Homemade Peanut Butter

When it comes to spread for my bread, I find myself sticking to a few favourites: Nutella, peanut butter and Kaya (coconut egg jam).  These spreads win hands down when compared to fruit jams for me.  Having found a way to make Kaya the easy way, I was ready to try something new -- Peanut butter!  I always thought that there was butter in peanut butter.  Isn't that why it's so creamy?  It was after the usual Googling that I realised that all you needed to make peanut butter, was peanuts!  That's all!

Thus began my little experiment...

First, I "toasted" the peanuts in a frying pan without any oil

'Toasting' peanuts in a frying pan

Then came the worst part of my experiment..... I had to remove all the skin from the peanuts!  I was literally kicking myself for not buying peanuts which had the skin removed.  Anyway, when I finally removed all the skin from the peanuts, I chucked them into my blender.  Many websites mention that a food processor should be used, NOT a blender because it might overheat.  I didn't have a food processor, so my Bosch cake mixer cum blender was the only option.  I did stop often to let my blender rest though.

Place peanuts in a blender or food processor

As I blended the peanuts, it went through different stages before eventually getting to the peanut butter stage.  Amazingly, it became creamy peanut butter without any liquids added!

Different stages of blended peanuts

Verdict?  I liked it!!  It was not as sweet or as oily as store bought peanut butter and had a very natural taste.  Maybe next time I'll experiment with different nuts or add some honey :)

Slicing Onions with my Bosch

My darling Bosch cake mixer is not just a cake mixer, It also comes with an attachment to slice/grate food.  I'm totally new to such a device, so I tested it out with onions, slicing them coarsely:

Sliced onions

Bosch Cake Mixer

I grew up with a Kenwood cake mixer in the house.  It was white with pastel blue accents.  It had 2 porcelain mixing bowls.  It had a powerful motor that failed only once in my whole lifetime.  Up till now, it is still going strong.

When I got married, the only cake mixer in the house was a handheld one.  As I wasn't baking often, I just made do with it for years.  Until one day, I just thought it was time to get a proper cake mixer... First in mind was a Kenwood, but the better ones were beyond my budget.  After much searching, I finally decided to get a Bosch.  I hope it'll be a permanent fixture in my kitchen, just as the old Kenwood was in my old home...

Bosch Cake Mixer