Happy Valentine's Day! Red Wine Chocolate Fondue

Happy St Valentine's Day!

This year, Simon and I entertained our good friend and DnD partner Dean. We played some games, drank some wine, and also had a fabulous fondue platter of fruit, sweets, crisps, pastries, and the main star: red wine chocolate fondue.

Making this is very easy and needs only three ingredients: 3 parts (in weight) of plain or dark chocolate, 1 part whipping cream, and 1 part red wine. I used 12 ounces (340 grammes) of chocolate and 4 ounces each (115 grammes) of wine and cream. It's best to use a dry wine to complement the darkness of the chocolate and the richness of the cream.

Simply cut the chocolate up and put it in a bowl, then heat the cream to boiling point either in saucepan on the stove, or in the microwave. Pour the cream over the chocolate and allow to sit for about two minutes before mixing thoroughly. Then, heat the wine in a similar way just up to boiling point; do not boil! Pour this into the chocolate and cream mixture and voilà! Red wine chocolate fondue.

On my platter I served:

• Strawberries
• Black and white grapes
• Raspberries
• Sugared ring doughnuts, cut into sixths
• Marshmallows
• Pretzels
• Digestive biscuits
• Thick cut cheese and onion crisps

I presented the platter with a pot of cocktail sticks for us to eat the food, but if you have some fancy fondue forks they would work nicely too! You can serve whatever you like on the platter, but I think a good mix of fruit, sweet pastries/cakes/biscuits, savoury snacks, and marshmallows works very well.

So, enjoy this year's celebration of the patron saint of lovers, beekeepers, and epileptics!

Leftover Bread and Jam Pudding

Got some leftover bread? Why not make some bread pudding!

Making bread pudding is very simple: all you need is stale bread, eggs, milk, and sugar. However, you can add other things to jazz it up with some butter, or even some jam.

To make this pudding, which served four, I used 4 slices of white bread (actually, I used up the last of my pink bread), enough strawberry jam to make sandwiches, 2 medium eggs, 3 fluid ounces (85 millilitres) each of milk and whipping cream, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. To top it off before cooking, I also used about 1 tablespoon of butter.

Make 2 sandwiches with the bread and jam and cut each into quarters (I broke up two of the quarters to line the dish because it wasn't long enough for all the sandwiches), and then arrange in the dish, which should be well buttered. In a jug, mix together the eggs, cream, milk, and sugar very well. Strain over the sandwiches and allow the whole confection to soak for at least 2 hours, or better, overnight in the fridge.

When you want to cook it, dot the top with butter and sprinkle with coarse Demerara sugar. Bake in a preheated 180C oven for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until nicely puffed and well browned. I served this with a little whipping cream that I mixed with some raspberry jam for flavour.

This is a delicious and simple weeknight dessert, and one of my all time favourite desserts. It tastes like a lovely squishy croissant served with cream!

Taste of Thailand: Pink Milk Bread (Dairy and Egg Free; Wheat Free Option)

กินให้อร่อยนะ!

For the first installment in my new series, Taste of Thailand, I have some delicious pink milk bread.

I don't know any Thai apart from "Sawasadee ka" and "Kop khun ka", but I do know that I absolutely loved the squishy, fluffy, pink milk bread available in 7-Eleven shops all over Bangkok and Pattaya!

This is simply a Hokkaido milk bread that's flavoured mildly with "pink milk": pink milk could either be a Thai beverage of milk and sala syrup, which is also called snake fruit syrup; or simply strawberry milk. I haven't found the answer to which one it is yet, so I use strawberry syrup because sala syrup is hard to find, expensive, and I don't want a whole bottle for one experiment.

This bread is very sweet, and would make lovely Japanese fruit and cream sandwiches. If you don't want it as sweet, leave out some of the sugar. The dough is a little fiddly too, but persevere and you'll get a fabulous, fluffy, soft bread.

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DIFFICULTY

Requires kneading a very sticky dough

TIME

Over 4 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate/Advanced

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INGREDIMENTS

12 ounces (340 grammes) strong white bread flour, at least 11.5% protein*

2¼ teaspoons (1 sachet) active yeast

1 ounce (30 grammes) caster sugar
1 ounce (30 millilitres) sunflower oil

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) salt

1 fluid ounce (30 millilitres) strawberry syrup, made up to 8 fluid ounces (240 millilitres) with lukewarm water

Pink gel food colouring

* - You can make this using plain spelt flour, but reduce the overall strawberry water amount to 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres)

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METHOD

First, make the dough

• In a large mixing bowl, mix half of the salt, half of the sugar, 8 ounces (225 grammes) of the flour, and the strawberry water. 
• Mix into a batter, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel, and leave in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
• When doubled in size, add the remaining ingredients and some pink food colouring to make a gentle rosy colour. Mix well with a wooden spoon and turn out onto an unfloured work surface.
• Knead well, scraping the dough off the surface with a plastic or silicone bench scraper. The dough will be sticky, but do not be tempted to dust the surface with flour: this will make the bread tough. Knead for 10 minutes by hand until the dough passes the windowpane test.
• Pop into a clean bowl, dust lightly with flour, and once again cover the bowl. Allow to proof in a warm place for 60 to 90 minutes, or until at least doubled in size.

Then, shape the loaf

• Once doubled in size, turn out onto a lightly floured board and deflate. Divide the dough into three by weight, and roll each piece into a tight ball.
• Take each ball and roll out into a flat rectangle. Fold into three, turn by 90 degrees, then roll flat again into a rectangle. Roll the rectangle up and pinch closed.
• Place the three bread rolls into a greased and floured 2 pound (900 gramme) loaf tin, that has been greased and floured. Cover again with a clean tea towel and allow to rise to half an inch from the lip of the pan.

Finally, bake the bread

• Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), then bake the bread in the centre of the oven, covered lightly with foil to prevent too much browning. 
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the loaf sounds hollow.
• Allow to cool completely before slicing to get the best texture.

THIS TIME IN PREVIOUS YEARS

2017: Valentine's Day: I ❤ Pizza! (Wheat-, Egg-, and Dairy Free Base)

2016: Yeast and Wheat Free Cinnanomnom (or just plain Cinnamon) Rolls

2015: Strawberry Crumble Bars (Wheat Free)

Pretty Pink Inside-Out Whoopie Pies: One Recipe, Two Results

You may have guessed: I love pink, and I love cake. So why not mix the two in these lovely little handheld cakes? Here's my most recent experiment: inside-out whoopie pies!

A few months ago, I discovered a great American cups recipe for whoopie pies, and at the time I thought it was all sorted out. However, over the past few months, as I made the recipe a few times it didn't turn out the same way every time after all. I feel that that is to do with how humid Ireland gets in winter, which makes the flour more damp, which in turn skews things in the recipe.

So, I went back to the drawing board and worked with the ratios found in that recipe and found a good recipe using weights. It took about 11 or 12 failed attempts, but I finally got something that's pretty similar to the original Amish recipe I was using.

 

This recipe can be made two ways and it has two different results: if you make the cake with oil, it makes whoopie pie cakes that can be sandwiched; if you make it with butter, it makes little cakes that can be frosted on top like cakey cookies, or "cupcake tops".

  

I made them with raspberry buttercream to make them all pink, but you can put any topping or filling with these: lemon curd, or whipped cream, or flavoured buttercreams. The cakes can also be flavoured with different essences or zests; whatever you like!

INGREDIMENTS

2 medium eggs

4 ounces (115 grammes) salted butter for cupcake tops, or oil for whoopie pies

9 ounces (255 grammes) caster sugar

12 ounces (340 grammes) plain white flour: wheat or spelt*

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) baking soda

¾ teaspoon (4 millilitres) fine salt

6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres) buttermilk

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence

HOW TO MAKE CUPCAKE TOPS

• Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line two flat baking trays with non-stick paper.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until mixed well: there's a lot of sugar, so it won't cream fully until you add the egg.
• Beat in the egg, vanilla essence and salt until you have a nice fluffy mixture.
• Mix together flour, soda, salt, and sugar into another bowl. Sieve half of this mixture into the butter mix and fold in fully.
• Fold in the buttermilk, followed by the remaining dry ingredients. Mix well until smooth, but do not overmix.
• Spoon teaspoonfuls of batter onto the trays, about 2 inches apart, or you can use a piping bag to shape the cakes.
• Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size, or until they have puffed up and are springy to the touch.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. On cooling, they will be a little crunchy; however, they will be soft and flexible after a few hours.
• Top the cakes with icing of your choice: buttercream, glacé, whipped cream, etc.

HOW TO MAKE WHOOPIE PIES

• Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line two flat baking trays with non-stick paper.
• Mix the egg, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla essence in a jug. Beat very well, and set aside.
• Sieve the flour, soda, salt, and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the liquid.
• Fold the liquids into the dry ingredients to make a smooth but thick batter. Spoon teaspoonfuls of batter onto the trays, about 2 inches apart, or you can use a piping bag to shape the cakes.
• Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size, or until they have puffed up and are springy to the touch.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. On cooling, they will be a little crunchy; however, they will be soft and flexible after a few hours.
• Pair up similarly sized cakes and sandwich together with a filling of choice: jam, buttercream, whipped cream, etc.

Candlemas: Tarte au Citron (Metric Measurements)

Joyeux printemps!

Beannachtaí an Imbolc daoibh!

Happy Spring!

To celebrate the turn of the season, have a bright and zingy tarte au citron!

Across many cultures, the first days of February are celebrated as the start of Spring. In France, there is Le Chandeleur, or Candlemas in English; in Ireland and Scotland, there is Imbolc, which is a pagan spring celebration. Nowadays, February the 1st in Ireland is St Brigid's Day.

Both Candlemas and Imbolc are celebrated using the colours of red, orange, and yellow and circular shapes, as both festivals are celebrations of the sun. So, what better than this delicious French confection that is yellow, round, and features the lovely springtime flavour of lemon.

 

This took a few attempts to get right, but eventually I found that the same ratio of liquid to egg as a traditional quiche works wonders. Whatever ratio of sugar to lemon juice to cream or butter you use, you take the overall weight of the liquid, divide it in two, and that is the weight of the egg you will need.

Mine cracked ever so slightly on cooking because since my oven had a new element installed I still haven't got the hang of it. It runs a little hot now, and I've burnt my fair share of bakes since the new element!

INGREDIMENTS

For one 20 centimetre (8 inch) tarte

One deep blind-baked 20 centimetre (8 inch) pastry case

280 millilitres (10 UK fluid ounces) fresh lemon juice, about 4 big lemons

1 rounded tablespoon lemon zest, about 2 big lemons

140 grammes (5 ounces) unsalted butter

140 grammes (5 ounces) caster sugar

280 grammes (10 ounces) whole egg, about 5 large or 6 small eggs

Salt, to taste

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 150C (300F). Put the eggs into a large mixing bowl and whisk well to break them up.
• In a saucepan, cook the lemon juice, sugar, and butter until it just comes to the boiling point.
• Using a large balloon whisk, very slowly ladle in the hot lemon mixture while whisking constantly, so the eggs don't scramble.
• Once the whole mix is incorporated, return it to the saucepan and heat very very gently until it begins to thicken slightly (about 60C, if you have a thermometer).
• Pour the custard through a sieve into the blind-baked pastry case, tapping well to release any air bubbles. Bake on the centre shelf for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the surface to dry and set, and there is a jelly-like wiggle under the surface. If you bake it for too long, the surface will crack, but it'll taste just fine.
• Allow to cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving. Serve with cream or crème anglaise.

Irish Style Gingerbread Men: Every Old Bakery's Favourite

Looking to beat the January blues? Have a jolly little gingerbread man, made with what is to become my go-to recipe!

The gingerbread man of my childhood... a biscuit soft enough to yield easily to a single bite, with a delicious bendy chewiness and a clean, pure flavour of golden syrup and ground ginger, all topped off with naff-as-hell cooking chocolate and sweets to decorate. This style of gingerbread man is ubiquitous in Ireland, appearing in every bakery around the country from small towns to cities. It's like they all have a recipe that was taught to them in culinary college, but in all the nearly 7 years I've been blogging, I've never quite captured it.

Over the course of my blog, I have done a few different recipes for gingerbread:

• Right back at the very start I had my recipe free from dairy, gluten, and egg which I made for my friend who was intolerant to all of the above;
• I had my Dinosaur Kimberley recipe, which was essentially a regular roll out biscuit dough with some spice and golden syrup for flavour;
• I then did an egg-free gingerbread recipe, which was essentially ginger flavoured shortbread;
• After that, there was the gingerbread skeletons recipe which was my first attempt at the kind of chewy bakery style gingerbread that I love, but wasn't quite there yet;
• And most recently my Gingerbread Village Cake, which featured a cakier style that's suitable for building houses but still nice to eat.

As you can see, I've never really had a go to recipe. Mostly because all the recipes I used didn't produce a gingerbread that I really liked; they were either to dry and crunchy, too sturdy and shortbready, too cakey, or too soft and squishy. None of the recipes I've used have that X-factor that I wanted.

(Credit: the Daily Express)

Until now! From my trawling of the internet, I found a recipe that is pretty much bang on that delicious flavour of my childhood (and adulthood, admittedly: I cannot resist the charms of a pretty little gingerbread man when I pass my local bakery). Shared to the RTÉ website is a recipe for Nanny Nellie's gingerbread men, and whoever Nanny Nellie is she most likely got that secret recipe because it makes a gingerbread man almost identical to any you'd find in a bakery.

INGREDIMENTS

Makes 24 gingerbread men

12 ounces (340 grammes) plain white flour: spelt, wheat, or gluten-free

1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 millilitres) ground ginger, depending on how spicy you want it

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) bicarbonate of soda

4 ounces (115 grammes) salted butter, or margarine for an authentic experience

6 ounces (170 grammes) soft light brown sugar

3 ounces (85 grammes) golden syrup

1 medium egg

Up to 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) water, to adjust

Optional: other ground spices to taste, for example cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, etc.

To decorate

1 bar (150 grammes) milk cooking chocolate

Sweets such as Smarties, M&Ms, or Jelly Tots

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line one or two baking sheets with non-stick paper.
• Sieve the dry ingredients together onto a sheet of non-stick paper, or into a roomy mixing bowl. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and syrup with an electric mixer until well combined. Beat in the egg.
• Add the dry ingredients bit by bit until the mixer can no longer mix, then turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface and bring the dough together by hand.
• Depending on your egg, you might need to add a little water to help the dough come together, which is perfectly normal. The dough should be soft, but not at all sticky.
• This dough can be used immediately and doesn't need chilling: roll out to a thickness of an eighth inch (3 millilmetres) on a well floured surface, making sure to move it around every so often to prevent sticking.
• Cut out shapes and arrange them about an inch (2.5 centimetres) apart on the tray(s). The scraps re-roll very well.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they look set. They will still be a little soft, but the edges will be set nicely. Don't let them brown too much!
• Allow to cool on the trays momentarily before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To decorate, melt the chocolate according to the instructions. Dip the gingerbread man heads and feet in the chocolate, and attach the sweets with chocolate to look like buttons. Draw smiley faces on with melted chocolate using a cocktail stick.

Adapted from: https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/recipes/2018/1107/1009352-nanny-nellies-gingerbread-men-today/

"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.

American Style: Snickerdoodles (Cup Measurements)

Happy New Year! My first offering of 2020 is a delicious cinnamony treat: the Snickerdoodle!

 

I meant to make these in the lead up to Christmas, as these are traditionally a holiday biscuit. But sadly for me I spent from December 19th to 31st in and out of bed with a horrible viral illness. So, a lot of my plans went right out of the window with my ability to breathe properly or eat. So, I made these during the week instead as my first baking venture of 2020.

As you know, last September I discovered the strange and enigmatic wonders of working with American cup measurements when I made whoopie pies. When I made those I thought to myself: could I design my own recipe with cups instead of ounces or grammes? That led me to this delicious creation, which was the result of much foostering and tweaking.

One thing I will impress upon you, however, is that you measure the ingredients correctly: there is, indeed, a way to properly use cups when measuring flour, caster sugar, and brown sugar.

I use Jill Selkowitz's guide to measuring flour on her website This Old Gal, where she stresses that flour must be nice and airy before measuring to get consistent results. Also, brown sugar must be compacted into the cup measurements nice and tightly to get the right results. Brown sugar is a little softer than white sugar, so the cupfuls are slightly lighter.

So, without further ado, here is the first recipe that I have ever designed to be made using American cup measurements!

INGREDIMENTS

2 cups (240 grammes) plain flour: wheat, or spelt, spooned and leveled
½ cup (105 grammes) soft light brown sugar, packed
½ cup (115 grammes) caster sugar
½ cup (115 grammes) butter
1 medium (US large) egg
½ level teaspoon (2.5 millilitres) baking soda
1 level teaspoon (5 millilitres) ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) fine salt
Optional: 1 level teaspoon (5 millilitres) ground ginger
Cinnamon sugar, to coat


METHOD

• Line one or two baking trays with non-stick baking paper, and preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4). Make sure the oven racks are in the centre of the oven.
• In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat in the egg to get a fluffy mixture.
• Sieve in the dry ingredients and work by hand into a soft dough that is a little bit tacky.
• Divide the mixture into 12 balls, rolling each ball in cinnamon sugar to coat. Arrange the dough balls on the sheets about 2 inches (5 centimetres) apart to allow for spreading. I only have small trays so I can only fit 6 to 8 cookies on mine.
• Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on how crispy or chewy you want them: shorter cooking makes chewier cookies, longer cooking makes them crispier.