"Hot Toddy" Irish Coffee (Contains Alcohol)

January has come.... so dark... so wet... so dreary. According to many, the first Monday in January is the saddest day of the year. You might need a bit of a pick-me-up to help you out, and here is one full of Christmassy cheer: a "Hot Toddy" Irish Coffee!

I don't know why nobody else has thought of combining two quintessentially Christmassy whiskey cocktails, and even when I put the two things together in my head I didn't really know what it would look like. But with some brainstorming, I eventually designed an Irish coffee that's infused with the common hot toddy flavours: cinnamon, cloves, and lemon. You might be thinking "lemon? With coffee?!" but don't knock it as the Portuguese have been combining coffee with lemon for a while in their summer tipple, Mazagran.

Infusing coffee with spices or herbs is actually pretty simple if you have a French press or pour-over filter, simply pop the spices in with the coffee and as it steeps the spices will give their flavour to the finished brew. It's also fairly simple if you have a coffee capsule machine (like I do: I got myself one with some of our wedding gift money) if you pop the spices into the bottom of a warmed glass and allow the coffee to dispense onto them, then cover with a coaster and allow to brew for about 5 minutes.

Despite the fact that the Irish coffee was invented in my home county of Clare (or Limerick, depending on your sources) I had never had one until my brother made me one this Christmas. He makes his Irish coffees with a strong bias to whiskey, however this drink was originally meant to have only an ounce measure of whiskey as a night-cap.

INGREDIMENTS

For 2 servings

6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres) strong black coffee

4 whole cloves

2 inches (5 centimetres) piece of cinnamon stick, broken into small pieces

Half a teaspoon of lemon zest

Two shots (60 millilitres) Irish whiskey: Irish brands include Jameson, Bushmills, Powers, and Tullamore Dew

4 teaspoons (20 grammes) Demerara sugar

Whipped cream, to serve. I use whipped cream from a squirty can because it's convenient

Grated nutmeg, for decoration

Optional: 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) fresh lemon juice

METHOD

• Infuse the coffee with the spices and lemon zest, either by popping the aromatics with ground coffee into a French press, or putting them into the bottom of a warmed glass, pouring over the coffee, then covering with a coaster to brew for about 5 minutes.
• Use two small stemmed glasses, measuring about 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres) each, and warm with hot water before using. 
• Divide the sugar between the glasses, and gently pour half of the whiskey into each glass without stirring.
• Gently add the coffee (making sure you've strained the spices out) by gently pouring it over the back of a teaspoon into the glasses. Irish coffee is best if the layers don't mix much.
• Top off with whipped cream and grated nutmeg.

Slow Cooker Mulled Wine: Happy Advent! (Metric Measurements)

Happy Advent 2019!

As 2019 draws to a close, my sister and I put up my Christmas tree. Contrary to Sweetie Pie's image, the everyday me very much likes skulls and darkness... so I have a black Christmas tree with Star Wars baubles and skully tinsel.

As part of our celebrations, I made us some deliciously festive mulled wine that was made super simple with my slow cooker! The long slow heating infuses the wine with all the delicious wintry flavours, giving a rich deep flavour.

This recipe is a twist on the good old punch formula, which you can read more about here if you haven't already!

INGREDIMENTS

700 millilitres fruity red wine

200 millilitres sweet sherry

50 grammes brown sugar

1 orange

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 cinnamon sticks

2 star anise

6 whole cloves

METHOD

• Slice half of the orange into thin strips, then squeeze the other half into the pot of a slow cooker. Add in the slices, cutting any really big slices in half, and the spices, snapping the cinnamon sticks.
• Add in the rest of the ingredients, stir well, and heat on low for about two hours, or until as hot as a nice cup of tea. Stir the wine once every so often to make sure the sugar dissolves.
• Ladle into glass mugs, or normal mugs, making sure

Tarte au Chocolat (Metric Measurements)

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

During the holiday season, we love to indulge; and there is nothing more indulgent than this French style chocolate tart, or tarte au chocolat. I've made a chocolate fudge tart in the past, which is an American style sticky sweet treat. But if you'd prefer the darker, more intense European experience of a dark chocolate baked ganache, this is for you!

I like to decorate mine with frozen berries for that frosty, wintry look. However, this can also be dusted with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice for that quintessential Thanksgiving flavour.

~ * ^ _ ^ * ~

INGREDIMENTS

Pastry

180 grammes plain flour

120 grammes unsalted butter (or a mix of butter and margarine), soft

20 grammes icing sugar

Optional: a beaten egg

Filling

250 grammes plain chocolate, 50 to 60% cocoa

200 millilitres whole milk

50 millilitres evaporated milk, or double cream

25 grammes butter

1 medium egg, roughly 55 grammes
Frozen or fresh raspberries, to decorate

METHOD

First, bake the pastry

• Preheat the oven to 180C, and make sure the shelf is in the middle
• Make a crumbly shortbread by rubbing all the pastry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Press the crumbly mixture into a 25 centimetre round tart tin. Keep the pastry case thin, about 2 or 3 millilitres thick, so if there is leftover dough you can make it into a biscuit or something.
• Dock the pastry all over with a fork, bottom and sides, to make sure the pastry doesn't bubble.
• Line the pastry with foil or baking paper and fill with pastry weights, like dried beans or coins. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the lining and cook for a further 10 minutes.
• If there are any dock holes in the pastry case that go through the bottom after baking, brush the pastry case with the beaten egg and pop back in the oven for about a minute.
• Allow the case to cool completely before filling.

Then, make the filling

• Preheat the oven to 150C. Break the chocolate up in a heatproof bowl. 
• In a saucepan heat the milk, evaporated milk (or cream), and butter to boiling point. Pour the hot milk mix over the chocolate and leave to stand for 3 minutes. 
• Whisk the chocolate mix until completely smooth. In a small bowl, beat the egg and add in a small amount of the hot chocolate mixture, whisking all the time. This tempers the egg so that it won't scramble.
• Add the egg back into the main chocolate mixture and stir well. Pour the filling into the case through a strainer to remove most of the bubbles. If there are any big bubbles on the surface after a gently wiggle, pop them with the corner of a piece of kitchen paper.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. When ready, it should have a skin over the whole surface and have a gentle wiggle under the surface.
• Allow to cool completely before putting in the fridge for at least 4 hours to chill thoroughly.
• Before serving, allow to come to room temperature. This tart is best served with whipped cream and sour berries like raspberries, cherries, or blackberries.

German Witches' Brew: Buttergrog (Contains Alcohol)

Es ist fast Winter! Und für euch, ich habe ein leckeres Wintergetränk: Buttergrog!

The nights are getting darker, the outside world is getting colder and more stark, and inside we're all starting to stock up on our heating fuel and warming, comforting food. In Ireland, winter starts on November 1st, which is a month before the rest of the western world, which marks December 1st as the first day of winter.

The four main Celtic festivals in the year mark the start of a new season. Samhain, the first day of winter, is celebrated on November 1st, which is the day after Oíche Shamhna, which means "Samhain Eve". Oíche Shamhna is our native name for Halloween.

Of course, we don't have the monopoly on wintertime celebrations! In fact, the homeland of our Celtic ancestors is central Europe, who absolutely go to town on autumnal and winter feasting. Germany, Austria, Poland, and many other countries throughout the European heartland have absolutely wonderful arrays of warming food and drinks.

All throughout Germany, Austria, and Poland there are a variety of warm, spiced alcoholic drinks. There's glühwein, which we know in English was mulled wine; there's the strange concoction grzaniec, which is hot spiced beer (which I really want to try so watch this space); and of course this blog's subject, the German delight buttergrog.

The word "grog" conjures an altogether, and much less classy, image of booze swilling pirates, but this drink is a delicious hot cider, flavoured with spices and aromatic citrus, spiked with rum, and finished off with a smooth hit of rich, buttery goodness. This is comfort in a glass.

For anyone who has made mulled wine in the past, you might be put off by the fiddliness of finding raw spices such as cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and star anise. However, I have a cheat:

Most Polish shops, and various healthfood shops, in Ireland sell spiced teabags. They often have a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, and sometimes orange zest, and are the perfect short-cut to a delicious aromatic spice blend for mulled drinks.

The brand I use is Loyd, but there is also Pukka. Both of these brands sell a variety of spiced teabags, but the one I used for this recipe was Loyd Warming Tea.

DIFFICULTY

Easy!

INGREDIMENTS

For 2 servings

1 can (500 millilitres) dry cider, about 5%

2 shots (60 millilitres) rum: white or spiced. You could also use some homemade spice infused rum

4 teaspoons (20 grammes) unsalted butter, cold

1 spiced teabag

2 slices of lemon or orange

1 or 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 grammes) brown sugar or honey, to taste

HOW-TO

• In a small saucepan, heat the cider with the lemon or orange slices and the teabag. Don't let it boil, but let it get steaming hot. Let the teabag infuse with the cider for about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Stir in the rum, and then add sugar or honey to taste. Allow to come back to temperature. I used some homemade spiced rum, infused with cinnamon, vanilla, and cloves. You could also use shop bought spiced rum.
• Put two teaspoons (10 grammes) of the butter in the bottom of each beer mug.
• Pour half the drink into each mug, stirring constantly to properly incorporate the butter and let it emulsify. 
• Serve hot with sweet or savoury snacks

Christmas Cake of 2015 (so it begins...)

And so, the time of year rolls around to prepare the Christmas cake. Wait, what? That was October? Oops, I was a little busy. Yes, unfortunately my Christmas cake and pudding creation was delayed this year somewhat. My 30 hour a week job is taking up 42 hours a week these days, and I have very sadly been struggling significantly with depression. I did it: I said the 'D' word.

Over the course of the last 10 years, I've struggled on and off which depression, usually triggered by a sudden life change. Those have been abound recently, which has resulting in my spending most of the time that I'm not at work in bed. I haven't been baking unless utterly necessary, which means my kitchen has been getting kind of neglected. I cannot wait to be better, but it's not looking like that's going to be any time soon.

But anyway! Enough of the super dismal talk of mental illness. Back to baking!

So I made the Christmas cake this week, and this time I did things a little differently. I definitely have taken after my Grandma in this department: Mum says Grandma used to try a different recipe for Christmas cake every year, but never wrote them down, so she'd never be able to remember what she'd done.

I decided to go a little less alcoholic than usual: typically, I soak the fruit in basically a whole bottle of sherry. However, this time I soaked it in hot Chai tea that was spiked with a little spiced rum instead (Lidl's knock-off Captain Morgan is a Godsend), inspired by Delia Smith's recipe for Creole fruit cake.

This recipe also takes a little inspiration from the recipe for Christmas cake on the Odlums official website, that used a melted method instead of a creamed method.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy (use ingredients in italics for a dairy-free version)
☒ Nuts (use ingredients in italics for a nut-free version)
☒ Eggs

INGREDIMENTS
Makes one 8 inch (20 centimetre) round cake

For the fruit, the night before:

• 12 ounces (340 grammes) mixed dried fruit of your choice: currants, raisins, sultanas, candied peel, glacé cherries (rinsed thoroughly and chopped), prunes (chopped, etc.
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) ground almonds
• 8 fluid ounces (240 millilitres) hot tea: Chai or Assam work best
• One shot (42 millilitres) spiced rum or whiskey
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) brown sugar

For the cake mixture:

• 6 ounces (170 grammes) plain white spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) mixed spice (or, if you want to be adventurous and make your own: 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, half a teaspoon of ground ginger, a quarter teaspoon of ground coriander, and two pinches of ground cloves)
• 6 ounces (170 grammes) light brown sugar
• 6 ounces (170 grammes) butter or margarine, cut into pieces
• 3 medium eggs
• Grated zest of half a lemon
• Grated zest and juice of half an orange

HOW-TO

• In a large glass mixing bowl, put the dired fruit, ground almonds, brown sugar, hot tea, and whiskey. Cover with a tea towel and allow to soak overnight.
• The next day, prepare your cake tin. Grease and flour the inside, and then line the bottom and sides with baking paper. Preheat the oven to Preheat your oven to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2, or moderately cool) and set the rack in the centre of the oven with plenty of room to spare from the rack 
• In a saucepan, heat the remaining sugar, butter, lemon zest, and orange juice and zest. Melt over a medium-low heat until all the sugar and butter have melted together. Bring to the boil and cook for about 1 minute.
• Pour the melted mixture onto the soaked fruit and mix well. Allow to cool to a touchable heat.
• Once cool, beat in the eggs, one at a time, alternating with a tablespoon of flour. 
• Sieve in the remaining flour with the spices, and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, and cook for at least 1½ hours before testing with a wooden cocktail stick. If there is still mixture stuck to the stick, cook for another 15 minutes. In total, the cake could take up 2 to 2½ hours to cook.
• Once cooked, remove from the oven and cool in the tin on a wire rack. Don't turn out of the tin until it is fully cool.

To store, wrap in greaseproof paper and either foil or clingfilm until decorating. I recommend covering with marzipan and icing about 3 days before Christmas.

Ginger Ale (No Brewing Required)

TADA!! Homemade ginger ale! And they said I couldn't do it.... they didn't actually, but I wanted some drama in that sentence.

 Ginger ale: one of my life's longest abiding pleasures. Many a time has a glass of ginger ale accompanied me on a winter night, a Christmas celebration, or sat beside me on the bedside table when I was ill or tired. Ever since I was very little, I can remember my dad buying me a bottle of Schwepps ginger ale whenever I asked for one as one of his little indulgences for me, and he still does even though I'm all grown up.

In my teens, Tesco made a Tesco Finest Jamaican Ginger Root Ale, that was the most beautiful version of the drink I've ever tasted: it was really full of flavour, not too sweet, and was so spicy that the edges of my lips with burn and tingle a bit. I only was it one Christmas when I was around 14, and never since; the closest I've come to tasting it again was when my friend from Roscommon bought a four-pack of Australian Bundaburg ginger ales in brown bottles.

I find it hard nowadays to find a ginger ale that's not sticky sweet, but has freshness and depth of flavour. The Schwepps stuff is nice and chuggable, but it's not the most fulfilling of ginger ale experiences one could have.

So, about three years ago I tried making ginger ale by brewing and it was horrible. I remember for the laugh my boyfriend at the time shaking it up until it was rock solid from the pressure of the bubbles and lamping it against a wall: the explosion was quite spectacular!

It was only when I saw a video of 'How to Make Ginger Ale' online that I considered making it as a cordial to be diluted with sparkling water... which is a genius idea. I thank the man on Youtube who inspired me to take his recipe and fiddle with it to my taste.

INGREDIMENTS
Makes 1 pint (560 millilitres) of cordial, which can ideally make about 5 pints (2.8 litres) of finished ginger ale

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) ginger root, peeled and sliced into thin pieces
• 10 ounces (300 grammes) sugar or 7½ ounces (210 grammes) clear honey
• 1 medium lemon, washed
• Pinch of salt
• 1 3/4 pints water
• Optional: 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• Optional: 1 cinnamon stick

HOW-TO

• Using a paring knife, carefully peel the rind off the lemon in strips, making sure to peel off only the yellow part and not the white part.
• Place the peeled rind, along with the ginger root, sugar (or honey) and salt into a large saucepan. If you want even more spice and aromatic goodness, add the chilli flakes and cinnamon stick; I like my ginger ale so spicy it tingles my lips.
• Pour in the water, stir it all up until it's evenly combined, then heat over medium-high heat until the sugar has dissolved and it comes to boil.
• Once boiling, reduce the heat to simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer for an hour to allow the spices to release their goodness into the syrup.
• Uncover and boil rapidly for 10 to 15 minutes to reduce and thicken. You should end up with about a pint (560 millilitres) of cordial.
• Strain the mixture into a jug through a large sieve. To catch every single bit of chilli flake, sediment and whatever, you can line the sieve with a clean handkerchief. 
• You can keep the ginger pieces and lemon peel if you like to crystallise later, or you can compost them. If the cinnamon stick has any bit of aroma left, you can wash it, dry it, and reuse it.
• Allow the cordial to cool to room temperature. Once cool, squeeze the lemon juice into the jug through a sieve to catch all the seeds and bits. Give it a mix, then chill until cold.
• Serve diluted with fizzy water (and ice cubes, if you like). The best ratio is 1 part cordial to 4 parts water. You could also serve diluted with hot water for a warming treat when you're feeling under the weather.

This ginger ale is very fiery and fresh! If you don't want it as spicy, you can adjust the simmering while covered time.