Degustabox review and Molten Nut Butter and Chocolate Fondant Cake

It's time for another What's in my Degustabox? and a very exciting recipe. I've been receiving a Degustabox on a monthly basis for a few months now. It's like having a surprise delivery of goodies every month. Degustabox is a no obligation monthly subscription which costs £12.99 including delivery. You get 9 to 14 surprise products and it's usually a good mixed selection of goodies. I have a special discount code for all my readers if you are interested in signing up a box for yourself or for a family memeber/friend. You get a £3.00 discount when registering by using this code F3TJ1 which makes it just under a tenner for a goodie box including delivery.

This is my favourite box so far as I loved pretty much everything in it. There's quite a lot of sweet stuff and 2 items with peanut butter! I decided to create a recipe using the Whole Earth Three Nut Butter which I have tried previously. I love Whole Earth nut butters as they are very tasty and not overly sweet. I made a Molten Nut Butter and Chocolate Fondant Cake which sinfully delicious. It took a bit of trial and error and I think I ended up making these about 6 times before I finally got the timings right. The cake is cooked on the outside but has a gooey melting centre of chocolate and three nut butter. It was best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It would be a very impressive dessert at dinner parties but nerve wrecking as you may not get it perfect.

 February Degustabox 

 American Muffin Company Chocolate Brownie Bites. These are gluten free and wheat free and tasted more like cake than a brownie. 

 Beet it Sport bars which contain 400mg of dietary nitrate and is used by over 150 universities world wide for research into the benefits of lowering blood pressure and improving sports performance. 

 Jack Link's Beef Snack which is great for a protein snack on the go. 

 Whole Earth Three Nut Butter contains cashews, hazelnuts and peanuts. It's made with fresh ingredients with no added sugar and you can really taste the different nuts in them. 

 Peanut Hottie which is a peanut butter flavoured hot drink.I've already tried this as I received it as a gift from a friend and makes a good peanut butter hot chocolate! Perfect for a quick peanut butter fix.

Laimon Fresh - a refreshing, sparkling, lime,lemon and mint drink. If you like citrus then you will definitely like this drink. The mint adds another layer of freshness 

 Melba thins which are one of my faouvrites. The crisp toasts are individually packed in packs of 5 which makes it handy for lunch boxes. 

 Schwartz Flavour Shots - Spanish Paella and Indian Mild Masala Curry. These flavour shots contain a unique blend of herbs, spices and seasoning which you can use to create really tasty meals. There are also recipes available on their website www.schwartz.co.uk

 Lily O'Brien's Cocoa Cookie Crunch - delicious little bites of chocolate biscuit biscuits covered in chocolate. They were really tasty and I could have easily eaten the whole pack myself! 

 

  whisk the sugar, egg and egg yolk 

 add in the melted chocolate and flour 

 chocolate mixture 

 half fill the ramekin and add a generous teaspoonful of three nut butter in the middle

 cover with the remaining chocolate mixture 

 fresh from the oven 

 The cake is cooked and set on the outside

 soft, gooey, melting centre 

 I love the melting centre!

Recipe adapted from this recipe online which in turn is based on Donna Hay's recipe

Makes 3 ramekins

100g dark chocolate
50g butter + extra for greasing
1 egg
1 egg yolk
55g caster sugar
18g plain flour
3 heaped teaspoons three nut butter

• Preheat the oven to 200C. 
• Place the chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl and place over a pan of simmering water. 
• In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, egg and egg yolk. 
• Add in the cooled, melted chocolate mixture and flour and whisk again. 
• Butter your ramekins generously - this is really important as you don't want the cake to stick. I tried using the non stick spray but it turned out better with a generous rub of butter.
• Spoon the mixture into the ramekins until about half full.
• Place a generous teaspoonful or 2 teaspoons of the three nut butter in the middle of the batter. 
• Cover with the remaining chocolate mixture. 
• Bake in the preheated oven for 8-9 minutes. The timing will vary with your oven - 8.5 minutes was the perfect time for my oven. If it's undercooked then you get a very messy plate. If it's overcooked you don't get the molten centre. 
• Run a hot knife around the edge of the ramekin and turn the cake out onto a plate. It should come out easily if you've properly buttered the ramekin dish before baking.
• Serve warm with cream or ice cream.

Disclaimer: I was sent a Degustabox for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review or to create a recipe. All opinions expressed are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

Italian Espresso Cupcakes with a Hazelnut Centre

This month's AlphaBakes letter is "I" which is a slightly tricky letter. Last time round I made Italian biscotti and I'm afraid I've gone for the same use of I with these Italian espresso cupcakes with a hazelnut centre. The cupcakes are light and you can clearly taste the coffee. My colleague bought me some packs of Giotto from Germany which are very similar to Ferrero Rochers. I put one in the centre of the cupcake which stayed whole and gave a slightly nutty flavour to the cupcakes. I also put one on top for decoration. 

As mentioned I'm entering these to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes this month and by myself on alternate months. The letter this month is I for Italian espresso (brewed in my Italian coffee pot!) 

 Italian coffee and Giotto - hazelnut cream filled balls

 Place one Giotto in the centre before baking 

 Perfect with a cup of coffee 

Makes 12 cupcakes
For the cupcakes
175g unsalted butter
175g light brown sugar
3 large eggs
175g self-raising flour
4 tablespoons Italian espresso brewed in an Italian coffee pot 

12 Giotto (you can use Ferrero Rochers instead)

For the icing

150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 - 3 teaspoons Italian espresso
350g icing sugar, sifted

To decorate

12 Giotto

cocoa powder for dusting 

• Brew a pot of Italian espresso (or use instant espresso) and set aside. 
• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake tray.
• Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. 
• Add in the coffee.
• Stir in the flour and mix well.
• Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake cases.
• Place 1 Giotto ball in the centre of each cupcake - there's no need to cover it as it will sink as the cake bakes.
• Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• To make the icing, beat the icing sugar and butter together for a few minutes. 
• Add in the coffee and continue mixing until smooth. 
• Pipe the buttercream on top of the cooled cupcake. 
• Dust with cocoa powder and place a Giotto ball on top.

Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

This was a special request from a colleague at work. She saw a recipe online and wanted to know if I could make a Ferrero Rocher cupcake for her. I used a different recipe in the end and am really pleased with the final result. She said the cupcake was absolutely heavenly and tasted just like a ferrero rocher in cake form. It has a dark chocolate sponge with a hidden ferrero rocher inside. It is then topped with a nutella buttercream, chopped, roasted hazelnuts and a drizzle of Nutella on top. I also added an additional Ferrero Rocher to the top of some of the cupcakes. I saw this recipe on you tube and the video is well worth watching. The cakes are slightly on the bland side as I reduced the sugar amount from 300g to 200g but it tastes fine especially when eaten with the frosting and chocolate. If you prefer a sweeter cake then do add more sugar to the mix. 

 Half fill the cupcake case with batter then place a ferrero rocher in the middle 

 cover with more cake batter 

 fresh from the oven 

 use a round tip to pipe one circle on top of the cupcake as shown 

 

 roll in chopped, roasted hazelnuts 

 add a further blob of icing on top 

 drizzle with nutella 

 add another Ferrero Rocher on top 

 cross section 

Recipe adapted from cookies cupcakes and cardio

For the cupcakes

Makes 18

185g plain flour

200g caster sugar (I'd suggest 250-300g for a sweeter bake)

185mls buttermilk  

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

185mls warm water

95g cocoa powder

For the Nutella Buttercream 

245g Nutella

225g butter

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

250g icing sugar, sifted

4 -6 teaspoons whipping cream 

For the decoration and filling

36 Ferrero Rocher chocolate (or 18 if you only want to put one in the middle)

50g roasted, chopped hazelnuts

Nutella for drizzling

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. 
• Add in eggs, oil, vanilla extract, buttermilk and warm water.
• Mix thoroughly.
• Place a spoonful of batter into each cupcake case.
• Place a Ferrero Rocher in the centre and cover completely with cake batter.
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely before decorating.
• To make the nutella buttercream, beat the butter and icing sugar together for a few minutes in an electric mixer.
• Add in the nutella and vanilla extract and continue beating until smooth.
• Finally add in the whipping cream a teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
• Decorate the cupcakes as shown above. 

Apple and Blackberry Custard Crumble Cake

I made this recipe as a test for the recipe I was developing for the Sainsbury's 'apple and pear challenge'. I tweaked the recipe slightly for Sainsbury's but this is a pretty good recipe too. The inspiration for this cake came from Sunday lunch at a local pub where the crumble of the day was apple and blackberry. We didn't order dessert as we were too full but I decided to make my own apple and blackberry crumble in cake form. I added fruit to the sponge and a layer of blackberries on top. I also decided to add some hazelnuts to the crumble which gave it a lovely crunchy, nutty texture. The apples and blackberries paired beautifully and the hint of cinnamon really lifted the cake. The addition of custard and crumble appears to now be a signature bake for me but why mess with a good thing? 

 making the custard 

 adding apples and blackberries to the mix 

 more blackberries on top 

 crumble layer 

 

serve with vanilla ice cream 

For the cake

250g butter

250g caster sugar 

250g plain flour

4 eggs 

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces

100g blackberries + 50g blackberries to dot on top of the sponge pre baking

For the custard

250ml milk

1 vanilla pod 

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoon cornflour

60g caster sugar

For the crumble

90g butter

90g soft brown sugar

60g ground almonds

80g jumbo rolled oats

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

100g blanched, whole hazelnuts 

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Make the custard first by heating the milk and vanilla pod on a low heat to simmering point. 
• Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a separate bowl. 
• Pour the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture and continue whisking constantly. 
• Rinse out the pan.
• Return the mixture to the pan and heat gently until the custard thickens. You will need to stir frequently. 
• Make the cake mixture by creaming butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at at a time and mix well.
• Fold in the flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon.
• Finally add in the apples and 100g blackberries and stir by hand.  
• To make the crumble, place all ingredients except for the oats and hazelnuts in a food processor and blitz until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in the oats and pulse gently. Stir in the hazelnuts by hand.
• To assemble the cake, pour the sponge mixture into a lined tin and smooth with a palette knife.
• Sprinkle 50g blackberries on top, pushing them in slightly. 
• Pour the custard layer on top. 
• Then add the crumble layer. 
• Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 40- 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.