(Vegan) banana and speculoos muffin: un weekend en Belgique

Road tripping in Belgium: Brugge (left), way-too-picturesque countryside (top right), hanging out by the beach in Knock - Belgium's take on Cannes (bottom right)

I've come to the conclusion that Belgium is probably the most underrated travel destination in Western Europe. Before our little visit to Belgium, I have always associated Belgium (yes I just assumed the entire country), with Canberra - a sleepy capital country town with government officials in suits everywhere, talking politics and spy-stuff like in Bourne Identity. I know that's pretty weird.

So I was pleasantly surprised to see a very different place than I expected: high end designer stores doting the streets of Antwerp, trendy-but-non-pretentious restaurants, fresh + cheap seafood, good wines and of course the standard European cobbled-stoned Old Town thing.

Belgium is a pretty small country. Since we were only therefor the weekend, we made sure we tried to visit a few cities while we werethere.

Antwerp

Very pretty old town, seems super trendy and international young crowd, and possibly the highest concentration of designer stores I have seen in a small town (trivia: Dries van Noten hails from Antwerp, and is part of the famous “Antwerp Six” group of designers). You’ll find all the usual high streetbrands as well as second hand designer and vintage stores. Another random fact: Jean Claude Van Damme is a local, our friends even spotted the muscles from Brussels (well, Antwerp I guess) out in a club on a Saturday night.

Pretty Antwerp: smorgasbord of breads and spreads at Pain Quotidien (top-left); Antwerp city centre (top-right); the finish line of Antwerp marathon (bottom-left); strolling by the waterline (bottom-right)

We ate at Fiskebar (Marnixplatz 12/13), a tiny but busy fish restaurant with amazing spread of fresh and simple seafood dishes. The menu (written in Flemish on the board) changes every day, so ask for recommendation from the server. Don’t miss out on the oysters! Very reasonable prices and a decent wine list. It’s a super busy restaurant, so make sure to book ahead. If you are waiting for a table there is a bar next door, alternatively try any of the other ones also located on the Marnixplatz square.

On Sunday morning we brunched at Pain Quotidien for some tartines and croissants. Try the white chocolate and speculoos spread. The rest of the day was spent walking around the old town and the port area, while watching people finishing the Antwerp Marathon.

We also ate plenty of bitterballen (crumbed croquettes, completely addictive!) and tried frites & mayonnaise (which was OK, I don’t see what the fuss is all about). I am now pretty convinced that the rumour that all Belgians own deep fryers at their homes is true.

Brugge

Brugge was very touristy, probably even more so after themovie. Pass by if you have a spare day. It has the same old Europe charm like other towns in France and Germany, but much bigger (the entire town actually looks like this). We bought the very more-ish speculoos biscuits and waffles at Juliette’s (Wollestraat 31A), which we ate while walking around the town.

Speculoos and sweets in Brugge

Knokke

An upmarket coastal town, which was pretty quiet when we wentthere since it was still early spring. It’s sort of like Belgium’s answer to Cannes. The beach is lined with small beach shacks which you can rent and store all your summer toys. We saw a nice looking beachside bar which I guess wouldbe perfect in summer, called Siesta.

In and around Brugge

Brussels

A big city and pretty developed. We only spent about half a day here. We lunched at a small bar at Place St Gery and walked around the Saint-Jacques quarter (home to the tiny peeing statue, Manneken-Pis, which I still have no idea why it is famous?).

A quick stop in Brussels

I thank my recent Belgian weekend for introducing me to the tastiness of speculoos. Speculoos is a Dutch/Belgian mix of spices containing cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, pepper and cardamom. I think the smell of it reminds of the spices I am familiar with in Indonesia. It is normally used as seasoning in biscuits, which is shaped in wooden cookie mould. You can also buy it as a spread (like nutella) and it’s also vegan.

So in the spirit of my meatless Mondays attempt, I am making this banana and speculoos muffin a vegan recipe too. Plus, I also recently found that baking with sunflower oil instead of butter, makes baked goods very light and fluffy.

Banana and speculoos muffin recipe

Makes 10

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas, cut into pieces

½ cup speculoos spread

2 tbsp of agave nectar

190g all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

125 g brown sugar

1 tbsp speculoos spice mix (mix together cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and white pepper together; see this recipe)

6 tbsp applesauce

125 ml sunflower oil

125 ml soy milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp oats

Method

Heat the oven up to 180 degrees. Place bananas, speculoos spread and agave nectar on a sheet of aluminium foil. Mix well, close the foilto create a package. Place in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the bananas are soft.

Meanwhile, sift all the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, salt and sugar). In another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together (applesauce, sunflower oil, soy milk). When the bananas are ready, mash them into the dry ingredients. Add your wet ingredients slowly into the dry ingredients and banana mix until well incorporated (no lumps!)

Line your muffin tray with 10 cupcake cases. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases about three-quarters full. Top each muffin with oats and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Bake in the oven on 180 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.