Strawberry Malt Shake Cupcakes

Here in Ireland, there are a few American style diners, the biggest chain used to be Eddie Rocket's before there was a big fallout and the franchises fell to pieces. Now, the only Eddie Rocket's restaurants are near to Dublin, our capital.

There used to be an Eddie Rocket's in Limerick (which is Ireland's third largest city) and they used to make absolutely sinfully delicious malted milkshakes. But now the new franchise has taken over, it's just not the same.

I decided to capture my delight in these malty pink delights my making a super fluffsome fairy cake topped off with swirls of super pink strawberry flavoured Ermine icing. You can use any kind of icing recipe you like, as long as you follow the instructions below to make it strawberry malt flavoued.

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DIFFICULTY

Requires the ability to make icing

TIME

About an hour

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

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INGREDIMENTS

12 vanilla cupcakes, in pink paper cases

1 pounds (455 grammes) cupcake icing of your choice, prepared as below

Strawberry milkshake powder, for icing

Barley malt extract, for icing

Pink decorations

6 pink paper straws

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METHOD

Make a good cupcake icing of your choice, such as traditional buttercream or Swiss meringue buttercream, but replace a quarter of the sugar with strawberry milkshake powder. Add some barley malt extract to the icing a teaspoon at a time to your taste, and beat very well. Adjust the consistency of the icing with milk or cream.

Fit a piping bag with a closed-star nozzle, and pipe swirls or roses on top of your 12 cakes. A pound (455 grammes) of icing is enough to generously ice 12 cakes, but if you're in doubt you can make another half a pound (225 grammes). Decorate with pink sprinkles or dragées, and then cut the paper straws into halves or thirds to decorate the cakes.

STORAGE
These will keep an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or at room temperature for 3 to 5 days.

No More Soggy Bottom Pies! Part 1: Blind Baked Bottom

It's apple harvesting season! Right up into October, people will be venturing outside to choose the nicest apples of their trees, or just going to the shop to reap the fruits of somebody else's labour, for cooking, making into jam, or simply eating out of hand.

But one of the best fates I believe an apple can have is ending up in a nice apple pie, made with delicious buttery pastry! There's nothing better than rolling out the pastry, loving chopping up the apples and sugaring them up, popping it into the oven, and smelling the delicious, cinnamony goodness waft around the house as it bakes... you open the oven, take out the pie, cut a lovely slice out and--

The bottom is a soggy, mushy, mess. It breaks your heart.

However! This doesn't have to be your pie! There are a few ways to avoid a soggy bottom, and over the next few days, I'll be sharing the benefit of my knowledge with you, starting right now with my most recent adventure: a blind baked bottom crust.

Simple bake the bottom crust separately before assembly, and you'll have gorgeous, crispy crust all the way through!

Pros of Blind Baked Bottom: no soggy bottom, repeatable every time, bottom can be baked in advance and frozen for another time

Cons of Blind Baked Bottom: a little more time consuming, a little fiddly, and you run the risk of an undercooked filling.

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DIFFICULTY

Requires experience with baking shortcrust pastry

TIME

About 2 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

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INGREDIMENTS

Makes one 9 inch (22 centimetre) round pie

About 1 pound (455 grammes) shortcrust pastry, premade or shop-bought

1½ pounds (680 grammes) of Granny Smith or Bramley apples, peeled and halved

4 ounces (115 grammes) light brown sugar

Zest of a lemon

Juice of half a lemon

4 tablespoons (60 millilitres) cornflour

1 ounce (30 grammes) butter, soft

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) ground cloves

¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) grated nutmeg

Eggwash, for assembly, or use flour and milk

Demerara (Turbinado) sugar, for assembly

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CONTAINS

Gluten if using shop-bought pastry, eggs, dairy, refined sugar, pectin from apples

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METHOD

First, make the bottom crust

• Take roughly two-thirds of the pastry and roll out on a floured surface to quarter of an inch (5 millimetres) in thickness. 
• Using the rolling pin to support the dough, lift it up and drape into a 9 inch (22 centimetre) pie dish, pressing down gently into the dish. Trim the excess, and then chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
• After chilling, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4). Take the pie dough out of the oven, line tightly with tin foil, fill with a layer of dried beans or rice, and blind bake on the centre shelf for about 20 to 25 minutes. You want it cooked all the way through and dry to the touch, but not browned.
• Once cooked, allow to cool slightly, but leave the oven on for the next step.

Then, finish off the pie

• Slice the peeled, halved, and cored apples into quarter inch (5 millimetre) slices, and mix in a mixing bowl with the rest of the filling ingredients.
• Roll the remaining dough out to the same thickness as the base to make the lid. If you want to make a decorative lid, cut the pastry as you need to.
• Brush the baked crust liberally with eggwash, or you can mix some flour into a slurry with milk or water and use that instead, add in the filling, and drape over the lid.
• Firmly press the lid onto the edge of the base crust, then trim off the excess. If your lid is whole and uncut, cut at least one slash in the top to allow for steam. Eggwash the top, or brush with milk, and sprinkle with Demerara sugar.
• Return to the centre shelf of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the crust is a beautiful golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving hot, or allow to cool completely for serving cold.

STORAGE

These will keep in an airtight container for up to three days in the fridge.

Flapjack Bars with Yoghurt Topping (Wheat- and Egg Free)

There are very few things in the world of bakery that scream "I am an Englishman!" as much as an oaty flapjack. As far back as the 16th century, the word flapjack has been used in the English language to refer to a variety of different baked things: pancakes, tarts, biscuits, and more. Nowadays, though, it conjures up an image of a buttery, golden syrupy, oaty traybake.

Here in Ireland, flapjacks can be bought individually as breakfast bars, and often they have a yoghurty topping. I have travailed for many days to bring to you the perfect recipe for a yoghurty topping.

Only after I failed in the attempt of developing the recipe. Four. Times. I eventually got it, though. The flapjack was harder than the icing, it has to be said.

The yoghurty topping requires a little experience of sugar boiling, but it's nothing too complex. If sugar boiling is a no-go for you, you can use any other icing you want, or leave it out altogether.

If you have a flapjack recipe you prefer, feel free to use it! I used this flapjack recipe more as a vehicle and an excuse to demonstrate the yoghurty topping, if I'm going to be completely honest.

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DIFFICULTY

Requires experience with sugar boiling stages

TIME

Over 6 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

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INGREDIMENTS

Makes one 8 inch (20 centimetre) tray of flapjacks

For the flapjacks

12 ounces (340 grammes) porridge oats

6 ounces (170 grammes) butter, salted or unsalted

4½ ounces (130 grammes) soft brown sugar

1½ ounces (40 grammes) golden syrup

1 fluid ounce (30 millilitres) water

Cinnamon, to taste

Vanilla essence, to taste

For the icing,

8 ounces (225 grammes) caster sugar
4 ounces (115 grammes) Greek yoghurt
4 ounces (115 grammes) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

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FREE FROM

Eggs, nuts, wheat

CONTAINS

Oats, dairy, refined sugar

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METHOD

First, make the flapjacks.

• Line an 8 inch (20 centimetre) square tin with non-stick baking paper. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2).
• Take a quarter of the oats and grind to a flour in a blender or food processor. If you don't have heavy machinery, you can replace a quarter of the flour with instant oat cereal, like Ready Brek.
• In a saucepan, melt the butter, sugar, syrup, and water together and bring to the boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and add in the porridge oats and the ground oats. Add in the cinnamon and vanilla essence to your liking.
• Spread the mixture into the prepared tin and bake on the centre shelf for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack until cooled enough to handle.

Then, make the icing. 

• Cook sugar, yoghurt, and half of the butter over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the butter has melted. Simmer to soft ball stage, about 118 to 120°C (235 to 240°F), stirring all the time.
• Remove from heat and allow to stop bubbling, then begin to beat the icing: every time is thickens, add a quarter of the butter. 
• Once the butter is completely beaten in and the icing has thickened, pour as much as you'd like over the still warm flapjacks. If you have icing leftover, store it in the fridge for another project.
• Put the flapjacks in the fridge for about 4 hours to set the icing. Allow to come up to room temperature after the icing has set to cut easily. Cut into as many pieces as you'd like.

STORAGE

These will keep in an airtight container for up to two weeks. If you live in a warm region, keep them in the fridge to stop the icing from melting.

Yayeee! I'm Back, and Here to Introduce a New Collaborator....

Hello again, all!

I feel refreshed after my break, and as you can see things look a bit different around here! ...

... but not in the way I had planned.

Over the past four weeks, I've tried out several free web designing platforms, and I was also researching how to get a domain name and hosting. However, it's a lot more complicated than I thought. Designing websites is fiddly, and I'm not a very 2D visual person when it comes to inventing web layouts.

Also, getting domain names and hosting is a) much less straightforward than I had imagined, and b) much more pricey than I had imagined. I think it will be a while until we see a brand new web design and a new URL. Although, I do have a good friend who is a trained IT programmer and web designer. I think I may be able to seek her help, with the promise of cake and payment.

She is not the collaborator I want to introduce, however: I want to introduce you to Sweetie Pie's newest companion, Bibbit!

I felt that if Sweetie Pie were to host some upcoming videos (hint, hint) she would need a little companion. And also in the general running of the blog. From much sketch booking, I came up with Bibbit, a little kawaii froggo.

Bibbit is green with a yellow tummy, rosy cheeks, and enjoys sweets and cakes. He is also a handy guide on how difficult recipes are:

He has yet to be fully coloured and finished, but he is no less cute as a black and white sketch! I'm really pleased with how he turned out, and am very happy to introduce you all to him.

This week, I'll be uploading my first recipe since my sister's birthday at the beginning of August. I'm happy to be back, but I was also happy to have a break.