Almond Marzipan Tart with Speculoos Buttercream

FOR THE CAKES: Preheat the oven to 175 ° C.

Roast the ground almonds in a non-stick pan. Always stir in between until they are golden brown. Then put them straight into a mixing bowl so that they don't roast and get too dark. Let the almonds cool down.

Place speculatius in a freezer bag, seal the bag and grind it finely with a rolling pin.

Coarsely grate the marzipan and set aside.

Add the flour, baking powder, ground speculoos, baking soda, cinnamon, star anise and salt to the almonds and stir.

In a second bowl, beat the room temperature butter and sugar with a hand mixer until creamy for a few minutes. Add one egg at a time and stir briefly. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk and briefly stir everything into a smooth dough. Only stir as much as necessary to blend the ingredients. Fold in the marzipan.

Lay out a muffin tin with molds or cut parchment paper into square pieces and line them with them. Fill the mold 3/4 full with batter.

The cakes are baked in the oven for 20 minutes. Let them cool completely before you apply the buttercream.

FOR THE BUTTER CREAM: Finely grind the speculoos according to the same principle.

Put the milk and ground speculoos in a small saucepan. Simmer on the stove over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the milk thickens. Take the saucepan off the stove and let the thickened milk cool completely until it is at room temperature.

The butter must also be room temperature. Beat them with the icing sugar for a few minutes until they are creamy.

Add the thickened milk to the butter spoon by spoon and whisk briefly with a hand mixer. Refine with cinnamon, salt and cardamom.

Apply the buttercream to the cakes with a piping bag or spatula.