Butter

Ever wonder why butter is yellow in Ireland?
Many years ago I went to San Francisco to see a friend of mine.  One of the things that surprised me was the colour of Butter, it was white -it never occurred to me that butter would come in different shades.  I have since come to understand that the white butter is made from the cream of corn fed cattle.  Due to the climate in Ireland we have plenty of Omega 3 and Beta Carotene rich grass on which the cattle feed. Beta-Carotene is the good stuff that gives carrots, pumpkins and sweet potatoes their colour and is what gives butter its yellowish tinge.

• Butter - Made by churning cream with salt added for flavour. 
• Unsalted Butter - As above but without the salt
• Spreadable Butter - A little oil is added to make it easier to spread
• Ghee / Clarified Butter -This is butter that has been heated and the impurities and salt taken out.  Unlike regular butter it does not burn.  It is often used in Indian cookery.
• Dairy Spreads - Not suitable for baking
• Margarine

Sugar Paste Smoother

It may look like something from a hardware store but this is for smoothing out bumps and lumps in sugarcraft.
This one is from This ones from Kitchen Complements just off Grafton Street in Dublin

How to apply Almond Paste

This is my technique for applying the almond paste.  It may not be elegant but it is quick and effective.  The trick is to get enough icing sugar on the board so that it is not completely stuck (in which case it would tear, but will only move from the board on your encouragement).
You will need:

• A quantity of Almond Paste
• A sugar paste smoother 
• A rolling pin
• A pastry Brush
• Apricot Jam/ Marmalade 
• Icing Sugar (just enough for rolling out the almond paste)
• Wooden chopping board the size of the top of the cake.

Method

1. Dust your work surface with Icing sugar and roll out to 1cm thickness. 
2. Warm 2 tbsp of apricot jam or marmalade in the microwave and brush the top with it.
3. Place the board just above the cake so that it is centered and the top is completely covered and dislodge it from the board with a large knife.  (You shouldn't need to scrape it off it should fall off and directly onto the cake with just a little encouragement)  If that isn't the case then add a little icing to the paste and roll it out again.
4. Trim the top as you would a pie.  Brush the sides with the apricot marmalade.  Roll out the sides in manageable sections.  Apply to the sides of the cake.  Where you have a join in the sides overlap the two pieces and cut straight through the overlapped pieces and discard (or eat!) the trimmings so that you have two perfectly matching pieces.
5. Firmly rub the cake all over with the sugarpaste smoother to make sure that it sticks to the cake and that the Almond paste is one smooth solid coating.

Almond Paste

What is almond paste? Almond paste is the layer between the Icing and the Christmas Cake.  It provides a smooth even surface to ice a cake on.  I have to similes and you can pick one that makes most sense to you: 1. Its like lining paper when you're wallpapering or 2. Its like applying Smashbox Photo finish before you apply foundation.  I hate almond extract so I leave it out but it's really up to you.  This can be baked in the oven on the fruit cake without ever having to ice the cake just brush with a little egg white first.


450g Ground Almonds
450g Caster Sugar
3 Tbsp Whiskey
2 small Eggs
A few drops of Almond extract.

Method

1. Mix dry ingredients then make a hole in the middle and add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
2. Roll out with Icing Sugar
3. Apply to cake

Milk Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramel Cake

Bacon and Maple syrup go well together so it made sense to me that salted caramels would taste pretty good and Cocoa Atalier in Drury Street proved that for me.  I was browsing the web looking for a recipe for making Fleur de Sel Caramels that didn't involve Karo (which is almost impossible to source in Dublin unless you order it online and have it shipped in), when I found this recipe.   You can use fleur de Sel or Maldon Sea Salt Flakes in this recipe.  The cake rose a bit funny but I trimmed it down and used the trimming and leftover frosting to make cake pops.  The cake itself is nothing shy of decadent with large quantities of butter and double cream and it lends itself well to celebrations but it also has quite an adult taste and it's very rich.  Also it takes a while to make so start with the frosting get that made before you even attempt the cake.

Frosting:
275g Sugar
500ml Double Cream
.5 tsp Fleur de Sel
450g Milk Chocolate
250g Dark Chocolate
250g Unsalted Butter

Cake:

200g Flour
75g Cocoa
1.5tsp baking soda
.5tsp Fleur de Sel
200g Butter
250g soft brown Sugar
100g Sugar
4 Eggs
75g Dark Chocolate Melted and Cooled
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
350ml Buttermilk

Method:

1. Frosting:  Over a medium-low heat, in a heavy bottomed saucepan mix stir sugar and water together until the sugar dissolves then remove your wooden spoon from the pot and leave on the heat to caramelise.  As soon as it does remove from the heat and add the double cream, add salt.  Pour mix over broken chocolate and stir until smooth.  Chill in the fridge for an hour.  Remove from the fridge and using an electric whisk beat in the butter.  Refridgerate for a further hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 170C grease and line two sandwich tins
3. Sieve flour baking soda cocoa and fleur de sel together. 
4. Cream Butter and Sugar together. Add Eggs one at time mixing thoroughly between each egg.  Add Vanilla & Melted chocolate and mix thoroughly.   
5. Add a third of the flour mix, half the buttermilk, another third of the flour mix, another half of the buttermilk and the final third of the flour mix, stirring well with each addition.  Divide the mixture between the two sandwich tins and bake for 25 mins.  Leave to cool for 10mins in the tin before turning out onto a cooling rack.
6. Sandwich together using frosting and smooth the remainder of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake.  Sprinkle with fleur de sel so people get a hint of what's inside.

Fleur de Sel Salted Caramel Cookie

If you like the taste of caramel you will love these!  They really set your taste buds exploding.  Essentially you make caramel and then mix the rest of the ingredients in to form a cookie.  I made an extra batch of the caramel at the end and drizzled the cookies with it and then drizzled them with chocolate before finally sprinkling with a little fleur de sel at the end.  Fleur de Sel can be replaced by Sea Salt.  I would suggest that you bake these so that they retain their chewyness otherwise they can be a bit on the hard side.

Caramel:
200g Sugar
3 tbsp Water (or just barely enough to help dissolve the sugar)
4 Tbsp Double Cream


Cookie:
275g Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Fleur de Sel
225g Butter
100g Sugar
1 Egg
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method

1. In a stand mixer cream butter and sugar together. 
2. Caramel:  Over a medium-low heat, in a heavy bottomed saucepan mix stir sugar and water together until the sugar dissolves then remove your wooden spoon from the pot and leave on the heat to caramelise.  As soon as it does remove from the heat and add a spoonful of the butter and sugar mix and the double cream.
3. Beat the egg and vanilla well into the butter and sugar mix.
4. Pour the Caramel into the butter-sugar-egg mix slowly mixing thoroughly as you pour.
5. In another bowl sift Flour Baking Soda and Fleur de Sel.  Add a spoonful mix well and then add the balance to the wet ingredients.
6. Allow to cool and roll to salami width.  Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour in the fridge.
7. Preheat oven to 170C
8. Cut into half cm slices bake for 8-10mins.  Allow to cool (beware of sugar burns)
9. Decorate by drizzling with chocolate caramel and a sprinkling of fleur de sel.

Biscuits / Cookies - Whats the difference?

Nowadays the words Biscuits and Cookies are fairly interchangeable and you will tend to use one or the other depending on what side of the Atlantic you're from.

From my understanding Biscuits were originally a means of using up leftover bread dough (therefore they would often be yeast based) sugar and fruit was then added where available and thus the biscuit was born.  Biscuits as we know them today are usually crisp baked goods of a variety of shapes and sizes.  You can even find savoury biscuits ideal for serving with cheese or soup.  Biscuits found in the Southern States of American are much closer to a plain scone.

Cookies came by way of the Dutch (from the word Kuchen) and were originally soft baked (a very popular choice to this day).

Sugars & Syrups

Sugars

White/Granulated Sugar - White sugar made from sugar cane or sugar beets.  If a recipe in this blog looks for sugar this is the sugar it is referring to unless it states otherwise.

Caster Sugar - A finer ground granulated sugar

Soft Brown Sugar - Fine slightly sticky unrefined sugar with molasses (3.5%)

Muscavado  Sugar - Dark and sticky unrefined sugar with a strong molasses flavour (6.5%) also know as Barbados Sugar

Demerara Sugar - Natural Brown Sugar the crystal are light brown in colour and quite large.  Also know as Turbinado Sugar

Icing Sugar - White Sugar ground down to a powder

Maple Sugar - Sap of a maple tree is reduced down gently until it reaches a crystalline state

Cinnamon Sugar - Equal quantities of cinnamon and demerara sugar

Vanilla Sugar - Vanilla sugar is a scented sugar that can be used anywhere instead of vanilla essence or extract and sugar. It makes a nice present for a foodie friend.  In mainland Europe where a recipe calls for a sachet of vanilla sugar they are referring to an 8g Sachet of Vanilla Sugar which can be replaced with 1tsp of Vanilla Extract and a tsp of caster sugar.

Syrups

Honey - A natural syrup made by Bees which has differing flavours according to age, location and the flowers from which the nectar was gathered to make the honey. 

Maple Syrup - A reduction of the sap of a maple tree which is graded according to when in the season it is tapped

Golden Syrup - A byproduct of the sugar refining process.

Corn Syrup - A sweet syrup derived from corn freely available in the states and a pain to buy in Ireland.  Available in Light and Dark (added molasses and caramel colour) forms.  It's used to prevent crystallisation of sugar

Sugar Syrup - 11/4 Sugar +1/3 syrup as an alternative to Corn Syrup

Salt

Chemically speaking salt as we know it is NaCl (Sodium Chloride) added to which are anti-caking ingredients to stop the salt clumping together.  If you wonder does it make that much difference in terms of baking I would suggest that you make two batches of cake batter one with salted and the other with unsalted butter see for yourself.  Baking with unsalted butter allows you to control the amount of salt.

Sea Salt - Made from evaporated seawater, available as a fine ground or Salt Flakes (Maldon)

Kosher Salt - Large Crystals, the salt itself is not Kosher but it is used to make meat Kosher.

Fleur de Sel - A mild salt made from salt marshes in France it literally means the flower of salt.

Table Salt

Smoked Salt - Salt that has been smoked with a view to adding a smokey flavour to food.

According to the progressivebaker.com 

More than adding flavor, salt begins to affect your baked goods from the moment it's

added to the dough.

Here are some things you should know about what salt does in your baked goods.

• Salt slows down all the chemical reactions that are happening in the dough, including calming fermentation activity to a steadier level.
• Salt also makes the dough a little stronger and tighter.
• Salt impacts the shelf life of baked goods, but its effects depend on weather conditions. Salt is hydroscopic, which means it absorbs water. Consequently, in humid climates, it will trap moisture from the air, making a crisp crust soggy, and therefore shortening shelf life. In dry climates, however, the salt helps hold water in the bread longer, inhibiting staling, and thus extending the bread's shelf life.
• Salt, of course, adds flavor to baked goods. It also potentiates the flavor of other ingredients, including butter and flour.
• Salt comes in several forms, including fine, course, sea salt and Kosher salt. All provide the same effect. In fact, in blind taste tests, people were not able to distinguish a difference in the bread's taste based on the type of salt used.

Cake Pops

Mouthfuls of cake and frosting on sticks dipped in chocolate and covered with sprinkles really easy to make but there is a knack to it.  These are perfect for kids parties and celebrations where people would rather not be seen to over indulge.

Cake
Frosting (either shop bought or homemade)
Sprinkles
Chocolate

Other things you will need:
Lollipop sticks (I used bamboo skewer,s hacksawed them at a length I was happy with and sanded the tip)
A container deep enough that you can dip the cake pops in and completely immerse them without having to swirl them around Mugs or glasses are good.
Styrofoam or oasis (used for flower arranging) covered in aluminium foil.


Method

1. In a bowl break up a cake with your hands until it forms crumbs.
2. Add a couple of tablespoons of frosting and stir up the mix until it forms a dough (you'd be surprised how little frosting it takes
3. Chill the mix in the fridge for 30mins
4. Take a tablespoon of the mix and roll into a ball about the size of a walnut.  
5. Melt two pieces of chocolate in a microwave (30 seconds then stir and repeat until chocolate is fully melted) in a saucer or small bowl.  Dip 1cm of the lollipop stick in the melted chocolate and then insert it into the ball place on a plate and repeat until all cake/frosting mix is used.  Chill for 30 mins
6. Melt the rest of the chocolate using the microwave method.  Dip the cake pop directly into the chocolate so that it is completely covered. Do not swirl the cake pop because you run the risk of loosing it.  Pick up the cake pop out of the chocolate and let the excess run off.  Turn the pop until the final chocolately dribbles stop running.
7. While the chocolate is still wet shake on sprinkles (I've used chocolate vermicelli, chocolate flakes and small white chocolate chips in the pic above).
8. Place in styrofoam or oasis to dry.

Brandy Butter / Whiskey Butter

This is essentially alcoholic butter icing served with Christmas Pudding or Mince Pies.

Butter
Icing Sugar
Brandy / Whiskey / Whisky

Beat Icing into butter until the butter will take no more icing sugar the add a generous jigger of alcohol and beat again.  Chill in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

How to grease and flour a tin

1. Using a piece of greaseproof paper, kitchen roll or indeed a butter wrapper rub a piece of butter or margarine around the inside of a cake tin ensuring that get into all the corners.
2. Add a teaspoon of flour to the tin and rotate the tin until all the greased parts now have a little layer of flour.

Baked Apples

I used to think that the seeds in apples when they were baked became soft and wrinkly and juicy - it turns out that was just the sultanas.  Sinfully easy dessert to make.   But you'll need an apple corer. Choose a filling from the options below or just bake them as they are drizzled with honey, maple syrup or golden syrup.  I've chosen Bramley apples because they soften in the process but  I do like my apples quite tart so be warned.

1 Bramley Apple per person

Filling options:

• Fill with Mincemeat
• 1tsp of Chopped Nuts (Pecans, Walnuts, Almonds), 1tsp of Sultanas, 1tsp of soft brown sugar, 1tsp butter (per apple)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175C.
2. Wash and core apples and place in a greased oven proof dish.
3. Fill core of apple and bake for 30 mins.
4. Serve warm with Custard, Cream or Ice-Cream

Apple Corer

This is a metal tube with a serrated end that you plunge into the middle of an apple to take out the core.  It has no other purpose.  The only time that I have found it a necessary piece of kit is in making baked apples, because you can usually quite easily remove the core with a paring knife.

Mince pies

In this recipe I use a jar of Mincemeat in a simple shortcrust pastry base.  Shop bought pastry is fine but nothing beats the homemade stuff.  This is something really simple that can be done with kids or let them do on their own.  You will need Bun tin, Cookie Cutters - either two circular cutters one larger than the other for the top and bottom of the tart, or a circle for the bottom and a star shape for the top.  If you are using a circular top make sure to leave a slit or hole to let the steam out.


Shortcrust pastry 
Milk or egg for glazing
Icing Sugar
Mincemeat


Method

1. Preheat the Oven to 170C, Grease the tin
2. Cut the Top and the bottom of each pie to make sure you have the same amount of tops and bottoms (I have mis-counted before)
3. Place the bases in the tin.  Fill each with 1 generous tsp of mincemeat and cover with the top. 
4. Brush with milk or egg
5. Bake in the oven for 10-15mins until golden brown. 
6. Sprinkle with Icing Sugar and serve warm or cold with brandy/whiskey butter, cream or custard.

What is Suet?

Suet is a hard white fat used for; Christmas pudding, certain pastries and mincemeat.  It is found around the kidneys and other offal of beef, pork or lamb.  It has a much higher melting point than other fats which lends certain properties in terms of cooking or baking that cannot be replicated by butter or lard.  There is a brand of Suet called Atora that also provides a vegetarian alternative.

What is Mincemeat?

A preserve of dried fruit, spices, sugar and suet and sometimes alcohol common to Ireland and the UK. It would have originally contained meat as an ingredient as the name suggests but not these days.  Mincemeat is usually used to make mince tarts around Christmas time.  I could give you a recipe for mincemeat, but as I haven't got a tried and tested recipe, I won't post one here.  The truth is that you can buy good quality Mincemeat at a reasonable price.  I have it on good authority that Santa is a fan.

Mincemeat Gingerbread

Somethings you just know are going to work together but when I went to find a recipe I wasn't having much joy with this.  This is a Frankenstein of a recipe being that it has a little bit of this and a little bit of that but I've had to add a little cop on to it. This is a very wet batter but don't worry it cooks up just fine. It's traditional to use Molasses in Gingerbread but I'm not really a fan so I've used Golden Syrup instead and a little Muscavado Sugar as a nod to the missing Molasses.  When it was still warm I glazed with a little maple syrup.  I think though that I may increase the spices to double next time that I make it because that flavour didn't really come through.  When I do I will update this post.

50g Soft Brown Sugar
50g Muscavado Sugar
1 Egg
250ml Golden Syrup
250ml Hot water
200g Butter
375g Flour

1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Jar of Mincemeat

Method

1. Preheat Oven to 175C
2. Cream Butter and Sugars.  Mix in a beaten egg
3. In a bowl mix together Golden Syrup and Warm water and allow to cool.
4. Sieve Flour, spices and baking soda together in another bowl.
5. Add a third of the flour mix to the butter, sugar and egg bowl and mix thoroughly.  Add half of the golden syrup mix and combine thoroughly and repeat until all ingredients except mincemeat are incorporated.
6. Fold in a jar of Mincemeat. 
7. Pour into a greased brownie tin and bake for 1 hour but be sure to cover with foil when it reaches a nice golden brown colour.  Use a cocktail stick or skewer to make sure it's cooked properly.  
8. Leave in the tin overnight to cool or serve warm with custard.

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies

 'Nuff said

175g Butter
100g Caster Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
225g Flour
2tbsp Nutella
1tbsp Cocoa

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar and mix in vanilla extract thoroughly
2. Mix in the flour to form a soft dough. 
3. Divide the dough in two, one weighing 225g and one weighing 275g
4. Add the cocoa and nutella to the 225g of dough and mix thoroughly.
5. Roll each piece of dough out to a square approx 15 x 20cm.  Brush the top of the vanilla dough with a little water then place the chocolate dough on top of the vanilla dough and roll up like a swiss roll.  Wrap in cling film and chill for 30mins.
6. Preheat oven to170c
7. Trim the ends of the 'swiss roll' of cookie dough and proceed to slice 5mm slices with a sharp knife so as to preserve the shape of the pinwheel.  It should fill two cookie sheets.
8. Bake in the oven for 10-12 mins until golden brown.  Allow to cool slightly then transfer to cooling rack.  When fully cooled store in an airtight container

How to Line a Baking Tin

1. Grease the tin
2. For the base: 
1. Cut a piece of greaseproof paper slightly larger than the diameter of the tin squared
2. Fold the sheet in half, then in quarter, then in eights (it should be the shape of a pointy triangle with an untidy end).
3. Measure the paper with the pointy end in the middle and trim the edges so that it fits inside the tin.
4. Open it out and you should have a piece of greaseproof paper roughly the size of the base of your tin.
3. For the sides:
1. Measure the circumference of tin and add 3cm, Measure the height of the tin and add 4cm
2. Cut a piece of greaseproof paper to these measurements.
3. Make cuts along the length of paper 2cm deep to form a fringe. Fold these cuts upwards.
4. Place inside the tin along the sides with the fringe inside. 
4. Insert the base.

How to grease a tin

Using a piece of greaseproof paper, kitchen roll or indeed a butter wrapper rub a piece of butter or margarine around the inside of a cake tin ensuring that get into all the corners.

What does Simmer mean?

To simmer is to place a liquid in a pot and heat on a gentle heat until small bubbles appear on the edges between the liquid and the pot.

Malteser and Mars Bar Chocolate Brownie Sundae

1 Small Bag Maltesers
Brownies
Vanilla Ice Cream
Mars Bar Ice Cream Sauce
whipped Cream

1. Break up some brownies and place a layer down the bottom of a Sundae Glass
2. Add a scoop of Vanilla Ice 
3. A layer of sauce and a sprinkle of crushed Maltesers for texture
4. Repeat 1-3 until you top it with cream and sprinkle crushed Maltesers on top.

Ice Cream Sundae

The perfect low effort end to any meal where you have a good few guests. This is a dessert that allows people to express themselves. I've suggested ingredients but it is really limited by your imagination.  A bowl (or even a highball glass) and spoon is all that's needed but if you can lay your hands on them an Ice Cream Spoon and Sundae Glasses look so pretty.

Sweets - Smarties, M&Ms, Revels, Maltesers, Mini Marshmallows, Jellies, Space Dust

Chocolate - Milk Dark White, Crushed Crunchie, Daim Bars, 

Sprinkles - Chocolate Vermicelli, Sugar Strands, Hundreds and Thousands

Biscuits - Bourbon Creams, Cookies, Oreos, Chocolate Digestives, shortbread, pinwheels

Cake - Brownies, Meringues

Nuts - Whole or Praline

Fruit - Soft fruit, maraschino cherries, bananas, Coconut

Cream - Whipped by hand or out of a can 

Ice Cream - just vanilla will do but the more the merrier

Sauce - Chocolate, Fudge, Caramel

Alcohol - For those old and bold enough to drink it how about some liqueurs?

Method

1. Layer Ice Cream and other ingredients until you reach the top 
2. Top with Cream
3. Add Sprinkles 
4. And for the cherry on top - a cherry!

How to make ice cream without an ice cream machine or ice cream maker

If you're wondering how to make ice cream without an ice cream machine or ice cream maker this is it.  It's not a complicated method but it serves the same purpose.  The main thing is that you must keep an eye on it or else it just becomes unpleasant so set a timer to go off every 30 mins.  The more often that you break up the ice-crystals the smoother your ice cream will be, which is essentially what's happening in the ice cream machine.

You will need
Ice Cream mix of your choosing**
A lunch box with a lid
A Whisk
A freezer

1. Pour your ice-cream mix into the lunch box. 
2. Freeze for 30 mins 
3. Whisk to break the ice crystals and return to the freezer
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until you have ice cream (you can't whisk anymore)

**Examples of some ice cream flavours that you might like to try

• Vanilla Ice Cream
• Spiced Rum and Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Ice Cream Machine/Maker

Domestic Ice-Cream Machines usually have a bowl that you place in the freezer to freeze before making the ice cream.  When the ice cream mix hits the walls of that bowl it starts to freeze.  There is a paddle that slowly stirs (or churns) the ice cream so that the ice crystals form evenly and you end up with a smooth and consistent Ice Cream.

Originally Ice-Cream churns consisted of a bowl of ice and sea salt, into which sat a smaller bowl where you  would put the ice cream, into which sat a paddle for churning.  These are still available today if you have a nosey around the 'net.

Mars Bar Ice Cream Sauce

I have the palate of a child and adore sweet sticky goodness.  This is the very definition of simple and sinful.  For the grown ups you can add a little Irish Cream Liqueur for a Baileys and Mars Sauce.

250ml Cream
1 x Mars Bar

Method

1. Chop up the Mars bar really fine 
2. Add Mars bar and cream to a pot and heat over a low heat, stirring all the while until the Mars bar melts. 
3. Serve warm with Ice-Cream. 

Vanilla Ice Cream

If you're going to make Ice Cream then start with the basics good Vanilla Ice Cream can hold its own again just about any other flavour in my books.  This recipe came from http://www.ice-cream-recipes.com with a few adjustments.


Ingredients:
4 egg yolks
500ml Cream
100g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod

1. Pour the cream into a saucepan and simmer. Place the vanilla pod into it and leave to infuse for about 30 minutes.
2. In a bowl, beat and mix together the egg yolks and sugar until thick. 
3. Carefully remove the vanilla pod from the pan of milk and scrape out the seeds into the milk. Pour the milk into the mixture of egg yolks and sugar whilst stirring. 
4. Pour the mixture back into the pan and heat gently, stirring until the custard thickens - DO NOT BRING TO THE BOIL OR IT WILL PROBABLY CURDLE.  
5. When you can see a film form over the back of your spoon it's time to remove the saucepan from the heat. Leave to cool. 
6. Transfer the whole mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. 

Creme Caramel (Spanish Flan)

 This recipe came off the Lidl recipe website.  I made this going over to a friends house for dinner and though it was fine leaving the house by the time I had cycled to my friends house the ramps on the road had gotten the better of it and it looked more like scrambled egg.  This recipe calls for moulds which I didn't have so I used a pyrex casserole dish instead which did the job of making one large creme caramel  rather than four small ones. 


4 medium free range eggs, 2 whole eggs plus 2 yolks
600ml semi skimmed milk
175g caster sugar
1 strip lemon rind

Method

1. In a medium pan heat 100g of caster sugar until completely melted, then boil rapidly until a golden brown caramel.
2. Pour the hot caramel into 6 small 200ml ramekins or metal pudding moulds and swirl it around the bottom, then leave to set.
3. Heat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan oven/gas mark 5.
4. Put the milk and lemon rind into a pan and bring to just below boiling point.
5. Whisk the eggs and remaining 75g caster sugar together, then pour the milk over the eggs, continuing to whisk as you pour.
6. Strain the custard into the ramekins or pudding moulds.
7. Sit the dishes in a small roasting tin and pour hot water into the tin to come halfway up the ramekins or pudding moulds sides. Bake for 20-25 minutes until custards are just set.
8. Cool, then chill for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight).
9. To serve, run a knife around the edges of the custard and turn onto a small plate.

Custard (Creme Anglais)

Creme Anglais, the literal translation of which is English cream, is in fact a combination of milk or cream, eggs vanilla and sugar heated till it thickens and then served as a sauce or accompaniment to many dessert.  I am a great fan.   In 1837 Mr. Alfred Bird in an act of what I like to think of as love, created a cornflour based alternative for his wife who was allergic to eggs .  When anyone mentions trifle it is jelly, birds custard and dream topping with hundreds and thousands sprinkled on top what comes to mind, not the fancy puds that adorn menus these days.  So I've included both custards in order to acknowledge the merits of both.  If you're a fan of custard though check out the spanish flan / Creme Caramel recipe and the custard tart recipe.  The principles of making custard are the same as making lemon curd.


Egg Custard
I made proper egg custard for the first time a few years back I have no idea where that recipe was from but this is what I use now.  I use double cream if I have it single cream if I don't and have even been know to just use milk.

1 Vanilla Pod
5 yolks
100g Caster Sugar
250ml Cream
250ml Full Cream Milk


Method

1. Split the Vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.  Add to milk and cream and bring to a simmer don't let it boil.  Remove the vanilla pod.
2. Whisk yolks and sugar together until thick and pale.
3. Add the Milk mix slowly to the eggs to prevent the eggs scrambling (it would do no harm to let it cool slightly) stirring all the while.
4. Pour the mix back into the pot and heat slowly and gently stirring all the while.
5. You'll know that the custard is ready when it coats the back of the wooden spoon and you can draw your finger through and it will leave a little path.

Birds Custard 
Some people fear lumpy custard but I've never had that problem, this is how my Mama taught me to make it.


2 tablespoons of Custard Powder
500ml Milk
1 tablespoon of Sugar 

Method

1. In mug put your custard powder, sugar and just enough milk to bind them.  Mix well so that there are no lumps.
2. Heat milk in a saucepan until bubbles start to appear at the sides.   Remove from the heat and top up the mug with the hot milk.  Give it a quick stir and then empty the contents of the mug to the saucepan.
3. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon until it thickens to a consistency that you're happy with.

Low fat Mini Banana Pancakes

This recipe is from Gina's Skinny Recipes.  I've translated some of the terms into but these are really nice little pancakes that aren't bad for you. I believe the original plan was banana fritter but I they're too close to pancakes to call them anything else.  If you haven't got spray oil put some sunflower, rape seed or other vegetable oil without a strong flavour into a saucer take some wadded up kitchen roll and oil the frying pan between each batch of but be very careful of your fingers.  If you want the full fat version put some oil in the pan and add butter, allow to melt and heat up before making these delightful mini pancakes.  If you just use butter it tends to burn.  They're quite lovely as they are but even better with butter and maple syrup at which point forget what I said about Low fat.


Low Fat Banana Fritters 
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 6 • Size: 4 pancakes 1 tbsp each • Old Points: 2.5 pts • Points+: 3 pts
Calories: 124.8 • Fat: 3.0 g • Protein: 3.2 g • Carb: 22.7 g • Fiber: 1.5 g
 
3 medium very ripe bananas
2 tbsp sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
spray oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon plus more to sprinkle on top
1 tsp Icing sugar


Method

1. Mix Cinnamon and flour together.
2. Mash the bananas.  Add the Sugar, Eggs, Vanilla and Flour (in that order mixing after each ingredient).
3. If you're using the spray oil, spray a layer of oil over the frying pan and heat to a gentle heat.  If you're using the oil and kitchen roll technique preheat the pan then oil it.
4. Using a tablespoon make little pancakes and fry on each side for a minute or two

Check out the photos!

I got an early Christmas present in the form of a camera - check out the pics!

• Maple Glazed Spiced Cookies
• Butter Cookies

More to follow when I get the chance.

What is a cookie Sheet?

A cookie sheet is a solid sheet on which cookies are baked.  I had always used baking trays until I discovered the ones I use of which I have about four because that way I can have cookies chilling in the fridge or freezer, cookies on cookie trays ready to go into the oven, cookies cooling on the trays before being lifted onto the cooling rack. They are the width of my oven which means I can fit as many in as possible, they are uncomplicated, they are cheap and easy to clean.

Freezing Cooking Dough

Even though cookies themselves cant be frozen, most cookie dough can be frozen but there are a few things that you need to bear in mind.

1. Use cling film or a freezer bag to wrap it up properly so that no parts are exposed
2. Label it and date it.You don't need to do anything fancy in fact a permanent marker will do the job.
3. Though it may vary according to ingredients a good rule of thumb is to use all within a month of freezing.
4. Basic Cookie dough can be sliced frozen and put straight but as a general rule I would say defrost thoroughly and continue as if the dough had just been chilled.

Cookie cutters

A cookie cutter is a shape that when applied to either pastry or certain cookie doughs cuts a shape in that form.   But lets face it, a glass will do! but the cookie cutters are so cute but can be addictive. I have a selection of them and I have had to organise them into labled ziplock bags but I have seen much worse.  I have certain associations some of which I understand their origins such as what would a gingerbread man be if not that shape (actually the answer is a gingerbread woman - I thought he was getting a little lonely and so his bachelor days are over) but then again I think Shortbread I think Hearts, I think spiced cookies I think stars.

Best cookie cutters to use: I would say that the best cookie cutters to use are the metal ones because they cut out the lines of the cookie cleanly and with ease.  But plastic will do just fine.

Tips:

• Always flour before use and during cutting cookies this helps with speed and consistency of shape
• Wash in warm soapy water, dry thoroughly and if using metal pop the cookie cutters back into the oven as it cools down after making the cookies to dry them out completely and prevent rust and discolouration.
• Store them so you can find them easily.  If you know you'll spend needless time finding the right one you won't go looking for it.  I've heard multiple suggestions for this but I use labelled Ziploc bags e.g. Christmas, Circles, etc.

Maple Glazed Spiced Cookies

 This cookie or to be more accurate biscuit, has a shortbread base but provides an alternative to using sugar.  This recipe called for honey in the mix, but I think I may be the only person in Ireland who doesn't like the taste of honey, so I substituted maple syrup and then added a maple glaze. The spices lend themselves to Christmas time. 

150g Plain flour
1 tsp  of Cinnamon
1/4 tsp of Mixed Spice
1/4 tsp of Ginger
85g Butter
3 tbsp maple syrup + more for glazing

1. Preheat the oven to 170C
2. In either a food processor or stand mixer place the flour spices and butter and mix until combined - it should give you a dry breadcrumb consistency.
3. Turn the machine back on a low speed and slowly add all of the maple syrup, then turn the speed back up until a dough is formed.
4. Wrap dough in cling film and then pop in the fridge for 30 mins (or store in the freezer in a freezer bag until you're ready to bake them).
5. Roll out to the thickness of a coin and cut out shapes.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 10-12 mins (you want them to remain reasonably pale like shortbread cookies).  As soon as they are out of the oven brush them with maple syrup and leave to cool.

Hulling strawberries

This is the method I use for getting rid of the green leaves on strawberries or the proper term how to hull strawberries.  Take an ordinary drinking straw and push it up through the strawberry from the pointy end and aim for the green bit at the top.  When the drinking straw breaks through the top of the strawberry the green part comes out whole as does the flavourless core.

The alternative is to use a small sharp knife to cut out the leafy green part.

Eton Mess

One of the easiest desserts but fantastic flavour.  There is no baking necessary unless you make the meringues.  I haven't really included amounts because I think it depends on your preferences - want a bit more cream? add a bit more cream etc.  It was invented in Eton College in the 19th Century but apparently it is unclear as to whether it was banana or strawberries used in the recipe originally and the meringue part is a late addition.  Whatever it may have been, the version below is most common, it is now typically served in the height of summer when strawberries are at their best.

Meringues
Cream
A punnet or two of strawberries

Method

1. Wash and hull the strawberries and then cut them into halves or quarters.
2. Whip Cream
3. Break up meringues
4. Throw them all in a bowl mix and serve

Variations
Any fruit can be used or indeed a little lemon with some passion fruit thrown in for good measure (don't over mix because you want to be able to taste the different layers)

Raising Agent / Leavening Agent

Basic rule of baking if you want something to rise you will either need to use eggs and/or a raising agent of some description. You need bubbles to make cakes, breads and even some cookies rise.  The bubbles get warm in the oven they expand and your baking goods get lighter.  So the obvious question would be why are there so many types of raising agents and whats the difference between them.  Can you swap them?

Yeast - Typically used in breads, pizzas and bread based buns (Chelsea buns & Cinnamon buns).  It's not suitable for cakes as a general rule because yeast has a fairly strong flavour, especially in the case of sour dough.  Using yeast means taking time to leaven and knead the bread.  Yeast is a living organism that needs feeding (sugar of some description) and warmth to be kicked into action.

• Fresh Yeast - The best way that I can describe it that it looks like putty and smells like beer.
• Dried Fast Action Yeast - Powdered version of fresh yeast that is much more predictable 
• Sour Dough Starters - This is nothing shy of magic in my books. In the new year I will tackle the whole Sour Dough Bread thing.

Bread Soda / Baking Soda -Typically used for scones, cookies and Irish soda bread among many others. If you've ever made a Baking Soda Volcano you will know that if you add an acid to Bread Soda (who for those want it's proper chemical term it's NaCl -Sodium Chloride) it will fizz up and release a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2 this is the stuff we exhale).  This is a fairly instantaneous release of gas so only add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients when you're ready to pop it into the oven.  Cakes that have a high acid content in them such as a lemon based cake or a cake with either buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt in them will use baking soda as either the main raising agent or an additional agent to balance the chemical process and improve flavour.  This seems to be much more common in American baking recipes than Irish or UK equivalents.  I wonder of the origins I'm all ears if someone can enlighten (see the way I 'lightened' the sentence with a baking pun) me.

Baking Powder - Typically used for cakes.  Baking powder is composed of everything that you need   (Baking Soda and an Alkaline, a stabiliser (quite often Cream of Tartar) and some cornflour (so its not as at risk to moisture) in the correct ratios, to make a cake rise.  Typically a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon baking powder per 200g Plain Flour.  The actual baking powder recipe changes from company to company including one discovered by the man who created Birds Custard.

Self Raising Flour - I'm including this because even though it's not a raising agent it contains the correct ratio of flour to raising agent to make a cake rise, this makes life much easier.

Just a note on Scones and  Soda Bread if you have buttermilk use baking soda if you have fresh milk use baking powder

Bain Marie

Though a Bain Marie sounds very fancy, it is little more than a bowl sitting above a smaller bowl of hot water.  The water in the smaller bowl should not touch the bowl above.  Think of melting chocolate for rice krispie buns when you were a kid.

A Bain Marie has two functions:

1. To keep food warm (the stainless steel version favoured by carveries)
2. To apply heat gently without burning 

Springform & Loose bottom tin

Both of these tins are used to easily room the cake from the tin.  Often you will see them in Cheesecakes and banoffee pies.


Loose bottom Tin -  This is a tin cylinder with a lip at the bottom end onto which sits the base of the tin.

Spring form Tin - The same as above except that there is a spring clasp to hold the cylinder in place

Pumpkin Cupcakes

So it was that armed with my tin of Libbys Pumpkin, I attempted to make a pumpkin pie - I failed miserably and it just tasted nasty.  I did say all these were tasted and tested recipes.  So for those with an inclination towards the Thanksgiving fruit I would suggest that you take a look at my nía Máirtín's recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes.  They fall into that wonderful category of sweet spice cake like carrot cake or Zucchini Bread.

Rolling out Shortcrust Pastry

It can be a pain in the rear rolling out pastry.  If you want to roll it out evenly and make it easy to pick up the trick is to roll it out between two sheets of grease proof paper.  Roll in one direction but keep turning the disk to get an even shape.  When it comes to lining your tin peel the top layer off and place whats left in the tin pastry side down.  Peel the remaining layer of grease proof paper off gently.

Baking Blind

Baking blind is to par-bake pastry so that the filling does not make the crust mushy.

To bake blind you will need:

Grease proof paper/ baking parchment or brown paper
Ceramic baking beads/ Chickpeas or other dried pulses
Egg white

Method

1. Place the pastry in the tin.  
2. Place a sheet of paper a little larger than the tin on top of the tin.  
3. Fill the sheet with baking beads
4. Bake in the oven for 10 mins
5. Remove from the oven remove the beads and the paper.  Glaze the  pastry case with egg white and return to the oven for 5 mins

Flavoured Cream

Cream is a great base for flavours which can compliment any dessert.  For the purposes of those listed below ordinary cream is sufficient there is no need for double cream.

Chantilly Cream - When I was a kid I thought that this was just the way cream was supposed to be.  This is softly whipped cream sweetened and flavoured with vanilla or brandy

Coffee Liqueur Cream - Softly whip cream and add Kahlua to taste

Maple Cream - Softly whip 250ml cream then stir in 2 tablespoons of Maple syrup.

Chocolate Cream - Melt chocolate in a Bain Marie and cool before folding into whipped cream

Whiskey Cream - Softly whip cream and add Whiskey to taste (you may need to sweeten with a little icing sugar).  This is perfect for Christmas Puddings and Warm mince pies.

Brandy Cream - As for whiskey cream except use Brandy instead

Plum Tart

I have a love hate relationship with plums.  I can abide them fresh but adore them cooked.  So when they're cheap I buy them buy the punnet load.  This is a really simple tart.  Open faced it is undeniably pretty with its slices arranged in a circle.  The maple syrup balances the sourness of the plums but honey would work equally well.  Finally there is a little warmth in the cinnamon.  Serve warm with ice-cream, custard, or flavoured cream.

1 Quantity of Almond Shortcrust Pastry
8-12 Plums (washed and with the stones taken out you'll need enough plums to fill the tart)
Maple Syrup
half tsp Cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C
2. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a coin and place in a greased pie dish.  Bake Blind
3. Slice the Plums thinly and generously fill the tart
4. Drizzle Maple syrup over the top
5. Sprinkle Cinnamon over the tart before returning it to the oven for 10 mins

Cookies 'n' Cream (Oreos) Cheesecake

This is one of those unbaked cheesecakes.  I'd been thinking about how you would make it for a while and when I was happy with how to go about it I set about making it one evening when friends were calling over.  


Typically with cheesecakes I use cream cheese and all is good with the world, except this time no cream cheese.  What was worse is that the local shop had none and I felt guilty sending my other half out by bicycle on a November's evening to hunt and gather (did I mention he has a broken shoulder).  I would have gone myself but I was mid marathon cookie baking session and couldn't leave the oven.  So, back over the road I go to the Spar and eyed the 0% fat cottage cheese (it reminds of misery in a tub, food that people eat when they're dieting that they wouldn't normally touch if that's all that was left in the fridge to eat till payday) .  It came home with me and after blending it with double cream, vanilla extract, icing sugar and that fluffy white stuff that you get in Oreos and a few mushed up Oreos it looked and tasted really nice.  


Interesting point to note is that despite using a stand mixer the cottage cheese didn't breakdown completely but that was hidden by the texture of crushed cookies.  The recipe below doesn't use the cottage cheese method but by all means swap the cottage cheese for the cream cheese and give it a go.


2 packets of Oreos (regular sized)
1 packet of cream cheese
250ml Double Cream
50g Butter
25g Icing Sugar
Minature oreos to decorate

Method

1. Split the Oreos in half as if you were going to lick them
2. Put the oreo cookies in a plastic bag and beat with a rolling pin.  Melt butter and add two thirds of the crushed Oreo crumbs to the butter.  If the mix is not moist enough to stick together don't be shy about adding more melted butter.  This will be the crust of the cake so it needs to hold together.  Press the Oreo crumbs into a spring form or loose bottomed tin.  Allow to cool and then put the base in the fridge to set completely.
3. Scrape out the white stuffing and put it in a large bowl with the cream cheese and icing sugar and mix well. Add the double cream a little at a time until its all combined then whisk to thicken and add air.  Finally fold in the remainder of the Oreo cookies.  At this point taste it.  It may need a little extra sweetening or some vanilla to balance the taste of the sweet and the sour of the cheese.
4. Spread the Oreo cream mixture over the base and decorate with miniature or crushed Oreos
5. Put back in the fridge to set. Remove from Spring form tin and eat in large quantities.

Sorry 'bout the Photos

Sorry for the lack of photographic backup to most of these recipes.  My camera took a tumble and my phone doesn't have a flash so indoor photos are really bad.  I work during the day and most of my baking happens in the evenings and at weekends and the cakes and biscuits don't usually last that long. I am working on sorting myself out for a camera but in the meantime please be patient.  As I will have to get pics of recipes already made let me know if you would be interested in coming to see me work my magic and bake a little.

Why sieve or sift flour? What difference does it make?

A sieve is a fine wire mesh with a handle used in baking.  It is typically bowl shaped or conical.

Purposes

• Removing lumps from 
• powders used in baking e.g. flour cocoa
• other things that can be pushed through the sieve like raspberries to remove the seeds when making raspberry coulis
• Mixing ingredients together e.g. sifting baking powder and flour together for even distribution
• To add air to a mix e.g. a sponge cake.

Alternative:
In many cases you can use a whisk to add air, mix dry ingredients or remove lumps.

Care:
The main disadvantage is that its something else to wash up afterwards.  Wash it dry it and pop it in the oven for a few minutes to dry off the metal fully as your ovens cooling down after baking.  It will prolong the life of your sieve by not going rusty. (I know this goes without saying, but only put the sieve in the oven if it has no melt-able parts and please remember to use an oven glove to handle it).

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

This recipe comes courtesy of my sister in law Maura.  I usually find banana cake or banana bread to be a little dense and soggy this is both moist and flavourful and has a little welcome surprise in its belly.  This makes two loaves (one for now and one for the freezer).

28/6/15 I have used exactly this recipe to make muffins and they are divine! The great thing about them is that you can bake a big batch and freeze the individual muffins so that there is always something in the house when you have surprise visitors or when you fancy something sweet.

225g butter/marg

350g caster sugar

* Cream these together*

Add in:

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream (fresh is ok if using self raising flour)

3 or 4 ripe bananas

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp bread soda

pinch salt (I never use this)

1 tsp vanilla essence

525g plain flour

*Mix well*

Filling and Topping;

50g brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

200g (2 packets) Milk chocolate chips

1. Grease the tins
2. Divide half the cake mixture between the two tins
3. Put a layer of the filling and topping mixture in each tin (I use most of the chocolate chips here)
4. Divide the remaining cake mixture between the tins
5. Top off the cakes with the rest of the filling mixture
6.  Bake for 45-60 minutes @ 180 degrees C

Macaroons

I've been searching for a recipe that I could use up the leftover egg white whenever I make cinema floor cookies and this is it. There is no flour in it and for those with issue with gluten their nice sweet treats. I've used lemon zest to flavour these but you could use almond essence instead.  Regarding Ground Nuts this is not limited to almonds; you can toast and skin all sorts of nuts before pulsing them in a blender for this recipe or buy them in the shop

1 egg white
100g Ground Nuts (or dessicated coconut)
100g Caster Sugar
Flavouring (see note above)

(Makes 8)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170c
2. Lightly beat an egg white
3. Mix in the remainder of the ingredients in a bowl.
4. Form little ping pong ball sized balls in your hands the mixture should be firm but sticky and place them on a baking tray and flatten a little with a fork
5. Bake for 10 mins until pale golden, then cool on a wire rack

Alternate method

1. Preheat oven to 170c.
2. Prepare a baking sheet with oiled baking parchment
3. Using a stand mixer whisk the egg white to soft peaks add a little sugar and mix briefly but thoroughly.  Add the remainder of the sugar. Mix properly but do not over whisk!
4. Fold in ground nuts
5. Half fill piping bag (I use one without the nozzle) and make 4-5cm diameter circles on the baking sheet
6. Bake for 10mins until pale golden, then cool on a wire rack

Fruit Scones that dont look like biscuits!

Finally I found a recipe that works!  For years every time I made scones they wound up looking like biscuits- tasty but rock hard.  I got the basic recipe from Shamrock but as usual have made a few little changes.  The basic recipe called for Margarine but I prefer butter.  I also have ingredients for a glaze which I think makes a good scone a great scone.  Apple and Cinnamon are a lovely combination so if you choose to put apples (pick a firm apple with flavour e.g. a Pink Lady or Coxs Pippin) in the mix add a tsp of cinnamon for every 100g of flour or you can add it to the glaze.  This makes about 12 generous scones that can be frozen and microwaved for approx 1 minute to defrost though nothing beats a scone fresh out of the oven.

Ingredients
8oz/200g Self Raising Flour
4oz/100g Fruit (Sultanas/Cherries/Cranberries/chopped Apple/Raspberries-take your pick)
2oz/50g Butter (cut into cubes at room temp)
1oz/25g Sugar
¼ pint Milk (though I added an egg instead and topped it up with milk for a richer dough)

Glaze:
1 egg
2 tbsp Demerara Sugar (there should be enough here but you can always add more)
1 tsp Cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
2. Sieve Flour into a bowl. Stir in the sugar
3. Rub the butter into the flour and sugar mix. It should look at little like breadcrumbs when you're finished.  Stir in the fruit.
4. Make a well in the middle. The best way to stir this gently is to make a claw shape with your hand and add the milk (or egg and milk) a little at a time until you reach a soft dough.  (Your hands will be a sticky mess but you'll have really light and fluffy scones)
5. Tip your dough onto a floured work surface.  Roll it out to about 2cm
6. To glaze them brush them with egg and pop them in the oven just like that or dip them in the demerara sugar cinnamon mix.

 

1. Bake in the oven for 10-15 Mins and serve with butter or cream and jam.

Variation
For Brown Scones use 4oz/100g Wholemeal flour and 4oz/100g Self Raising Flour instead of the 8oz/200g Self Raising Flour in the recipe and leave out the fruit.

Spiced Rum and Butter Pecan Ice-cream

This was a tweaked butter pecan recipe.  I adjusted the recipe to make it financially more viable and the spiced rum gives the flavour a bit of depth.  The result is awesome and indulgent.

Ingredients
500ml Cream
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
1 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup pecan
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp spiced rum (Captain Morgan)

Method

1. Roughly chop the pecans and then brown in a pot with butter.  Be careful not to burn the butter or bitterness will ensue.
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients and simmer stirring all the time with a wooden spoon.  You're making a custard so let it thicken up a bit.  You will know when its ready because it will coat the back of a spoon.
3. Leave the custard cool completely then pop it in the fridge to chill down some more before popping it in an ice-cream machine with the pecans.  Turn on the ice-cream machine for 40 mins or so and then into a container in the freezer.  If you don't have an ice-cream machine stick the mix in the freezer and break up the ice crystals every 30 mins or so.
4. Take the ice cream out of the freezer for a least 10mins before serving.