For more information on Steenbergs packaging please visit: https://steenbergs.co.uk/article/show/56/herbs-spices-seasonings-packaging

Over the years our jars have been recycled and reused in many different ways. Our Homemade Chilli Piccalilli is a great example of filling the jars with your own homemade jams, jellies and preserves and the small jars also make lovely little gifts – if you can bear to part with any!

A variety of homemade preserves

Spiced Ham & Chilli Piccalilli

We’ve recently found a new use for our jars though – handmade candles! Local Boroughbridge business Wright & Green, set up and run by Joanne Taylor, specialises in creating beautiful candles in recycled jars. Not only does she sell her own creations, but she offers a refill service for any suitable receptacle.

We tested it out in one of our small spice jars, with a Sea Salt and Wood Sage candle which we thought would be a lovely fresh smell for the kitchen. The candle fitted perfectly into the jar and the lid can be used to keep out the dust (if it lasts that long!).

Sea Salt & Wood Sage candle by Wright & Green

The candles are filled with a natural mineral wax and burn with an organic, eco-friendly wooden wick which gives a soft crackle sound when lit. With over 40 different scents ranging from floral to citrus, woody to oriental, including the popular Tuberose & Orange, masculine Oudh and even Wet Dog, there is a scent for every occasion and every home.

So why not follow Joanne’s mantra of Breathe – Relax – Revive and let the candles work their magic.

For more information on Wright and Green, please visit the website at: www.wrightandgreen.co.uk

It’s decadent, luscious and you need it in your life, your loved ones will never forget this sweet treat!

Niki Bakes Chocolate pots with Steenbergs organic Fairtrade vanilla extract

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon of Steenbergs Organic Fairtrade vanilla extract 
• 12 medjool dates, pitted
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 50ml of almond milk
• 5 tablespoons of coconut cream
• 200g of dark chocolate, melted and cooled at room temperature

Step 1:

In a high speed blender, blend your almond milk and pitted dates until a fully smooth mixture forms.

Step 2:

Pour in your coconut cream and melted dark chocolate into your blender and blend again until you get a thick sauce like consistency.

Step 3:

Finally, add in your cocoa power and vanilla extract and blend for a final time until smooth. Pour into your little pots and refrigerate for an hour before serving, simple as that!

Recipe kindly reproduced from
Niki, Founder of nikibakes
Recipe and Content Writer
www.nikibakes.uk
www.facebook.com/nikibakes

Using a delicate blend of rose water and cardamom, these Persian sweet cakes encapsulate the true essence of love! Gluten and Dairy free recipe.

Recipe for Yazdi Squares flavoued with vanilla, rosewater and cardamom

Ingredients:

(Makes up to 20 cake squares)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 25 minutes (to include cooking time and pouring over the rosewater syrup)

For the Yazdi cake:

• 220g of almond flour
• 150g of coconut sugar
• 200ml of almond milk
• 1 teaspoon of Steenbergs Organic Fairtrade vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 100g finely ground pistachios
• 100ml of coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt 
• 4-6 cardamom pods, podded and their seeds finely ground 

For the rosewater syrup:

• 150ml of filtered water
• 2 teaspoons of Steenbergs organic rosewater 
• 200g of pistachios, crushed
• 80g of coconut sugar (all melted together in a small saucepan for 5 minutes)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to gas mark 4 or 180°c and grease your square brownie baking dish with extra coconut oil and line with greaseproof paper. Whisk your melted coconut oil and coconut sugar with your vanilla extract, set aside.

2. In a larger mixing bowl whisk together your dry ingredients which include the almond flour, baking powder, ground pistachios, ground cardamom and Himalayan pink salt and start to fold in your ingredients with your wooden spoon. Spoon your cake mixture and bake in your oven for a minimum of 20 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow it to cool slightly.

3. Finally, prick your cake very gently with a fork and pour over the rosewater syrup, allowing it to seep through to your cake. Once completely cooled cut into squares and serve with some strong black tea, delicious!

Happy Baking!

Yazdi squares are gluten free and dairy free, flavoured with organic rose water, ground cardamom and organic Fairtrade vanilla extract

We’re put together a few of our favourite recipes, mostly sweet but some savoury. We’d love to hear about your favourites too so do let us know…

Sweet delights

1. Fruity Pancakes – a Vegetarian Society recipe from the Yorkshire Post Food & Drink website that uses gram flour, poppy seeds and soya milk for the pancakes before filling with fresh and dried fruit & nuts.
2. Banana & Cinnamon Drop Scones – adding mashed banana to drop scones makes them instantly healthier – even if sprinkled liberally with cinnamon sugar!
3. Speedy Vanilla Banana Pancakes – another delicious banana pancake recipe, this time from our lovely friend Niki of website nikibakes. These ones are packed with banana and are gluten and dairy free due to the use of coconut flour and almond milk.
4. Spiced Apple Pancakes with Date & Walnut – thick, moist pancakes from Jo @includingcake which make a very satisfying brunch. Dairy & gluten free, these little pancakes are made with oats, spelt flour and cinnamon to make them extra tasty.
5. Chestnut Flour Pancakes and Orange Blossom Coconut Yoghurt – the Hemsley sisters created these gluten free pancakes and still serve them in their Selfridges Café in London.
   

   Spiced Apple Pancakes with Date & Walnut by Jo from @includingcake

   

   Hemsley & Hemsley Chestnut Pancakes with Orange Blossom Coconut Yoghurt

Savoury Flavours

1. Savoury Pancakes 2 ways – delicious ideas for savoury pancakes from online cookery school, thedevilledegg.com, spicing up the pancakes with turmeric, chilli & oregano.
2. Cumin pancakes with spicy chicken, salsa & raita – one of our own recipes here for spicing up the pancakes with ground cumin for a delicious Indian flavour.

Steenbergs Cumin Pancakes with Spicy Chicken, Salsa & Raita

Don’t forget to enter our competition to win a Steenbergs Pancake Bag – enter before 8th February to be in with a chance of winning. Good luck!

All you need is:

Use organic/natural real food ingredients where possible)

Ingredients:
Makes 10-12 lettuce wraps

· 1 tin of Biona Organic Jackfruit, drained and washed
· 3-4 heads of mini Romaine lettuce, separated into separate leaves
· 1 large handful of radishes, sliced finely
· 1/2 a large red cabbage, shredded finely
· 2 tablespoons of avocado mayonnaise

For the BBQ Jackfruit marinade:

– 1 teaspoon of ground coriander 
– 1.5 tablespoons of tomato purée @mrorganic
– 2 tablespoons of tamari @sanchi
– 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil @mr organic
– 1 heaped teaspoon of smoked paprika powder @steenbergs
– 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar @lucybee

Method:

Step 1:

Start off by laying out your mini romaine lettuce leaves and layer up with the avocado mayonnaise, your shredded cabbage and radish. Set aside.

Step 2:

In a skillet or large pan, heat your oil and simply add in your Jackfruit, together with its marinade. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until it thickens up and is warmed through. Allow to cool before spooning the mixture on top of the lettuce leaves, bliss!

Happy Baking!

Here’s what you need for 10-12 pancakes: (Use organic ingredients where possible)

Gluten free Banana Pancakes from NikiBakes, featuring Steenbergs Organic Fairtrade Vanilla Extract

2 bananas, mashed up
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of baking powder
4 tablespoons of coconut flour
2 tablespoons of almond milk
1 teaspoon of organic Fairtrade vanilla extract @steenbergsltd
3-5 tablespoons of coconut oil – for frying

Simply blend together with a whisk and fry on either side for about 2-4 minutes on each side, low heat is best for these fluffy cloud like pancakes and can burn easily so do watch them!

Happy Baking everyone!

As well as all of the recipes on our website we love to share recipes from some of our favourite bloggers, customers and food writers. Here are a few cocktails, punches and toddies (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) to help fuel your festive spirit.

Jane from Hodgepodge Days blog has made a delicious sounding Vimto Mulled Wine using a Steenbergs mulling spice sachet. It’s a non-alcoholic drink so the children can get into the festive spirit too…if they need any encouragement!

Another alcohol free cocktail comes from Leta of Attachment Mummy Blog who makes a fruity Holiday Mulled Cranberry Juice infused with whole spices. Perfect for the designated driver.

Delicious Magazine often has inspiring recipes for the festive season and this one by Debbie Major for Spicy Gingerbread Vodka was particularly popular when we shared it a couple of weeks ago. Best made now in time for Christmas, it infuses the vodka with the traditional Christmas flavours of ginger, cinnamon, vanilla and cloves and would make a fabulous gift decanted into small bottles.

One of our customers Abel & Cole, who stock a great variety of our organic herbs & spices and regularly send them out in their organic boxes, recently shared this recipe for Jassy Davis’ Clementine, Bay & Black Pepper Gin. It’s a really seasonal fruity liqueur that works brilliantly with tonic or Prosecco.

…and to go with all of these delicious drinks, why not try making your own tasty nibbles? These Spiced Almonds from Camilla of FabFood4All blog look really moreish!

mmmm.…Ain’t no thing but a chicken wing. Except these are exceptional hot chicken wings rubbed with @Steenbergs ‘s smoked Hickory rub. It imparts that original barbeque flavour thanks to the paprika, garlic, cumin, chipotle chilli and oregano to name just a few spices here. It’s a truly tasty blend which is slightly sweet, adding to that barbeque flavour.

You cannot go wrong here…such a luscious rub guys, I love my organic and high welfare chicken wings dipped in sweet chilli sauce and the method cannot be any simpler! All you need is:

Easy Chicken Recipe for Smoked Hickory Chicken Wings from Niki Bakes.

Serves 2

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Use organic/natural ingredients where possible

Ingredients:

1kg of high welfare chicken wings
1 tablespoon (or more!) of smoked hickory rub
2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
A small handful of chives, chopped

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4.
2. Add the chicken wings to the bowl. Rub the coconut oil and smoked hickory rub into the chicken wings, making sure they are well coated all over.
3. Arrange the chicken wings on your baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Roast for 45 mins till cooked through and well browned.
4. Serve the chicken wings with sweet chilli sauce of any sauce of your choice and garnish with the chopped chives, enjoy!

Here are a few festive bakes from some of our favourite food writers, bloggers and customers to enjoy this holiday season. Do let us know how you get on.

Niki B whose lovely photos have been populating the Steenbergs social feed recently, has a delicious recipe for Christmas muffins made with Parsnip & Pecan which are gluten and dairy free. They are the perfect recipe for a weekend brunch or equally delicious with a cup of refreshing afternoon tea, and full details can be found on our website. For more Nikibakes creations do visit her on Instagram or Facebook.

Joan Ransley, food writer and photographer of beautiful food portraits, has a delicious recipe for Timothy Taylor Landlord Cake, using cardamom, fennel and coriander. A ‘really moist cake with a soft crumb and spicy, sweet flavour’, this was Joan’s cake of choice with a Thermos of coffee on a cold winter walk. A Yorkshire cake for a Yorkshire walk. 

The Devilled Egg Cookery School aims to teach you to master the art of cooking through online recipes, some of which they have kindly shared with us. We really like these Marshmallow Gingerbread Men, made with our Pumpkin Pie mix and Almond extract – a fabulous twist on a traditional theme.

Here at Steenbergs, we have a spice blend for many of the festive baking traditions right across Europe, including Stollen, Koekkruiden, Speculoos and Lebkuchen. Using these ready mixed spices blends helps give a really authentic taste to your bakes so here’s a recipe for spicy aromatic Lebkuchen to get you started.

Baking with the children is always a great way to fill the holidays and get everyone in a festive mood. We couldn’t resist these Snowman Cupcakes from Diana of A Little Sunny Kitchen Blog, using Vanilla Extract to give extra flavour to the chocolate sponge.

Do let us know how you get on with your festive baking, we’re always keen to like, share and taste any delicious creations!