Recipe Revision: Baked Cheesecake, but a large one this time! (Gluten Free Option)

I know I shouldn't be tempting you all during Lent, but here is a particularly luscious and decadent treat: baked cheesecake!

I love cheesecake, and I particularly like baked cheesecake. I've never been a huge fan of chilled cheesecake because the texture is too jellyish, and I really detest the feeling of jelly. Baked cheesecake has a super rich, dense texture with a smooth finish that's irresistible.

I have done many baked cheesecakes over the years, from peanut butter and chocolate, to coconut and lime, to black forest style, to tiramisù, to my most popular Millionaire's cheesecake, but you have noticed that they are all small. And some of them are made with a meringue base, which has high likelihood of shrinkage, which has always irked me, despite lauding the development at the time. 

But not only have I had difficulty with making little cheesecakes, which are supposed to be easier, I've always found it incredibly difficult to get large cheesecakes to work: they are plagued with cracks, sunken surfaces, or shrinkage. They never had the lusciousness I wanted.

However, over the last year or so, I have been experimenting with more recipes that use baked custard style fillings. I did a pumpkin pie, which is a custard based on mashed pumpkin, evaporated milk, and eggs, which made me realise that cheesecake filling is essentially a glorified cream cheese custard.

It all made sense all of a sudden.

Custard bases are cooked at a low temperature to set, rather than bake like a cake. And the enemy of all custard fillings is the unnecessary addition of air.

I modified the ratio of the pumpkin pie recipe, which essentially uses one egg to set about half a pound (225 grammes) of purée and four fluid ounces (120 millilitres) of evaporated milk, and simply did a swap. I also used the same baked biscuit crumb base as I did in my Key Lime pie and Mississippi Mud pie recipes.

It all seems so simple now! (Of course, all people's ovens an ingredients are different, so a success for me won't automatically convert to success for others. But don't be discouraged!)

INGREDIMENTS
For one 8 inch (20 centimetre) round cake

For the crust,

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) plain biscuits, crushed, such as digestives, or gluten free variety
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) butter, melted
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) brown or white sugar

For the filling (all ingredients must be room temperature for the best results,

• 1 pound (455 grammes) full fat cream cheese (you can also replace half with marscapone for even smoother results)
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar
• 6 fluid ounces (180 millilitres) natural yoghurt (for a thick, dense cheesecake), or whipping cream (for a lighter, more custardy cheesecake)
• 2 medium eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence, or lemon juice, or any essence you like
• Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon zest, or zest of any citrus fruit you like

HOW-TO

First, make the base

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4), and line the sides of an 8 inch (20 centimetre) round loose-based cake tin, and wrap the loose bottom with foil. Put the bottom back into the tin and set aside.
• Crush the biscuits finely, and mix in a large bowl with the butter and sugar. Mix until the crumbs are all damp with the melted butter, until it looks like wet sand.
• Pour the crumbles into the cake tin, and press the mixture into the base and sides of the tin, about two inches (5 centimetres) up. Make sure it's packed good a tight: you can use a flat bottomed glass to get the corner nice and sharp.
• Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the surface of the biscuit base is set.
• Once cooked, remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2), or turn it off until you want to use it again.
• Allow to cool completely before you fill it; about half an hour.

Then, make the filling,

• Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2).
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth with a wooden spoon. Avoid the temptation to use an electric mixer, as that will introduce too much air.
• Add the sugar in a little at a time, mixing well between each addition. I add it gradually because sometimes if you add all the sugar it can make the cream cheese go runny.
• Mix in the yoghurt, vanilla essence, and lemon zest, if using, and then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each one.
• Once all the ingredients are well mixed together, gently pour the mixture into the base. Tap it gently on the work surface to rise all the little air bubbles to the surface. If you want to eliminate as many bubbles as possible, run a knife through the mixture.
• Place in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for an hour. Keep an eye on it after 45 minutes, just in case your oven runs hot.
• After 45 minutes, check the cheesecake: gently slide the oven shelf out, and--making sure to protect your hand with an oven glove or tea towel--gently shake the cheesecake. The outside two inches (5 centimetres) or so should be completely set, and the centre should wiggle like a jelly. If you touch the top of the cake with a clean fingertip, the surface should be dry, not sticky.
• If the cake doesn't pass the test, cook for a further ten minutes before testing again.
• When the cake is cooked, turn off the oven and open the door. Cool the cake to room temperature in the oven, then move to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours. Overnight is best.

VARIATIONS

• You can replace up to half of the cream cheese with peanut butter, coconut cream (which is the firm bit in a can of separated coconut milk), or chocolate hazelnut spread.
• You can add in ground spices or cocoa powder also, making sure to sieve it in to prevent lumps.
• Switch up the essences, or citrus juice, if you like.
• You could also swirl in some syrup, lemon curd, or jam for a pretty marble effect with a good flavour.
• If you like, you can change the kind of biscuits you use in the base. You could use chocolate biscuits, or spiced biscuits, or a mixture of any biscuits you like.

No blogs on this day in 2014, 2015, or 2016

THIS TIME IN 2013: Wheat Flour Alternatives

Something Savoury: Peanut Satay Sauce (Gluten-, Dairy-, and Egg Free)

After a weekend of St Patrick's excess, I think we all need a good meal. So here's another savoury dish for you all: peanut satay sauce!

In Limerick there is a popular Asian fusion takeaway chain called Wokking, which sells cheap and cheerful Westernised gloop for under a tenner a piece. The one in the city centre is painted luminous orange, and plays exclusively chart tunes on the radio. When you order your food, you get a little piece of paper with your order number on it, and wait at your table until the number is shouted at you in a wonderful local twang.

One of the most popular orders is a "3-in-1": usually it comprises of fried rice, chips, and curry sauce. However, you can have a combination of two of the side dishes--boiled rice, fried rice, chips, or fried noodles--and a serving of curry sauce, sweet and sour sauce, satay sauce, or black bean sauce. For an extra euro or euro-fifty, you can add some meat and make it a "4-in-1".

Whenever I go to Wokking, I usually order a 4-in-1 of satay chicken with boiled rice and fried noodles. I love the combination of the chewy noodles, the soft rice, and the sweetly salty peanut sauce slopped all over some oddly wiggly chicken breast strips. It's delicious!

I have read many, many recipes online about making satay sauce, but for years I could never quite find the right one. They all used coconut milk, which is nothing like the Chinese takeaway satay. Eventually, I gave up.

Then I went to have dinner at the home of a Dutch friend, and she prepared some satay meatballs, which tasted even better than my favourite takeaway satay sauce: it was utterly scrumptious! I asked her for the recipe, and she willingly supplied it, but it contained some Dutch ingredients that I had never come across before. Apparently, as a result of Holland's colonial relationship with Indonesia, Dutch people use a lot of Indonesian ingredients in their cookery, including ketjap manis and sambal oelek.

I took to the internet and did some research about how to approximate the Dutch ingredients. I also cross referenced a few already existing recipes for Dutch style satay meatballs. Turns out, my prior research had been too focused on actual Indonesian and Malaysian satay, and not its Western approximation.

The following recipe is one that I have formulated after a serious amount of trial and error. It can be altered in accordance to taste: add more salt, sugar, soy sauce, or vinegar according to your liking. This is just how I like it done.

INGREDIMENTS
To serve 3 people, or 2 hungry people

For the sauce,

• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) dark soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) white vinegar
• 1 tablespoons (15 grammes) brown sugar, dark or light, to taste
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
• ¼ teaspoon chinese five spice powder
• ½ teaspoon hot chilli powder
• 1 inch (2 centimetres) peeled ginger root
• 2 large garlic cloves
• Half an Imperial pint (1 cups, 285 millilitres) water
• ¾ pound (350 grammes) meat or alternative of your choice, cut into chunks
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) cornflour
• Oil, for frying
• Optional: chopped mixed vegetables, such as red onion, pepper, or baby corn

To make fried noodles

• Dry fine egg noodles, or gluten free noodles, enough for two or three people
• Sesame oil, for tossing, or flavourless oil
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) white vinegar
• Finely sliced coriander, to garnish

HOW-TO

First, prepare the sauce

• Finely chop or grate the ginger and garlic, and in a small bowl or cup mix together the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, peanut butter, five spice, and chili powder to make a paste.
• Heat about a tablespoon (15 millilitres) of oil in a medium saucepan, and gently fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant. If you are using vegetables, add them to the pot and stir fry for about 2 minutes. 
• Add in the paste and cook until smooth, then add in the meat and cook until sealed on the outside. Pour over the water, and simmer for about 10 minutes to cook the meat through. (If you are using a vegetarian alternative, cook accordingly.)
• Mix the cornflour with some water in a small bowl or glass to make a slurry, then add to the pot, stirring all the time. Bring to the boil and cook at a boil for a full 3 minutes.
• Taste the sauce, and adjust for seasoning: I like my sauce quite salty, so I add more salt, but you may like to add more vinegar or more sugar. It's up to you!

Then, prepare the noodles,

• In a large mixing bowl,pour hot water over the dry noodles and allow to stand for 30 seconds. Then, separate the noodles with two forks to prevent clumping.
• Drain and rinse the softened noodles in cold water to further prevent clumping. Return to the bowl and toss in about a teaspoonful of sesame oil or flavourless oil.
• In a small bowl or glass, mix together the soy sauce and vinegar and set aside.
• Heat a large frying pan on a medium heat, and add the noodles to the pan dry. Fry until they start to go dry, and then pour in the sauce. Toss and stir with a fork to keep the noodles separated so they cook evenly.
• Test the noodles: if they are too firm for your liking, add a splash of water and continue cooking.
• Serve the noodles straight from the pan with the satay sauce and meat. If you like, you can serve with steamed white rice and steamed green vegetables.

No blogs on this day in 2014, 2015, or 2016

THIS TIME IN 2013: Wheat Flour Alternatives

Happee 4th Birthdaee, Sweetie Pie Bakes Stuff!

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday, my dear blog,

Happy birthday to you!

It has been a whole four years since I started writing this little blog. It started as a hobby, and now has a life of its own, with readership all over the world, and nearly 22,000 views overall! I am so proud of my blog: she's fabulous!

For the second and third anniversaries, I made little birthday cakes, so why break the tradition? Seeing as it was St Patrick's Day yesterday, I thought I'd make a green cake, like I did for the second anniversary.

Green is not really a common colour in baking, as not many flavours evoke that colour as a mental image: for me, I only think of mint or lime. On asking my companion, he said apple and kiwi, which are two thoughts that had never occured to me.

In keeping with a green cake, I decided to go with mint. But mint by itself in a cake I feel would be a little toothpasty, as mint usually needs a carrier, and works best as a secondary flavour. Last time I used coffee (which is actually a fabulous combination), and this time I went for the more common used chocolate.

I then got out my sketchbook and came up with some ideas and came up with something like this:

mint chocolate chip ice cream <= CHOCOLATE CHIPS => choc-chip muffins

As such, I made a chocolate chip muffin in the shape of a small cake, and iced it with mint flavoured green buttercream icing. I also grated some chocolate into the icing, and decorated with chocolate icing and chocolate chips.

So chocolatey and minty!

As usual, I will include the recipe, and my traditional list of the top posts of the last year. Even though 2016 was light on blogs on account of life and health difficulties, I think I made some really interesting things, and made huge strides in pastry and yeast dough techniques. I also did some really cool layer cakes and gâteaux

So here are the most popular blogs in order of the last 12 months:

1. Neapolitan Cheesecake Gâteau
2. Spotted Dick: a Traditional English Pudding
3. Buttermilk Scones
4. Caramel Macchiato Ombre Gateau
5. Milky Ice Pops: Chocolate Flavour
6. American Style Cookie Dough Ice-Cream
7. American Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
8. Chocolate Lime Cupcakes
9. I've Finally Cracked It! Working with Yeast and Spelt: Iced Finger Buns
10. Birthday Cupcakes and Centre Piece Cake: Wheat-Free Lemon Sponge

And finally, the recipe.

INGREDIMENTS
for one 4 inch (10 centimetre) round cake

For the sponge cake:

• 3 ounces (225 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) baking powder
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) butter
• 2 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) warm water
• 1½ teaspoons (7 millilitres) cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) chopped chocolate, or chocolate chips

For the icing:

• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) white vegetable fat, very soft
• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) butter, very soft
• 6 ounces (170 grammes) icing sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) cocoa powder
• 1 or 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 millilitres) milk
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) grated chocolate
• Peppermint essence, to taste
• Green food colouring

HOW-TO

Prepare the cake,

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4), and grease and flour a tall 4 inch round cake tin. I use a tin from a shop bought steamed pudding.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gently and gradually incorporate the egg, beating between each addition, until pale and creamy.
• In a cup or small bowl, place the cocoa powder and gradually mix in the water. Sieve half the flour and baking powder into the butter and sugar mixture, and fold with a spatula. Add in the cocoa water and vanilla, and fold again. Finally, add the last bit of the flour and fold until completely mixed.
• Gently fold in the chocolate chips, and then scoop the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth out as much as possible. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes.
• Check for doneness with a cocktail stick, and if it is fully cooked, cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare the icing,

• Make the buttercream according to this recipe, if you don't know how to make buttercream already, omitting the cocoa powder. Only use as much milk as is needed to keep the icing soft and spreadable.
• Split and fill the cake and ice the outside, leaving about 3 ounces of the icing leftover. Mix the cocoa powder with a little milk in a cup or bowl to make a paste, and mix into the remaining icing to make it chocolatey.
• Use this icing to pipe the top and bottom borders and decorate with chocolate chips.
• Allow to set completely, either in the fridge for up to an hour, or on the work surface for up to 3 hours.
  
  
  

3rd BIRTHDAY CAKE: Strawberry and Chocolate Mini Cake, and top blogs of the year

2nd BIRTHDAY CAKE: Mint Coffee Mini Cake, and top blogs of the year

1st BIRTHDAY BLOG

St Patrick's Day 2017: Royal Icing Biscuits, attempting a new technique

 Lá Féile Pháraic shona daoibh!

(Law Fay-luh Faw-rick hun-na yeev)

St Patrick's Day is upon us, and I coincidentally wanted to make some biscuits, so I thought I'd make some and ice them accordingly! But a little differently this time...

Usually when I do royal icing I do the usual pipe a dam around the edge of the biscuit and flood fill it using a small greaseproof piping bag. However, I was surfing on Pinterest, and found a pin where someone had done flood 'filled' biscuits by dipping the biscuits in flood consistency icing. So I thought I'd give it a try.

I baked some nice little shortbread biscuits by mixing 1½ ounces (40 grammes) of very soft butter, 3 ounces (85 grammes) of icing sugar, 4½ ounces (125 grammes) of plain flour, with a dash of vanilla essence by hand in a mixing bowl until it became a nice soft dough. I rolled it to about a quarter inch (5 millmetres) thick, and it made 12 biscuits, four of each of the three shapes I had chosen. I baked them at 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2) for I think about 25 minutes. To be completely honest, I was doing the washing up and not watching the clock, and judged the doneness by eye and by feel: they should be a very delicate golden brown and set just around the edges. This shortbread recipe works a treat as it doesn't lose its shape and stays nice and evenly coloured.

I made some royal icing (I cheated and bought a bag of instant) and divided it into two to colour one portion green, and leave the rest white. To dip the biscuits, I scooped a spoonful of the icing out onto a plate, and dipped the biscuit face down, and used a knife to remove any excess. I dipped two of each of the four shapes into the white, and two of each into the white.

I had also made some small cone piping bags using greasproof paper, and filled them with some green and some white icing. While the dipped biscuits were still wet, I piped on the designs, using the tip of a knife to do some marbling. Now, usually I would use a cocktail stick, but I didn't have any, so I used the tip of a sharp knife, like a paring knife.

VERDICT: Personally, I actually prefer the traditional pipe and flood method: the dipping method was messy, and the icing ran incorrectly and didn't settle properly. Some of the marbling lines stuck rather than melting back into the surface, which bothered me. Maybe I just need to practise this method, or just stick to my usual pipe and flood method.

No blogs on this day in previous years.

St Patrick's Day 2017: Beef and Beer Pie (Wheat Free with Dairy- and Egg Free Option)

Looking for a hearty meal for your table this weekend? Here is a delicious pie made with super flaky pastry, succulent tender beef, enveloped in a rich beer gravy.

(I did take a photo of the whole pie, but my new phone sometimes

forgets to save photos, for some reason)

It's no lie: Irish people love beer, and they love beef; and on St Patrick's Day, we love to celebrate our Irishness by buying into our own cultural stereotype heart and soul. So, I decided to mix our two great loves together in a pie, with the addition of another great love of ours: butter.

However, here is where I make a little switcheroo. As any of my long term readers, and people who know me personally, will know, I am a bit of a mongrel: I'm Irish, but I'm also English. Being the child of two nations who have a very difficult historically colonial relationship is challenging, it has to be said.

So, to bring a little bit of my own Englishness into this dish, I swapped the usual Irish pie topping of mashed potato for a flaky pastry, more commonly associated with English cookery. As much as I love mashed potato, my companion—who is also a mongrel like me, being a little bit Roscommon man, and a little bit Birmingham man—loves a good English style pastry pie, so I thought I'd do it for a change.

I use the same kind of pastry as in my cherry pie recipe, however I reduced the sugar to a pinch or two, added some black pepper, used a pound (455 grammes) of flour and scaled all the other ingredients accordingly.

The other thing I will say about this recipe is that I use my slow cooker to make the stew. If you don't have a slow cooker, that's perfectly okay. You can cook the stew on the stove top in a pan, or in a pot in the oven. It really doesn't matter, as long as the meat is appropriately cooked.

This recipe takes a long time, about 6 hours, but it's well worth it in the end!

INGREDIMENTS
For one 9 inch (22 centimetre) square, or 10 inch (25 centimetre) round pie, ie. 4¼ UK pint (5 US pint, 2½ litre)

For the stew filling,

• 2¼ pounds (1 kilogramme) diced stewing beef
• 1 large onion, white or red, sliced thinly
• 6 ounces (170 grammes) passata, or 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) tomato purée
• 1 bottle (500 millilitres) pale beer, or gluten free beer
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) Worcestershire sauce, or fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) brown sugar
• 1 rounded teaspoon (7 millilitres) dried parsley
• A small pinch of dried rosemary
• 1 beef stock cube
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) button mushrooms, cut into halves
• 1 medium sized carrot, sliced into coins
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) cornflour
• Salt and pepper, to taste

For the pastry,

• 1 pound (455 grammes) white spelt flour
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) butter, or margarine, very cold
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) block vegetable fat, or lard, very cold
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) caster sugar
• About 5 ot 6 fluid ounces (150 to 180 millilitres) cold water
• Salt and pepper
• An egg, for egg washing, or milk, or omit

HOW-TO

First, make the stew,

If you have a slow cooker,

• Put the meat, passata, beer, onion, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, dried herbs, the stock cube, and about half a teaspoon (3 millitres) of salt. Stir well once more, then cover and cook on High for 3 hours until the meat is almost tender.
• Add in the mushrooms and carrots, and cook for a further hour with the lid off to allow the sauce to reduce.
• Mix the cornflour in a small bowl or glass with some water, and stir into the pot well. Cook on High for a further 15 minutes until the sauce is well thickened.
• After cooking, allow to stew to cool down fully to room temperature.

If you don't have a slow cooker,

• Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2), and place the  meat, passata, beer, onion, Worcestershire sauce, sugar,
•  dried herbs, the stock cube, and about half a teaspoon (3 millitres) of salt in a large casserole dish with a lid.
• Cover with the lid, and place in the centre of the preheated oven. Cook for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the meat is almost tender.
• Add in the mushrooms and carrots, and continue to cook without the lid for a further 45 minutes to an hour until the vegetables and meat are tender.
• When the meat is cooked, place the casserole dish over a medium flame, and mix the cornflour with a little water in a small bowl or glass. Add to the stew and bring to the boil, mixing continuously, until the sauce is thickened.
• After cooking, allow the stew to cool down full to room temperature.

While the stew is cooking, prepare the pastry,

• In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, and pepper, then grate in the butter and the fat on the coarse side, dipping the grating side in the flour between strokes to prevent clumping.
• Very gently rub and break up the strands of butter and fat between your fingers to make the pieces smaller, about the size of peas.
• Add in the lemon juice or vinegar, then add in a tablespoon or two (15 or 30 millilitres) of the water. Use the tip of a table knife to mix the water through. Continue this until you get a nice soft dough. It shouldn't be sticky. I added about 8 tablespoons in total myself, but it depends a lot on humidity and flour quality.
• Make the dough into a disc, wrap in clingfilm, and chill in the fridge for half an hour.
• Take out of the fridge, and roll out to a thickness of about half an inch (1 centimetre). Fold one outer third into the middle, then fold the other third over on top, like folding a letter into three. Roll out and fold in the exact same way.
• Wrap up and return to the fridge once more until ready to use.

Finally, assemble the pie,

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4), and get your chosen pie dish.
• Take the dough out of the fridge, and divide into two pieces: two thirds, and one third. Wrap the smaller piece up and return to the fridge.
• Roll the larger piece of dough to roughly a quarter inch thick (5 millimetres), and drape into the pie dish, pressing into the base and edges. Leave the overhang intact for to make adding the lid easier.
• Gently scoop in the stew, and brush the edge of the crust with egg wash, milk, or water.
• Roll out the other piece of dough in exactly the same way, and drape over the top. Press together the base and the lid with your fingertips, or a fork. Trim the overhang.
• Brush the top of the pie with egg wash or milk, and pierce the top to allow steam to escape.
• Cook in the centre of the preheated oven for about a 45 minutes to an hour.
• Serve hot with steamed or roasted vegetables.

No blogs on this day in 2016, 2014, or 2013

THIS TIME IN 2015: March Afternoon Tea Party: St. Patrick's Day

Pi Day Special: Mississppi Mud Pie (Wheat- and Egg Free)

Happy Pi Day! It is finally March the 14th, and the day to eat pie! And to commemorate this occasion, I'll share with you how I made today's offering: Mississippi Mud Pie!

The only thing I new about Mississippi Mud pie for many years is that my Grandad loves to eat premade ones from the local supermarket (I think it's a Sainsburys), and that there's an infamous scene in the film The Help that revolves around one. But until I researched what maketh a mud pie, for the purposes of making one for Pi Day, I never knew what it comprised of.

I had always assumed it was a cake, but it's actually a chocolate biscuit base filled with some chocolate pudding. Sort of like a South African melktert, but chocolate version. Knowing how much I like melktert, and how much I like chocolate, I thought this would be a winner!

(Insidentally, I've never actually made a traditional vanilla melktert for this blog, only a chocolate one. Maybe that's one to do in future...)

So, without further ado, this is how I made it.

INGREDIMENTS


For one 9 inch (22 centimetre) pie

For the crust,

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) chocolate sandwich biscuits, regular or gluten free
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) butter, at room temperature
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) brown sugar

For the filling,

• 16 fluid ounces (2 cups, 455 millilitres) whole milk
• 4 fluid ounces (180 millilitres) whipping cream (about 30% fat)
• 2½ to 3 tablespoons (37 to 45 millilitres) cornflour
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) cocoa powder
• Good pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) instant coffee
• 1 tablespoon (15 grammes) butter

To decorate,

• Whipped cream
• White chocolate
• Cocoa powder

HOW-TO

• Prepare the biscuit crust in the same way as the key lime pie recipe.
• In a saucepan off the heat, mix together the sugar, cornflour, cocoa powder, and salt until completely combined and all the lumps are gone.
• Gradually add the milk, mixing all the time, slowly but surely to avoid lumps. Add in the cream and coffee and mix well.
• Cook the custard over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Cook at a boil for about 3 or 4 minutes until it has thickened.
• Take off the heat and add in the vanilla and butter, stirring until the butter has melted into the custard completely.
• Pour the custard into the crust and smooth out, shaking the tin a little to settle the top. If you don't want a skin on the surface, cover the top directly with clingfilm.
• Allow to cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
• The next day, make a Pi symbol as in the key lime pie recipe, using cocoa powder to coat instead of sprinkles. Allow to set completely in the fridge, about half an hour.
• Remove the clingfilm and cover the surface of the pie with lightly whipped cream. Set the Pi symbol on top.

No blogs on this day in previous years.

Pi Day Special: Cherry Pie (Wheat- and Egg Free, with Dairy Free Option)

Nothing can beat tender, crisp, flaky pastry wrapped a sweet and sour and slightly spicy fruity filling, and that's why this cherry pie is so delicious!

I love fruit tarts, particularly apple tart, but they can really be made or broken by their pastries: sometimes it can be too hard or too crumbly; too firm or too soft; too thick or too thin. It's a very subjective thing. Personally, I love a pastry that makes a fabulous crispy sound when you bite into it, and it firm enough to hold its shape when cut. This is such a pastry.

The trick to great pastry is to make sure everything is cold, cold, cold! You've seen it repeated in cookery blogs all over the internet, and cooking personalities on the telly say it over and over again, but they wouldn't say it if it weren't true. The trick to tender flaky pastry is cold dough, hot oven (this is also true of popovers and Yorkshire pudding), and there are a few ways of achieving this with very little effort.

1. Hands are warm, use them as little as possible
Hands generate heat, as does working the pastry too much. Try and be as cold and distant as possible with your pastry: use cold knives to mix, not your hands, and when you do use your hands, only use the very tips of your fingers.

2. Keep everything in the fridge, even the tools...
Like many people advise when whipping cream, it's wise to chill your tools: use a glass bowl if you can, and chill the knives, the box grater, etc.

3. ... and the flour...
Yes: chill your flour for at least half an hour beforehand. If you can freeze it, even better. Same goes for the butter and vegetable fat (I use a combination for maximum flakiness); and make sure the water is as cold as you can get it without it turning into ice cubes.

4. ... and the filling.
Make sure whatever filling you're using it also cold. If you put warm, or God forbid hot, filling into the cold pastry, it will melt all that fat that you've been trying so hard to keep cold all this time; you'll undo pretty much all of your hard work.

5. Chill between steps
After making the dough, chill it. After rolling the dough, chill it. After lining the dish, chill it. If at any point you see the butter or fat softening in the dough, chill it. Heck, even if you can chill the pie after it's fully assembled for a few minutes, do so. Obviously, this is best case scenario, so in the recipe I have outlined chilling only where completely and utterly necessary.

Keeping that in mind, making the dough it really simple. No rubbing of fat into flour necessary: the box grater does all the hard work for you!

So, without further ado, let's get baking...

INGREDIMENTS
For one 9 inch (22 centimetre) round pie

For the pastry

• 12 ounces (340 grammes) white spelt flour, preferably cold
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) butter or margarine, very cold
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) white vegetable fat, very cold
• 1 ounces (30 grammes) caster sugar
• A few drops of lemon juice, or white vinegar
• Up to 5 fluid ounces (150 millilitres) very cold water, to bind
• Good pinch of salt
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) of water, or use all milk for an egg free version
• Coarse Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

For the filling

• Two 14 ounce (400 gramme) can of cherries in syrup, I used black cherries but you can use whatever canned cherries you want
• 4 teaspoons (20 millilitres) cornflour
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) lemon or lime juice
• 1 tablespoon (15 gramme) sugar, white or brown
• ¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) mixed spice
• Generous pinch of salt

HOW-TO

To make the filling,

• Empty one can into a saucepan, and drain the other can. Add the drained cherries to the pan, and save the syrup for another project. In a small bowl, mix the the cornflour, sugar, lemon or lime juice, mixed spice, and salt with a little water until it becomes a slurry.
• Add in the slurry, stir through thoroughly, and then cook over medium high. Bring to the boil, and boil continuously for about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Pour immediately into a shallow bowl, and cover the surface of the filling directly with cling film. Allow to cool to room temperature before chilling until completely cold, about 2 hours.

To make pastry,

• In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and salt, then grate in the butter and the fat on the coarse side, dipping the grating side in the flour between strokes to prevent clumping.
• Very gently rub and break up the strands of butter and fat between your fingers to make the pieces smaller, about the size of peas.
• Add in the lemon juice or vinegar, then add in a tablespoon or two (15 or 30 millilitres) of the water. Use the tip of a table knife to mix the water through. Continue this until you get a nice soft dough. It shouldn't be sticky. I added about 8 tablespoons in total myself, but it depends a lot on humidity and flour quality.
• Make the dough into a disc, wrap in clingfilm, and chill in the fridge for an hour, or the freezer for half an hour.

To assemble the pie

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4) and lightly (and when I say lightly, I mean it) grease a 8 or 9 inch (20 or 22 centimetre) pie dish.
• Take the dough out of the fridge or freezer, then cut into two pieces, roughly two-thirds and one third. Wrap the smaller piece and return to the fridge.
• Roll out the larger piece to about quarter of an inch thick (5 millimetres) on a flour surface. Drape into the pie dish and press into shape. Trim the overhang.
• Pour in the completely cooled filling into the pastry, then wet the edges with some egg wash or milk.
• Take the remaining dough out of the fridge, and place it on the work surface on top of the trimmings. Roll out as before, then drape over the topping, pressing onto the wet rim of the base layer. If you want the Pi symbol cut into it like I have, do that before draping and lift it very carefully.
• Once again, trim the overhang with a straight cut, or a crimped cutter, or in whatever way you want. Brush the top with eggwash or milk, and sprinkle with the coarse Demerara sugar.
• Pierce the top of the pie if you've not done the Pi symbol to allow steam to escape.
• Place on the centre rack of the preheated oven, and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until golden brown. The filling is precooked, so you're just cooking the pastry. If it browns too quickly on top, cover with foil to allow the bottom crust to fully cook (don't make my mistake and let the top get a sun tan!)

No blogs on this day in previous years.

Pi Day Special: Key Lime Pie (Wheat- and Egg Free)

Happy Pi Day, everyone! In celebration of this joyous affair, I am providing many pies, and today is the first of my three offerings: Key Lime Pie!

March the 14th is Pi Day, because in the American date system it's 3/14, and Pi is 3.14 (totes nerdy), and people on this day like to eat pie. In America also, pie tends to refer to dessert rather than dinner, whereas here in Ireland and the UK we tend to think of pie as something meaty.

I did a key lime pie a few years ago for Pi day, but I wasn't a big fan of the no bake version: I found the texture lacking. I've been researching online different ways of doing a key lime pie, and there are a few versions that are baked. Some include eggs, and others don't: in fact, the simplest version is just lime juice and zest mixed with condensed milk.

This version uses good old fashioned chemistry to set itself. If you mix something acidic with something dairy, it will curdle and thicken, which is how the no bake one works: you mix lime juice with condensed milk and boom you have something that's slightly custardy.

However, if you slightly heat the mixture it will set into something a little more curd-like. In the UK, there is a traditional dessert called posset, where heated cream is mixed with sugar and lemon juice to make something that sets kind of like panna cotta. In a key lime pie, the heating is done not on the stovetop, but in the oven.

The brief trip in the oven changes the texture into something much firmer and cut-able than a simply mixing the ingredients together and bunging them in the fridge.

This recipe I mixed condensed milk together with whipping cream to make it much less sweet, but if you like you can use all condensed milk.

INGREDIMENTS

For the crust

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) ginger biscuits or digestives, regular or gluten free
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) butter, at room temperature
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar

For the filling

• One 14 ounce (397 gramme) can of condensed milk
• 6 fluid ounces (180 millilitres) whipping cream (about 30% fat)
• 4 fluid ounces (120 millilitres) lime or lemon juice
• Zest of one lime
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence
• Good pinch of salt

To decorate,

• Whipped cream
• White chocolate, melted
• Sprinkles, crushed biscuits, or coloured sugar

HOW-TO

First, prepare the crust

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4), and find an 8 or 9 inch (20 or 22 centimetre) pie dish.
• Crush the biscuits into a fine sand using a food processor, or by rolling over the biscuits in a sandwich bag.
• Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan and add in the biscuits, sugar, and salt. Mix until thoroughly combined.
• Press the crumbs into the base and sides of the dish, packing tightly, and bake in the oven for about 5 to 8 minutes.
• If the crust loses its shape during cooking, you can reshape it with a flat bottomed glass while it's still hot.
• Allow to cool completely before filling, which should take about half an hour

Then make the filling

• In a large bowl, mix together all the filling ingredients except the juice until completely combined and smooth.
• Add in the juice and mix thoroughly: the mixture will thicken rapidly as you mix in the acidic lime juice.
• Pour the filling mixture into the cooled crust and shake to level the top. Tap a few times on the work surface to release any bubbles.
• Return the pie to the oven at 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4) and bake for 15 minutes, or until the filling it set.
• Allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Now, assemble the masterpiece

• Cut out a small square of baking paper and stick it to a flat board with cellotape. Melt the white chocolate and draw out a Pi shape. While the chocolate is still wet, coat with sprinkles or another decoration. Allow to set completely, which will take about an hour.
• Decorate the top of the pie with whipped cream and the Pi symbol. Serve cold.

No blogs this time in previous years.

Yeast Spelt Doughnuts (Wheat Free)

I couldn't stay away from yeast doughs for long! And today's offering is doughnuts....

 In Germany, they are called berliner. In Portugal, they are called malasadas. In Italy, they're called bomboloni. In French, they're called beignets. In Irish, they're called taoschnó.  In Lithuania, they are called spurgos. In Poland, they call them pączki. Whatever you call them, they're delicious.

As someone with who was socialised in English culture, I believe that Great Britain is built on stodge: heavy, doughy, bready, oily foods are part and parcel of what it is to be an Englishman, it seems.Although I understand that doughnuts are a mainland European concept that was introduced to England and the rest of Britain, they have been fully embraced as part of the pastry culture of the island nations.

One of my guilty pleasures is buying iced ring doughnuts from the bakery section of my local supermarket, and over the past four or so years of my blog I have experimented with many different cake doughnut recipes. Cake doughnuts are risen with baking powder or soda, whereas traditional doughuts are risen with yeast. Now that I've got the hang of making yeast risen dough, I can try making traditional doughnuts.

To make these, I use the same dough as I used to make the iced buns and burger buns, and rolled it out the a half inch (1 centimetre) thickness. I then cut out 3 inch (7½ centimetre) circles. Using my fingers, I pinched a hole in the middle of each circle and stretched it out to make an inch (2½ centimetre) hole in each one.

I laid them out on a well floured (and I mean well floured) surface and allowed them to rise for 20 odd minutes, flipping half-way, until increased in size by about a half. Over rising the doughnuts will make them collapse when you pick them up.

Had I had access to my deep fryer, I would have fried them in 180°C (350°F) oil for two minutes on either side. However, I didn't: I'm in Roscommon, but my deep fryer is in my Mum's house. So, I had to use a saucepan with about two or three inches of oil in it, heating it on medium heat. As such, they got a little sunburnt, and because the oil was too hot, there were air pockets under the crust in some of them. But they still tasted fabulous...

If you want, toss them immediately after frying in caster sugar and cinnamon, to taste. I use a tupperware box and do one at a time, but you can use a brown paper bag, too. Or, you can ice them with a simple icing of 4 ounces (115 grammes) icing sugar, 1 tablespoon (15 grammes) butter, melted, and mix in enough water to make an icing. Don't make it too thin, though, otherwise it'll dribble all down the sides. You can colour the glaze if you like, or make it chocolatey by replacing 1 teaspoon or so of the icing sugar with cocoa powder. Decorate with sprinkles, desiccated coconut, grated chocolate, flaked almonds, or whatever you like!

I enjoyed this project, but there are a few things I would change for the next time:

1. I'll use a proper fryer, to avoid burnt outsides and raw insides.
2. Cut the middles out instead of pinching them: pinching them made the dough tighten up, and made some of the doughnuts come out in funny shapes.

Roll on the next batch of delicious fried oily cakey yeasty doughnuts....

No blogs in 2015 or 2016

THIS TIME IN 2014: The Return of Spelt Flour and Cupcakes

American Style: Chunky Double Chocolate Cookies (Wheat Free)

After all of the early 2017 breads and savoury meals, it's nice to go back to what I'm known for: sweets! And here is my first biscuity concoction of the year: American style double chocolate chip cookies!

I know what you're thinking, and yes I already have a chocolate chip cookie recipe. But, sometimes when you've been using one recipe for while, you begin to see its flaws. My original recipe was quite dry, and doesn't have the fudginess that I like in bakery style chocolate chip cookies. I wanted to tweak with it until I found that ideal level of chewiness to crispiness.

I found that the key factor is the amount of sugar to flour, and how long you cook them for (I think I said as much in my previous post on the topic), but my previous recipe didn't have as much sugar as needed. However, when they are made as plain cookies, they are woefully sweet, and don't hold their shape very well. But when I added more flour, they became more cakey, which isn't what I wanted either.

The breakthrough came when I tried to made some double chocolate chip cookies, and they worked a treat. It seems this recipe works best with the addition of cocoa powder, which is dry enough to suck up the excess wetness from the sugar (yes: sugar technically speaking is a wet ingredient, not a dry ingredient, in the world of baking).

Apologies for the photographs: I use natural lighting, and there was no light yesterday.

INGREDIMENTS
For 12 cookies, depending on size

• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) caster sugar
• 4½ ounces (135 grammes) brown sugar
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) butter, at room temperature
• 1 medium egg
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
• 10 to 12 ounces (280 to 340 grammes) candy coated chocolate drops, to taste
• 5 ounces (140 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) cocoa powder,
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) baking soda

HOW-TO

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4), and lightly grease one or two flat baking trays.
• In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar, until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the egg and vanilla essence, then stir in the candy coated chocolate drops thoroughly.
• Sieve in the flour, cocoa, and baking soda, and mix only until combined: if you overmix the flour, the cookies will be tough.
• Flour your hands, and roll the mixture into small balls, about an ounce (30 grammes), and lie out on the tray about two inches (5 centimetres) apart to allow for spreading.
• Cook for 10 to 14 minutes, depending on the level of chewiness you want. Allow to cool on the tray for about 5 minutes to set a little before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

These are delicious warm, and keep well for up to a week in an airtight container. They also go very well with ice-cream right out of the oven...

No blogs on this day in previous years