslims from Tamil Nadu. It’s common street food in Singapore, where I first enjoyed it, as well as Malaysia and Indonesia. The name comes from the word mutabbaq , which means "folded" in Arabic. That will make perfect sense when you see how they are made.

Spicy Lamb Murtabak

If lamb isn’t your thing, substitute another ground protein. Although it’s not traditional, you can even use firm, pressed tofu that has been crumbled, to make these vegetarian friendly. Also vegetarian friendly, and more traditional, murtabak can be cooked with the egg alone. In that case, add a little chopped onion, green onion, cilantro and chili pepper to the egg. To clarify the ingredients list below: To measure the water needed, put your egg white in a measuring vessel. Add water to the 3/4 cup or 180ml mark.

Ingredients to make 4 spicy lamb murtabak
For the dough:
2 1/3 cups or 300g bread flour
1 egg white, at room temperature
Room temperature water to make 3/4 cup or 180ml when measured with the egg white
5 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons canola or other light oil - for resting time

For the filling:
Small bunch green onions
Small bunch fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon canola or other light oil
1 1/2 teaspoons hot curry powder (I use Malaysian brand Baba but any will work)
12 oz or 340g ground lamb
1 small purple onion, chopped finely
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar

To assemble:
4 eggs
extra oil

Method
In a standing mixer bowl, add in flour, egg, melted butter, salt, sugar and water. Use the bread hook to mix together and then knead for 10 minutes. Leave the dough to rest in the bowl for 10 minutes and then knead for another 5 minutes.

On a greased cutting board, divide the dough into 4 pieces. Form into balls.

Pour the 2 tablespoon of oil into a lidded container and coat each ball generously with the oil and place them in the container. Cover the container tightly and keep in the fridge overnight. If you think about it, turn the dough balls every once in a while to keep them well coated in oil.

Meanwhile, make your filling.

Cut the tough parts of the stems off of the cilantro and discard. Roughly chop the rest. Remove the white parts of the green onions and chop the green parts in circles.

(Tip: If your white parts have little roots, you can put them in a glass with a couple of inches of water and put the glass on a sunny windowsill. The roots will grow longer and the green parts will grow up again, ready to snip off and use again.)

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium high heat. Put in the curry powder and give it a quick stir. Immediately add the lamb and onion and cook till the lamb is browned, breaking it up into bits as it cooks.

Sprinkle on the cayenne, salt and sugar, along with the chopped cilantro and green onion tops.

Stir well and remove the filling from the heat. Divide into four little piles and leave to cool.

When you are ready to panfry the murtabak, spread some of the oil that the dough balls rested in on your clean work surface. Take one ball and lightly flatten it. Press and push the dough with the heel of your palm to make it bigger. Stretch it quite thin, until it’s about 16 x 16 inches or 40 x 40cm, occasionally spreading some more oil on it to help the stretching. You can also lift up each edge of the dough and gently pull to stretch it even more. I thought this would be hard but it was actually quite easy!

Here’s a video I found extremely useful that shows what I mean: Murtabak by El Mundo Eats

You can see my marble through the dough. That’s how thin you want it!

Add 1/4 of the cooled lamb filling to the middle of your stretched dough, along with one lightly beaten egg.

Fold in edges of dough into center, making a package about 5 x 5 inches or 13 x 13cm.

Use an oiled spatula to very carefully transfer the murtabak to your greased frying pan.

Cook the murtabak over low heat for about 6-7 minutes on each side, pressing it down gently with the spatula. A low heat is essential to make sure the layers of dough are cooked before the outer layer gets too dark.

The dough should be cooked through with lovely brown and golden bits all over. Repeat with remaining eggs, lamb mixture and dough.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month’s Bread Bakers host, Renu of Cook with Renu for the fun theme and all of her behind the scenes work.

• Aloo Paratha from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Bedmi Paratha from Ambrosia
• Gobi Paratha by Nam's Corner
• Hyderabadi Parathas from Sneha's Recipe
• Masala Paratha from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Roti from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pathiri - Gluten Free Rice Bread from The Schizo Chef
• Puran Poli from A Messy Kitchen
• Spicy Lamb Murtabak from Food Lust People Love
• Stuffed Bajra Paratha from Cook with Renu

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here.  Links are also updated after each event on the BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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