Sweetie Pie's Top Baking Suggestions for Valentine's Day

So, the feast of St Valentine is upon us in a week's time. I have a few ideas of what to make this year to celebrate it, but due to college work, I can't get to a kitchen to bake until Friday the 10th to publish some more ideas.

In the meantime, I have compiled a list of ideas to try from the past few years of my blog for you to try! Here are my 5 top picks for Valentine's day 2017.


1. February Afternoon Tea Party: 3 Recipes!

In 2015, I hosted a series of afternoon tea parties in the community centre where I worked. Each one had a theme, and I did a Valentine's day one. In this blog post, there are 3 recipe ideas, and presentation ideas, also: cupcake rose bouquet, chocolate dipped berries, and heart-decorated millionaire's shortbread.

2. Homemade Chocolate Box Strikes Back: 8 Flavours!

Although I had originally made this box of chocolates for Christmas, it's perfectly applicable to Valentine's day also. You could make it for your loved one, or for a social gathering. In this post are 8 chocolate ideas and ideas for presentation, but you could make any chocolate you like, even ones from the shop.

3. Ice Cream for Dessert

My blog has many ice-cream ideas, and I decided to make life easier by putting them all here in a list. They all use the 2 ingredient no-churn technique of whipping cream and condensed milk.

• Chocolate Ice-Cream
• Malted Chocolate Ice-Cream with Caramel Swirl
• Stracciatella Ice-Cream
• Coffee Ice-Cream
• Raspberry Ice-Cream
• Lemon Ice-Cream
• Caramel Ice-Cream
• Strawberry Cheesecake Ice-Cream
• Millionaire's Shortbread Ice-Cream

4. Cheesecakes

On this blog I also have a few recipes for mini cheesecakes that can be made in cake cases. Check these out for inspiration:

• Tiramisù Mini Cheesecakes (Wheat Free)
• Peanut Butter Cup Mini Cheesecakes (Wheat Free)
• Coconut Lime Mini Cheesecakes (Wheat-Free)
• Millionaire's Cheesecake (Wheat Free)
• Mini Black Forest Cheesecakes (Wheat Free)

5. Dairy-Free Baileys

It wouldn't be a party without some booze, right? Here is a recipe inspired by Bailey's Irish Cream Liqueur, but without all the nasty dairy that you may not be able to digest.

So there you have it: a little list of things to try this Valentine's day! I will of course be working on new things over the next week.

February Afternoon Tea Party: 3 Recipes!

This Monday I'll be brightening up the start of your working week with pictures of what I made for my monthly Afternoon Tea Party event!

I work in a community centre which is run as a "fresh expression" of its mother church (Methodist Church Ireland); a fresh expression church "seeks to transform communities and individuals through championing and resourcing new ways of being church". Through this model, I run a lot of interesting projects from community film groups to my monthly Afternoon Tea party event, which is a social group that revolves around baking and sharing, and is usually attended by women. The aim of this event is to bring people of similar interest together and to give them a social outlet in a non-judgmental and safe environment, but it also gives those who attend a creative outlet.

This month's theme was Valentine's Day, as it was actually on that same day (Saturday February 14th), so I made a selection of Valentine themed goodies:

• Bouquet of spicy chocolate cupcakes with buttercream roses (gluten- and dairy free)
• Dark chocolate dipped strawberries (Dairy free)
• Caramel shortbread with heart-decorated chocolate topping (Wheat Free)

Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Roses (Gluten- and Dairy Free)

These were made with a nice and simple recipe, which is basically my basic sponge recipe but prepared slightly differently. Using basically the same ingredients in the similar quantities, I prepared them as follows (using the same oven temperature): 

DRY

• 6 ounces (170 grammes) of self-raising gluten-free flour (or gluten free plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa power
• 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• Half a teaspoon of cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

WET

• 3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) sunflower oil
• 3 fluid ounces (90 fluid ounces) warm strong coffee
• 3 medium eggs

I sifted the dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl, and in a jug I mixed the wet ingredients, adding the eggs in last one at a time. I beat the wet ingredients well, then added them to the dry, folding gently until well combined. This made 12 cakes, but I only used 8 for the bouquet. There are countless of tutorials online for the method, but instead of a styrofoam ball (which I could not find for love nor money) I used half a red cabbage wrapped in cling film. Did the same job!

I used a traditional buttercream, loosening with a little warm water and flavouring with a few teaspoons of cocoa powder, but instead of butter I used margarine to make it dairy free. I had to use about half a teaspoon of red gel colouring to get this colour, but my food dyes are old so maybe a brand new bottle would need less. Using a closed star tip, I made the roses by starting in the centre of the cake and spiralling out, applying consistent pressure to the bag; again, many tutorials for this technique can be found on YouTube.

These turned out beautifully, and I even managed to get my brother and his girlfriend involved when they expressed an interest in trying out the piping technique! The only issue I had is that buttercream made with margarine can sometimes split, but I think it gave the roses a slightly wild look.

Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries (Dairy Free)

 

This is a simple one, and especially so when there's two 300 gramme punnets of strawberries in the reduced section in Tesco. To cover a pound (450 grammes) of strawberries, I simply melted 3 and a half ounces (100 grammes) of dark chocolate with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in the microwave and dipped the washed and dried strawberries in. I allowed them to set for ten minutes, then gently reheated the chocolate to running consistency and re-dipped the strawberries. I also dipped some cherries and white grapes for myself to eat later with my Valentine (or, in other words, my mate Niamh who was doing nothing that evening).

Caramel Shortbread with Heart-Decorated Chocolate Topping

Using this recipe, I made a triple batch of shortbread. I made such a big batch because I had a bake sale on Thursday too, so I just made on massive batch and donated half for the sale, and kept half for myself. In addition to the milk chocolate topping, I melted some white chocolate topping at a 4:1 ratio (chocolate:sunflower oil) with 2 ounces (55 grammes) of chocolate and dropped dots of the white onto the milk. Then, using a cocktail stick, dragged the tip of the stick through the middle of each dot, making a heart shape. Simples! 

These were very successful, both at the bake sale and the Afternoon Tea Party. The day you make these, the caramel is super chewy, but over the days in storage is becomes a little more creamy and fudgy as the sugars crystalise.

All in all, I was very pleased with myself and how the event went. The women were full of chat, brought along some delights of their own, and a great time was had. I did, however, have lots of leftovers which I'm currently palming off on friends and siblings...

Lessons in Chocolate Dipping and Edible Anniversary Gifts

So, it is that time of year again where my parent's wedding anniversary and my sister's birthday happen in the same week and I'm always stuck for gift ideas.

Don't get me wrong, I love my sister dearly, but at the moment she's not able to eat as many sweeties as she usually would like. So, seeing as I'm already making a birthday cheesecake (at her request) which will be more than enough, I'm going to have to come up with another idea for her for a present.

My Mum and Dad, however would greatly appreciate some something nice and sweet. Last year I made them a box of chocolates, and I could easily do the same this year, but I thought it's be nice to do something different.

I have learnt quite a lot about chocolate dipping since last year. When I attempted it last, I found it quite difficult. I got very hung up on it being all perfect and professional and tried to temper the chocolate myself and it didn't work as well as I'd hoped. The thing is if your chocolate is low quality to begin with, no matter how well you temper it, it will be low quality when it sets. How do you solve this problem? Well, I have two solutions: a) you buy better quality chocolate, or b) you cheat, which is what I have learnt to do and do effectively.

In my post about cake pops, I coated them with chocolate that I had bought for about 70c from Lidl and I melted it with a little tiny bit of oil, to make it more of a glaze. The result is a free flowing coating that sets really shiny and smooth and looks very professional; despite the fact you couldn't label these as "chocolate cover" but only as "dipped in chocolate coating", it looks as neat as you'd like.

Of course, if one prefers the rustic and domestic look of homemade sweets covered unevenly in mediocrely tempered chocolate of not fantastic quality, then my previous chocolate box was a complete success. I, however, do not and as such developed this cheat of making it easier and a little cheaper, which is what my blog is all about at the end of the day.

So what will I make them this year? I could do the chocolate box thing again, but I like shaking things up a bit and making some decorated biscuits, and I think  I know just the thing.

I have no idea why, but the other day I was at a friend's house and we were talking how the elephant has quite a presence in British children's programmes, books and toys (as a result of colonialism) and when I was a little girl I remember being given a decorated gingerbread elephant with Smarties for eyes, which is also a painfully British thing. I was commenting on the fact that elephants aren't really a thing here in Ireland, but are quite ubiquitous to our cousins across the drink.

I remember as a little girl getting a gingerbread elephant, decorated with royal icing and Smarties. It was a very typical British image of an Indian elephant, with a colourful back rug, that was very prettily decorated in royal icing with bright colours and feathering, Ever since then, I've always wanted to recreate this beautiful gingerbread morsel of childhood memory.

I thought it would be nice to make a little family of gingerbread elephants decorated with royal icing: a Mummy, a Daddy, and two little boy elephants, and two little girl elephants, each representing my brothers, my sister and I. I think it'll be cute, and a little blast from the past. The only thing is I have to design a teddy cutout.

I'll keep you posted.

Bake Sale Madness: Raising Funds for Christian Aid

Last Thursday, my church hosted a coffee morning bake sale in support of Christian Aid Week. It was moderately successful, as successful as a coffee morning can ever be in a city where the Protestant community is very small. We made a few hundred euro, which is a few hundred Christian Aid didn't have before last Thursday!

I love bake sales and church fetes. The spectacle of a table laden with all kinds of baked lovely things is genuinely a sight for sore eyes, and there’s something deeply pleasing about watching folk munch away on cakes and biscuits and drinking tea. Then again, I may just be a born entertainer; the feeding and hosting kind of entertainer, not the face-paint and black spandex kind of entertainer. The aforementioned sight of cake consumption is made even better knowing that the proceeds are going to charity!

But  hosting a bake sale comes with a bit of a crisis: how much do I make? What do people like? What will I make? Oh, the confusion! Do not let your hearts be troubled. Here’s some tips.

• Personally, I’ve found that variety bests quantity at bake sales: people like a selection of things, and one batch of everything seems to work, as opposed to several batches of the same thing. When there’s a variety, people like to have a little of everything and this means a little of everything will be worn away by everyone. If you make loads of the same thing, people will take a little and be happy with that; also, some people might not like that one thing of which you made loads.
• As for what people like and what to make, this is even trickier, but I’ve found three things always go down a treat: chocolate, biscuits, and cake that’s in small form, whether fairy cakes or sliced cakes.
• Always make things that you would eat yourself. If you make a load of stuff that you wouldn’t eat, or that no-one in your household will eat, what happens when you have leftovers that have to follow you home? If you make things you like, taking home leftovers won’t ever be a problem (unless you’re on a diet, then it will be).
• Beware of exotic flavours! I always have to rein myself in when it comes to cooking things for a bake sale, because – as I’m sure you all know already – I like being experimental with flavours. Sometimes, the flavour combinations are a real smash, other times not so much.
• Similarly, mind how dark your chocolate is. Everyone likes chocolate, men and women and children alike, but a tip to bear in mind when it comes to chocolate is that not everyone likes the same intensity or darkness of chocolate. Steer away from making things too dark or bitter: use milk chocolate.

Last time I did a bake sale, I made ginger brownies, caramel coffee slices, and stained glass gingerbread biscuits. I assumed the coffee cake would be more popular, however, the brownies were all gone within the first twenty minutes, and I had to bring some of the coffee slices home with me at the end of the day. I expected that people would punch the candy middles out of the stained glass biscuits, and I was right; the gingerbread biscuits were all eaten, though.

The time before, I made traditional treacle gingerbread (the cakey-tea-bread kind) and mini butterscotch meringue tarts; they both went down very, very well, even though the gingerbread was very rich and spicy. I’m quite stubborn: I don’t like resorting to cupcakes. Not that I mean any disrespect to cupcakes, but sometimes people can rely on them as a lazy crowd pleaser if they’ve left baking to the last minute. I apologise for my snobbery: when cupcakes are done well, with the love and effort they deserve, they are fantastic!

This time, my culinary endeavours are:

• Coconut Custard creams
• Orange Bourbon creams
• Mint Toffee cake

Once again, I’m not shying away from flavour. The ginger brownies will be making a reappearance, as they were so popular the last time, and I’ll also be making some iced gingerbread hearts.

I’ll be getting the next few blogs’ worth of material out of this one day. Not bad! Recipes for all the deliciousnesses will be uploaded over the next few days!

Buttercream Icing: the King of all Icings

Buttercream icing is possibly one of the most versatile kinds of icing there is. Either spread haphazardly or
piped artistically onto a cake, it still looks and tastes great, and is very quick and easy to prepare. In fact, the only thing simpler than it is good old whipped cream, which doesn't have the same keeping power as buttercream. It's just butter, icing sugar, milk and flavouring

Due to its simplicity, buttercream icing is easily flavoured, easily used, and easily stored. If you've made too much, you can keep it in the fridge in a air-tight box and it'll keep for up to a fortnight (in my experience). However when storing exercise caution: it must be kept airtight, because it's high butter content (and thus high fat content, sorry to disappoint) makes it a magnet for unwanted tastes and odours.

But Anna - I imagine hearing you say - I'm lactose intolerant? Do I have to give up buttercream forevar? Fear not! I have a friend who is lactose intolerant, and as such making cakes for him was a worry when it came to buttercream. I discovered, however, that it works just as well with margarine instead of butter, and water instead of milk; just make sure it's the soft kind, not the block kind. Then, even as a non-dairy eater, you can enjoy the silky creaminess of buttercream icing.

Here is how to make the baker's wonder material.

INGREDIMENTS:
This will easily ice 12 fairy cakes, or ice the top and fill an 8 inch (20 centimeter) cake.

• 6 ounces (170 grammes) butter, softened to room temperature
• 12 ounces (340 grammes) icing sugar, sieved
• 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 millilitres) milk, or more if needed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, or essence of your choice: such as peppermint or almond.

It is absolutely imperative that all the ingredients -- including the milk -- are at room temperature, otherwise the buttercream and curdle.

HOW-TO:

• Beat the butter, vanilla essence and the first tablespoon of milk with about a third of the sugar to start with, using a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer, until fully blended.
• Beat in another third of the sugar until fully blended with the second tablespoon of milk, then add the final third of sugar and beat continuously for about 3 or 4 minutes until light, fluffy and pale.
• If the mixture is too stiff to use properly, add milk a teaspoon at a time until it's just right. It should be soft, but still hold stiff peaks when the beater/wooden  spoon is pulled out of the icing.

And that, truly, is it. The awesome versatility in application and flavouring has been hailed and capitalised upon by bakers for a very long count of years. If you want to make buttercream that isn't just plain old vanilla (which, don't get me wrong, has its time and place), then here are some simple tips, taking the measurements of the above recipe in mind.


If you want an orange, lemon or other citrus icing, take 1 whole citrus and grate off its zest (you want only the orange or yellow outer layer of skin, not any of the white bit underneath – known as pith – because it’s very bitter) and add this with the first addition of icing sugar before beating. Instead of the milk, add the same amount of the citrus juice. You can keep the vanilla essence in for extra sweetness, or replace it with citrus essence for extra zing.

If you would like a chocolate icing, replace ½ ounce of the icing sugar with ½ ounce of cocoa powder. This makes a very rich, dark chocolate icing, so if you don’t like it as dark you can reduce the substitution, or use hot drinking chocolate power, which is sweeter.

If you would like a coffee icing, replace the milk with the same amount of very strong black coffee, either made with instant espresso powder or from a filter. If you're extra coffee mad, you can replace the vanilla essence with coffee essence.

For toffee or caramel icing, simply add a tablespoon of golden syrup or toffee-flavoured ice-cream sauce, which you can get from any supermarket. If you can get it, you can use butter-vanilla flavouring instead of the vanilla essence; I managed to get a few vials of such flavouring from Lidl.

For any kind of berry or soft fruit icing, such as strawberry, banana or raspberry, replace the milk with the same quantity of fruit purée (you can make this by squidging fresh or defrosted frozen fruit through a sieve) or add about an ounce of strained jam. Also, you could add some fruit flavoured ice-cream sauce, or milk-shake powder.

For coconut icing, replace the milk with the same quantity of coconut milk or juice. If you can get your hands on solid coconut milk, you can replace an ounce of the butter with the coconut milk.

For peanut flavoured icing, replace half of the butter with smooth peanut butter. If you can get your hands on any other kind of nut butter, you could use those too, such as almond, hazelnut or cashew nut. Similarly, you could substitute half the butter for any other kind of thick, sweet sandwich spread; like Nutella.

The options don't stop there! A while back I made Coca Cola flavoured buttercream on vanilla cakes, which was inspired by a recipe I read online for Coca Cola cupcakes. I tried the original recipe and it was a disaster, but I took inspiration from it to make another cake (at the time I was allergic to chocolate, so this recipe for moist chocolate cakes wouldn't have been for my consumption anyway). The Coca Cola flavoured icing was nice, but in future I think I'll reduce the cola over heat to make it thicker and more concentrated before adding it to the icing.

I hope this recipe serves you well!