Irish Tea Bread and Degustabox April 2015 review

It's time for the what's in my Degustabox for April and I will be posting about May fairly soon. April's box had an international theme and as usual it comes in an alcohol version or non alcohol version. I usually receive both in my review box but you can specify when you order them for yourself. A quick note about Desugatabox in case you're not familiar with it. 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. Do check out my previous reviews to see the range of products you can expect to receive.  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 PXATS which makes it just under a tenner for a goodie box including delivery.

I decided to create a recipe using Barry's tea which is from Ireland. I used a traditional Irish Tea Cake recipe which I found online and it turned out beautifully. I gave half to an Irish colleague who thoroughly enjoyed it. She suggested adding a bit of brandy or whiskey so I'm going to give it another go soon. It was really easy to make apart from allowing extra time to soak the fruits in tea overnight. It was delicious warm from the oven with butter on top. It kept well and was equally delicious toasted with butter.

 Kingfisher beer in the alcholic box which is from India. 

 IdrinQ from Hermany which is an enhancement drink. 

 Scheckters Organic Energy drink which is a natural, organic drink. 

 Cirio tomato fillets from Italy. 

 Vetee rice which I like for the convenience. The spicy mexican rice works well in stuffed peppers. 

 Nando's Peri-Peri potato chips - tasty ridge cut chips perfect for snacking. 

 Debeukelaer Cookies Bakery inspired by traditional family bakeries in Greenwich Village, New York. They are individually wrapped and have a melty chocolate centre. Perfect for picnics or lunchboxes. 

 Barry's Tea from Ireland

 Kinder choco-bons and mini kinder chocolate with cereals. Perfect for treats and lunchboxes as they are all individually wrapped. 

 Schwartz Balti and Korma recipe mix. These were great for mid week meals and the spices were perfect. 

 Cirio concentrated tomato puree from Italy - absolutely delicious. 

 I decided to use Barry's tea bags for my recipe this month. 

 Soak fruits in strongly brewed tea overnight 

 The fruits were plump and juicy after soaking 

 ready to go in the oven 

Makes 1 large loaf

500g dried fruit mix
4 Barry's tea bags
400ml boiling water
200g brown sugar
250g self raising flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon mixed spice

• Place the tea bags in 400mls boiling water in a large bowl. Allow to steep for at least 5 minutes before removing the tea bags.
• Add the dried fruit mix and stir.
• Cover with a tea towel and leave overnight. 
• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Add the remaining ingredients to the dried fruit mix and stir.
• Pour the batter into a loaf tin and bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Check after 45minutes as you may need to cover the loaf with foil to prevent the top from burning. 

Chocolate dipped granola bars and a review

Do you like surprises? I'm generally a little wary about surprises particularly when it comes to food as I'm a bit of a picky eater. Degustabox sends you a monthly surprise box with 9 to 14 surprise products, most of which are new to the market. A monthly subscription including delivery costs £12.99 which is less than what you would pay if you were to buy the items individually. They also give you a chance to feedback directly to the brands about whether you like the products or not. 

I thought it sounded like a good idea so I was pleased to be offered a box to review. The box is simple and tasteful and the products were well packed so they all arrived in pristine condition. There's a cute sticker which says" Open me, eat me... enjoy me!" when you open the box which is a nice little touch.

The contents of the box vary from month to month. I received this box in October but have not had a chance to write a review until now. My box consisted of :

• 3 x Burt's Lentil Waves in 3 different flavours - sour cream & chive, Thai sweet chili and Lightly Salted. 
• 1 x Jordans Simply Granola. 
• 2 x Pick up! - Milk chocolate sandwiched between 2 crisp biscuits and white chocolate sandwiched between 2 cocoa biscuits.
• 2 x Crabbie's alcoholic fruits - Raspberry and Rhubarb and Black Cherry. 
• 2 x Little Miracles- organic tea and fruit juice with ginseng and acai.
• 2 x Carnation Cook with It!
• 1 x Elixabeth Shaw's dark chocolate Mint Thins
• 1 x La Vieja Fabrica marmalade 

It was a good mix of snacks, drinks and cooking ingredients. I used the Carnation Cook with it! to make a chicken and leek stroganoff which turned out beautifully. The drinks and snacks were handy for our lunch boxes. I also decided to bake something with some of the ingredients and found this recipe by Edd Kimber for Honey Nut Bars.  The only change I made was to use simply granola which is what I had instead of the Super Nutty Granola in his recipe. I also added some mixed dried fruit.  I actually baked this recipe twice as the first time the granola bars stuck to the paper as I didn't spray the paper after lining the tin and I just couldn't peel the paper off no matter what. I then found my silicone individual tray bake tin which was perfect apart from the giant sized granola bars that it produced! However, they were very tasty and the chocolate added extra indulgence. 

My verdict - This is quite a fun and interesting way to try out new products for a reasonable price. Everyting is readily 'usable'- nothing gets relegated to the back of the cupboard to be forgotten. It would make a good gift for a foodie friend or relative. As I've only had 1 box, I'm not sure if items get repeated in future deliveries but looking at their website it looks like they have new products each month. Some brands are repeated but the products are different. The products are all of a reasonable quality and there's some money off vouchers in the box for certain brands. There's also a handy leaflet reminding you what's in the box with the RRP for each product. 

 mix the dried fruit and granola

 melt butter, sugar and honey 

 First attempt with a square tin

 second attempt with my silicone tray 

 no problem getting them out of the tin bu they are huge!

 dipped in chocolate for extra decadence 

Recipe adapted from Edd Kimber's Honey Nut Bars

300g Jordans simply granola
50g mixed dried fruit
125g clear honey
50g butter
25g light brown sugar
200g dark chocolate

• Mix the granola and dried fruit in a bowl and set aside.
• Heat the butter, sugar and honey in a small saucepan until completely melted.
• Pour the honey mixture over the granola and stir well.
• Press into silicone tin or a lined baking tray after using lots of cake release spray.
• Bake for 25-30 minute or until lightly golden.
• Allow to cool completely then place in the fridge if you want to dip the bars in chocolate.
• Melt the chocolate and dip half the bars in chocolate and place on parchment paper to dry. 

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

Carrot, Ginger and Rum Spiced Cake

When I think of Bonfire Night treats, I immediately think of toffee apples or a variation of toffee apple desserts. Something sticky with caramel and something sweet. This year I've made something a little different but still perfect for this time of the year. I had some leftover crystallised ginger from making my Crystallised Ginger and Beer Cake so I started to think about what else would go well with ginger. I had a root round my cupboard and my fridge and they provided the inspiration for this recipe. I based it on my favourite carrot cake recipe with a few amendments. I found some rum at the back of the cupboard and decided to soak the dried fruits in rum overnight. I also dug out my tropical cake tin as the rum and dried fruits felt tropical. 

The combination of ginger, carrot, dried fruits, rum and spices was heavenly. The flavours worked really well together and there's a bit of a kick to the cake. The ginger was the predominant flavour and every so often you get a burst of fruit with a hit of rum. I used my speculaas spice mix which really added a depth of flavour to this cake. The spices smelt amazing and really complemented the ginger. 

The cake was so good I made it again when I needed some 'thank you' cakes. I've been having a nightmare with Ikea delivery so I had to rely on my friend's parents to house sit. I also needed a 'thank you' cake for a colleague who very kindly carved a gorgeous cat pumpkin for me for Halloween. Plus I gave some to my neighbours who we asked to put out our bins and keep an eye on the house whilst we were away. I baked them in mini loaves this time which are ideal for gifts and they were very well received. 

 The cat pumpkin carving

I actually baked these cakes just before November so I'm really pleased that I can enter them to a number of blog challenges this month. 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Jane from The Hedge Combers and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Bonfire Night. 

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from the Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Thank You and as I mentioned earlier these were made to thank various people for their kind deeds. It's very fortuitous that Stuart picked this theme for November!

Biscuit Barrel hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme for this month is Winter Warmers and this ginger, rum and spiced cake will definitely warm you up!

Baking with Spirit hosted by Janine from Cake of the Week. I rarely get to enter this challenge so I'm really pleased that this fits in November's challenge which is warming and alcoholic. This cake definitely fits the bill! 

Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Alida from My Little Italian Kitchen on behalf of Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla from Fab Food 4 All. This recipe used up leftover crystallised ginger, mixed dried fruit and the end of a bottle of rum. 

Extra Veg hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. The carrots here are an extra portion of veg and it's well hidden in this cake.

Love Cake hosted by Ness from Jibber Jabber. The theme this month is 'In with a Bang' and this cake definitely fits the bill with the spices, ginger and rum!

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy from Supergolden Bakes.

 adding eggs and oil to the flour mixture

 the fruits plumped up nicely after being soaked in rum overnight 

 adding grated carrots, chopped crystallised ginger and rum soaked fruits 

  

 Add a sprinkling of icing sugar for definition and wow factor

 You can see the bit of ginger, carrot and fruits 

 Mini loaves baked as a thank you

An original recipe by bakingaddict

175g self raising wholemeal flour

150g soft dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

100mls vegetable oil

2 eggs

250g carrots, peeled and grated

100g mixed dried fruit

60mls rum

100g crystallised ginger, chopped

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon gound nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice 

OR 2 teaspoons Speculaas Spice

• Place the mixed dried fruit in a small bowl and soak in rum preferably overnight or longer if you can. 
• Preheat the oven to 170C
• In a large bowl, mix the wholemeal flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices.
• Add in the eggs and vegetable oil and mix well.
• Stir in the grated carrots, chopped crystallised ginger and rum soaked fruits. 
• Pour into a tin and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• The mini loaves will take about 30-35 minutes - check with a skewer at 25 minutes. 

Mixed Fruit Muesli Slice

This month Random Recipes hosted by the dashing Dom from Belleau Kitchen is 40. So he's asked us to choose our 40th book and turn to page 40. I dutifully counted along my bookshelf and No 40 is....

The Australian Women's Weekly Little Squares & Slices. I've not actually made anything from this book yet so I was really pleased that I finally had a chance. With a little trepidation as you just never know what you'll get with random recipes, I turned to page 40 and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Tropical Muesli Slice. I did not have any dried tropical fruit so I used mixed dried fruit, dried cranberries and a handful of dried pineapple slices that I had leftover from something else. It's a really simple recipe but I still managed to burn mine as I left it in the oven for too long! Fortunately, it still tasted good and was devoured heartily at work this morning. Everyone actually quite liked the burnt bits and it was extremely more-ish. It's highly addictive and the recipe is so versatile as you can use any dried fruit/nut or chocolate. 

 oats, self raising flour, dried cranberries, dried pineapple slices, mixed dried fruit, brown sugar, honey, butter 

 slightly burnt but still delicious! 

125g butter
75g soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
135g rolled oats
75g self raising flour
250g mixed dried fruit including dried cranberries (alternatively you can use a tropical mix as suggested in the original recipe - 225g sliced, dried tropical fruit and 25g dessicated coconut)

• Preheat the oven to 160C.
• Melt butter, sugar and honey in a medium sized saucepan. 
• Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. 
• Press firmly into a square baking tray and bake for about 35-40 minutes until golden brown.
• Allow to cool completely before slicing