Happee 2nd Birthdaee, Sweetie Pie Bakes Stuff!!

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday, dear Sweetie Pie Bakes Stuff;

Happy birthday to you!

And thus it was, another year came to pass. My blog is now two years old! And it has been great craic. Sometimes it has been tricky to keep on top of my bi-weekly updates due to work and whatnot, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the process.

To celebrate the occasion, I thought I'd stick with the St' Patrick's Day green theme and make a mini birthday cake: coffee and mint flavour.

I bet you're thinking Coffee and mint? Really, Sweetie Pie? but it's actually a very pleasant combination. Most things that work with chocolate work with coffee (as I discussed in one of my very first recipe posts where I made a coffee and raspberry cake), because coffee is a slightly milder and more bitter tasting cocoa, really. However, when it comes to pairing flavours with coffee cake, the coffee flavour has to be fairly strong to match up to the accompanying flavour.

I used my usual sponge cake recipe, flavouring it with a little fine espresso powder and some ground coffee beans, and then made some very simple buttercream icing, flavoured with natural peppermint essence and coloured with some green gel food colouring.

Of course, I didn't eat the whole thing myself; I actually cut it up and brought it to work. This Holy Week I have taken it upon myself to fast from waking to sunset every day until Easter, which is roughly 10 to 12 hours a day. It's actually not as tough as people think.

So thank you to all of my readers and commenters and co-bakers! I hope that the year ahead will be just as fun as the last two, and that I will be baking all sorts of new and wonderful things, and raising the profile of my recipes a bit more; maybe I might give video making another try, and see if I like it better this time....

Here is a list of the ten most popular recipes of 2014 (in order):

• Millionaire's Cheesecake (Wheat Free)
• Christmas Cake 2014!
• Minty Mint Brownies of Mintiness, with Marbled Glaze (Wheat Free) 
• Orange Chocolate Fudge
• Variation on a Theme: Malted Chocolate Ice-Cream with Caramel Swirl (Egg and Wheat Free)
• Spelt Doughnuts (Wheat Free)
• Lemon Meringue Tarts (Wheat Free)
• Experiment:Syrup Sponge Pudding in the Microwave! (Wheat-, Egg-, and Dairy Free)
• Peanut Butter Cup Mini Cheesecakes (Wheat Free)
• Quick Pizza Base(Wheat-, Dairy-, Egg-, and Yeast Free)

But for those of you who are here for the recipe of how I made this lovely mint coffee cake (which is a totally legit combination of flavours) read below:


You will need:

• 1 four inch (10 centimetre) coffee sponge cake, which can be made using a 1-egg quantity of my classic sponge recipe
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) white chocolate, broken into pieces
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar
• 2 fluid ounces (60 millilitres) milk
• Several drops of peppermint essence
• Green food colouring

To make it:

• If your cake has a dome, slice off a little from the top to flatten it. Slice the cake in half horizontally, and use the bottom half upside-down as the top layer, so the top will be nice and level.
• In a saucepan over low heat, heat the sugar and milk until the sugar melts. Bring to the boil; once it has boiled for a few seconds, remove from the heat and immediately add in the chocolate, stirring until melted. Return to the heat and cook gently for about 30 seconds until smooth and flowing once more. Take off the heat and mix in the peppermint essence and green food colouring until to tastes and looks like you want it.
• Allow the icing to cool completely for about an hour, Once it is a spreadable consistency, fill and ice the cake, swirling the icing to make it pretty.