Showcase Cake - Columbian Flag

So I'm going to depart from my usual recipes to do a showcase post. I've been debating doing this for a while but since I don't actually have any new recipes this week I figure what the hey, go for it and see what happens.

The first showcase I'm going to put up is one I did a few months ago. It was ordered by a friend for another mutual friend's birthday. He's from Columbia and over here to study so the idea for the cake was the Columbian flag; yellow, blue and red stripe. The cake was vanilla sponge and the icing was chocolate fudge buttercream and both of these recipes can be found in the blog :)

There were a few imperfections in terms of lines and cracks but it was very well received and they were very happy with it

Maple Pecan Flapjacks

This is an autumnal spin on my standard flapjack recipe. The smells of the maple syrup and cinnamon permeating the air along with the smell of melted butter is so homey and warm that it never fails to bring a smile to my face. I was inspired to make these for a duvet day in honour of a friends birthday and they were just perfect. What could be better than lounging around in sweatpants, watching silly movies and having stupid conversations and eating sticky, chewy hearty flapjacks? They were a huge hit! Especially with the 

Flapjacks
Makes 9-12

• 225g butter,
• 225g light brown sugar
• 2tbsp golden syrup
• 350g rolled oats (jumbo oats)
• 50mls maple syrup
• 200g toasted pecans, roughly chopped
• 1tbsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 150 C and grease a 9" square tin

Spread the pecans evenly over a baking tray and pop into the oven for approx. 10 minutes, shaking once to turn

Melt the butter with the sugar and syrup in a saucepan over a medium-low heat,

stirring to avoid sticking and burning until the butter has melted completely

Add in the cinnamon and maple syrup

Remove from the heat and stir in the oats and pecans, ensuring they are well coated in the mixture

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and press down with the back of a spoon

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden on the top

Cool completely then cut into squares with a knife and remove from the tin (being careful not to break them up)

Enjoy!

Also, if there are crumbs left over they make fantastic granola for your morning yoghurt!

Breakfast Bread

Did you ever wish for a loaf of bread so loaded with fruit and nuts the batter can support a spoon? well, today's your lucky day. Breakfast bread has been one of those recipes I've tried many versions of and discarded them all; they were too sweet, too moist, just not quite right. This recipe came from a good friend of mine, described as 'completely fool-proof and totally yummy'. And it is. 

The loaf is packed with nuts, seeds and dried fruit and lightly spiced with cinnamon.

Breakfast Bread

Makes one 9oz/2lbs loaf

• 250g wholemeal flour
• 45g oat bran
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 60g oats
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 egg
• 200 mls milk
• 43g dried cranberries
• 43g raisins
• handful sunflower seeds
• handful pumpkin seeds
• 2 handfuls walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 9oz loaf tin.

Beat the egg and honey into the milk and add the porridge. Leave to soak while you get everything else ready.

Mix all the dry ingredients together, then chuck in the fruit, nuts and seeds and toss to coat.

Mix the wet into the dry and combine until the batter comes together - it should be a little sticky but not too wet.

Transfer to the loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Turn the oven down if it's beginning to brown too quickly.

All of the fruit, seeds and nuts measurements are completely customisable, just chuck in whatever you prefer yourself. Enjoy for breakfast or as a yummy snack at any time of the day :)

S'mores Cookies

Business has been going pretty well lately, my cookies are selling, well, like hotcakes but I decided to change it up a little and try something new for this week. S'mores aren't really a thing over here in Ireland. I mean, we know what they are from watching American kids telly but most people have never made them, probably because we don't get graham crackers over here and digestives are the best substitute we have. As you may know by now I am dating an American and he's introduced me to all sorts of new foods and ways of cooking foods I've made before (his love of cooking is a huge plus for me). I recently got to try the staple campfire treat when Ethan's dad brought graham crackers home from a trip to the States and I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't what I was expecting but I liked them, the gooey marshmallows, melty chocolate and crunchy biscuits are a yummy combination! In honour of this I decided to make s'mores cookies for this weeks sales. The cookie dough recipe is the same as my M&M Cookies just substituting the M&Ms for milk

chocolate chunks.

S'mores Cookies

Makes 16

• 1 batch of cookie dough
• 300g milk chocolate
• 16 marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 150C

Line 2 baking sheets with greaseproof paper

Pour the chocolate chunks over the dough 

and combine well (I always use my hands for this bit)

Form 2 tbsp of dough at a time into balls and

put on the baking sheets

Press the balls into flat rounds on the sheets

Bake for 7-9 minutes, until the edges start to stiffen

While this is going on split all the marshmallows in half

Take the cookies out of the oven and put two marshmallow bits on each 

Bake the cookies for a further 6-8 mins, until the edges are golden brown and the marshmallows are melted and gooey

Cool for 10 mins on the sheets then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely

If they stick to the greaseproof paper (at least one always does...), don't panic. Just leave it to go completely cold then gently winkle it off using a spatula. If you don't want the marshmallows to be so melted you could put them on later in the cooking process, when the cookies are nearly cooked anyway.

Boston Cream LIES!

Ok, so I was in the US a few years ago and ordered Boston Cream Pie for dessert, expecting some sort of pie crust filled with creme patissiere or something. Instead I got a cake filled with it and coated in rich chocolate ganache. It was delicious but very misleading and I never found out why it is in fact called a pie when it's clearly a cake!
 
*Phew* rant over. So it's my brother's birthday and he loves loves loves creme patissiere. In fact I'm pretty sure if I just presented him with a bowl of the stuff and a spoon he'd consider that a birthday present in itself. I normally use it as a filling for my Summerfruit Tart but I know he likes this dessert too so I decided to give it a go.
 
Boston Cream Pie
Makes one 9" cake 

Sponge

• 350g self raising flour
• 350g caster sugar
• 225g butter (room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 5 eggs
• 50-75 mls milk

Preheat the oven to 175C
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
Add half the flour, mix, add half the milk and repeat.
If the mixture is a little thick looking add some extra milk
Divide the batter into two tins and bake for 30-35 minutes

Creme Patissiere

• 300mls full cream
• 200 mls full milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 100g caster sugar
• 40g cornflour
• 5 egg yolks

Heat the cream, milk and vanilla on medium until it's nearly reached a boil
In a glass bowl mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour
When the cream mixture is ready pour it into the egg mixture and whisk
Pour everything back into the pot and cook on a medium heat until it begins to thicken
Cook for a further 3-5 minutes, whisking constantly, then remove from the heat
Cool completely in a glass bowl
Fill the cake using a piping bag with a round tip/no tip

Chocolate Ganache

• 300g dark chocolate
• 130 mls full cream

Scald the cream and pour it over the chocolate
Stir until the chocolate is completely melted, then cool completely before pouring over the cake

Sunny Lemon Cupcakes

We were sitting on lunch break in the lab when the conversation turned to cake and our favourite kinds of cake (not on my initiation, I swear!). During the conversation lemon cake was mentioned and there was a general consensus that we'd all love some lemon cake right now. So I volunteered my services and promised lemon cupcakes the following day.

I have a lovely recipe for Earl Grey and Lemon Cupcakes, really moist and deliciously aromatic. But in order to make these cupcakes as moist I knew I'd have to substitute the tea for something else. So I thought about it and settled on Greek yoghurt, which I've used with great results before. These cupcakes are intensely lemony, there are 4 lemons involved in the batter and yummy glaze that goes on top! But it's not too tart or overpowering. Aside from the initial mixing of the wet ingredients the mixing method is all folding. the key to a tender, light cupcake is air, air, air! So be gently with the mixture but careful not to over-mix or they could be bready! 

Lemon Cupcakes

Makes 15-17

• 200g butter, room temperature
• 215g caster sugar
• 4 tbsp Greek yoghurt
• 3 eggs
• 275g self raising flour
• juice of 1 lemon
• zest of 2 lemons

Preheat the oven to 180C and line the cupcake tin with liners

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each

Sieve in 1/3 of the flour and fold gently

Add the yoghurt and fold

Sieve in the remaining flour, fold in and fold in the juice and zest

Fill the liners nearly to the brim and bake for 30-35 minutes

Cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and cooling completely. Then glaze and enjoy!

Lemon Glaze

• 500g icing sugar
• juice of 2 lemons
• zest of 1 lemon

Combine all ingredients (if it's too thick or thin add more juice or sugar as needed)

Done!

Caramel Swirl Anniversary Cheesecake

It's anniversary time. Still going strong and happy after three years we had a lovely day planned, starting with a hike through the Dublin mountains in the lovely crisp Spring sunshine, followed by dinner and a movie (so stereotypical, but we love it!). Unfortunately, Murphy's law kicked in and I was too sick to even walk down the driveway, let alone up any sort of incline. So we re-assessed and decided to just have dinner and watch something together. I made my super yummy spaghetti bolognese and set to work making dessert. He loves cheesecake. But, being from the US, he likes cheesecake of the baked variety, rather than our more traditional no-bake. Until I made my Mini Mixed Berry Cheesecakes I had never made a baked one before and I have to say, I'm converted. The texture is light and fluffy, like air, rather than dense, but it still retains it's creaminess and the taste is more intense, I find.

Caramel Sauce

• 1/2 tin condensed milk
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 30g butter
• 50g brown sugar

Chuck all of the ingredients into a pot

Cook over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar has completely 

dissolved and the mixture looks like caramel

Caramel Swirl Cheesecake

Makes 1 8" cheesecake

• 350g light cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 350g digestive biscuits
• 70g butter, melted
• caramel sauce

Grease the sides and line the base of an 8" round loose-bottom tin

Crush the digestives into fine crumbs and combine with the butter

Press this mixture into the base and sides of the tin and chill in the fridge

for 30 minutes

While that cools, you can make the filling

Preheat the oven to 160C

Whip the cream cheese to loosen it and introduce air

Add egg and vanilla and mix well

Mix in 1 tbsp of the caramel sauce

Pour the mixture into the base and then add dollops of the caramel on top

Using a skewer/knife, swirl it through the filling mixture until you're happy with it

Bake for 45-60 minutes

Cool for 20 minutes in the tin then remove and cool completely

Important!

put an ovenproof dish with a little water in it on the shelf below the cheesecake,

this will prevent cracking!

Cinnamon Shortbread & Eating Leftovers in our PJ's

Cinnamon Shortbread

I know this is a little out of season, ok waaay out of season, but since I've been on hiatus I lost track of my drafts. I found this one this morning and I thought that it would be perfect for the wintry weather we're experiencing right now! It is unseasonably chilly in Ireland with gale force winds and hail, rain and sleet. We haven't seen the sun for more than a few hours at a time in weeks so I think a nice mug of hot chocolate is in order with a few of my cinnamon shortbread. Yum!

This is the easiest and most practiced Christmas (or anytime) recipe I have, I know it by heart and can rhyme it off since it's  based on my original  Shortbread Recipe just with added cinnamon and some icing for decoration. Every Christmas Eve there's a tradition whereby we get together with our neighbours after the nativity mass and have drinks and nibbles and these are an ever present and much loved choice.

Shortbread

Makes around 30 cookies

• 220g butter (room temperature)
• 100g caster/ superfine sugar (granulated will work but the others are preferable)
• 350g plain flour
• 2 tsps ground cinnamon
• 1-3 tbsp milk (more if necessary)

Preheat oven to 170 C

Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, in a separate bowl combine the flour and cinnamon

Add flour mixture and mix until the dough has the consistency of breadcrumbs (I always use my hands for this)

Add milk 1tbsp at a time until dough comes together into a ball

Roll dough out to 2-3mm and cut out cookies

Bake for 15 mins, until golden at the edges

Cool on a wire rack

If you decide to decorate them, to make the icing mix royal icing sugar with a little water and beat until it thickens to a stiff pouring consistency. Transfer to an icing bag and decorate. I tend to just use the icing to highlight the edges of the cookies rather than flooding them which I find makes the cookies way to sweet, but this is the creative bit so have fun with it :)

First Post After a Long Absence

I'm finally back! I've dusted the cobwebs off my wooden spoon and I'm ready to bake again. I must apologise for the long absence and the lack of posting, unfortunately due to medical issues I have spent the past few months in and out of hospital and on bed-rest. I am one of the few people in Ireland than suffers from Lupus (SLE), an atoimmune disorder. Without going into gory details I picked up an infection without realising it at some stage last Autumn which built and built without my knowing until my body couldn't handle it anymore. The end result was weeks of hospital, needles, endless tests and feeling pretty rotten. I lost most of the muscle mass in my arms, legs and back which I'm only beginning to regain, although I'm pretty sure beating butter and sugar will give me back my glorious guns...or at least my right one!

So, the recipe. I decided to do something completely different and make Earl Grey tea and lemon cupcakes as a thank you gift for close family friends who looked after me very well during my illness. I've tasted them before and I love the light flavour that the tea gives the sponge and the lemon adds a brightness that I think is the perfect complement. The end result is a fresh tasting cupcake, reminiscent of summer on these rainy wintry days, that goes perfectly with a cup of tea. I'm using a version of the Hummingbird Bakery recipe that I've modified slightly

Earl Grey & Lemon Cupcakes
Makes 12

• 3 Earl Grey teabags
• 1tbsp freshly boiled water
• 80g butter, soft
• 2 eggs
• 280g white caster sugar 
• 240g plain flour
• 1tbsp baking powder
• 200mls milk
• zest of 1 lemon

Add the water to the teabags and brew for 30 minutes

Preheat oven to 185C, line a muffin tray with paper liners

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add eggs one at a time mixing well, and lemon zest
In another bowl mix flour and baking powder
Add the brewed tea to the milk and mix
Alternate adding flour mix and milk to the butter mixture and combine
Divide evenly between the holes in the tin
Bake for 17-20 minutes

Lemon Glaze
Makes 

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 5tbsp icing sugar

Combine the juice and sugar

Add more sugar if the mix is too runny

(It should run off a spoon slowly but be slightly transluscent)

You can omit the zest from the glaze to make the lemon less intense or leave the zest but make it up with water rather than juice. This will change the flavour slightly but some people prefer doing it this way.

Enjoy! :)

Mixed Berry Baked Cheesecake

So I finally got himself away from work for a little holiday and it has been wonderful. My maternal family owns a house on an island off the West Cork coast called Bere Island so we decided to go there. No matter how often I come here I am always struck by how beautiful this part of the world is and also how secluded and quiet; you can open the window in the morning and not hear a thing save for the occasional lowing cow. Magic...

While the house is very homey, with comfy couches around the fireplace and bits and bobs made by my grandparents, it is also quite basic. There is no drinkable running water and no central heating; you have to bring your own water to drink and cook with and the house is heated by the fire and plug in heaters. But even with this mild inconvenience (and the much smaller inconvenience of having no TV or internet) I wouldn't change the house for the world.

After a very early start, a 5 hour drive and a short ferry trip we landed on the island. There followed four days of long walks, peace and quiet, cuddling on the sofa infront of the fire, exploring British and Irish army battlements, talking about everything and nothing, paddling in the wind tossed Atlantic and eating good honest home cooked meals lit by candlelight.

So I decided to take a plunge I've been contemplating for a while and make baked cheesecake. This is one of Ethan's all time favourite desserts but in two and a half years I'd never made it, because I'd heard horror stories about cracking and it being just generally difficult. But something about the salty air just made me determined. I have a set of heart shaped ramekins that I used to make these in but three inch tins will be fine. I also made up a mixed berry compote to pour over the top. Granted it ended up more like a jam but it was still pronounced delicious!

Berry Compote

• 250g frozen mixed berries
• 30-50mls water
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Put all of the ingredients into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat on medium until the fruit disintegrates and everything comes together into a thick-ish sauce-like consistency. Cool completely before using in the chesecake

Mini Mixed Berry Cheesecake
Makes 2 3" cheesecakes

• 200g cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 5 tbsp mixed berry compote
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 10-13 digestive biscuits (depending on how thick you like the base)
• 45-50g butter (melted)

Crush the digestives and add the butter, mixing well

Press the mixture into the base and around the sides of the tins/ramekins

Chill in the fridge for 15 mins

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 160 C and make the filling!

Whip the cream cheese until light and loose

Add the sugar, lemon juice and compote and beat well (should be runnier than expected)

Mix in the flour and pour into the chilled bases

Bake for 25-30 minutes in the center of the oven, with a tray of water in the base of the oven (this helps stop cracking)

Cool completely then pour (or spread, in my case) the cooled compote over the cheesecakes and serve!

Toffee Pecan Pie

Hello my baking nemesis, once more we meet again....

Pecan pie is the one baked good I've encountered so far that always gave me difficulty. You may remember back last November for Thanksgiving I had to make an emergency Banoffee Pie to make up for the kitchen disaster than was my pecan pie. But, through practice and the tweaking of the recipe that is hopefully a thing of the past!

Now, because I live in Ireland I always had to make corn-syrup free recipes which may have contributed to the problem. Luckily I found a good replacement; dark brown sugar, condensed milk and golden syrup. They give the pie it's toffee taste but the condensed milk lightens it and stops it tasting burnt.

Hopefully this incarnation tastes as good as it smells


Perfect Pie Crust
Makes one 9" pie crust

• 100g butter, cold
• 150g plain flour
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 2-3 tbsp water

Rub the butter into the flour until the mix in the consistency of fine breadcrumbs

(You can also use a blender to pulse it)

Add the sugar, egg and mix

Bring the mix together to form a smooth dough, adding water 1 tbsp at a time if necessary

Chill in the fridge for 30 mins

Preheat the oven to 170 C and toast the pecans for 10 minutes

Roll out the dough until it's 1.5 inches wider than the tin

Press the dough into the tin, line with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beads

Blind bake for 10 minutes.

While this is going on it's time to make the filling!

Pie Filling

• 175g condensed milk
• 150g dark brown sugar
• 100g butter, softened
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 heaped tbsp plain flour
• 150g pecans

Cream butter and sugar together and beat in the golden

syrup and eggs

Mix in the condensed milk and vanilla

Add the flour and beat the mixture well

Pour into the pie shell and scatter over the toasted pecans

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 mins, until the filling is bouncy but not runny

If the edges are browning too quickly cover with tinfoil

Cool in the tin for 20 minutes then remove from tin and cool 

completely

Criossant Bread Pudding

We've not had much of a summer here in Ireland. Actually, that's an understatement, we've had near constant rain and for the past week I've been able to see my breath outdoors. It's July. Rather than the traditional summer puddings and light desserts I would normally make, I've found myself going back to more autumnal fare; hot stodgy puddings and crumbles. This bread pudding is a twist on the traditional bread and butter pudding using croissants in place of bread. I must admit I prefer the more traditional version but I got wonderful fresh croissants this morning and I just had to make something with them to whisk away the soggy weather blues.


Croissant Bread Pudding
Serves 4

• 5 large croissants
• 3 eggs
• 175mls cream
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp cointreau (optional)
• a handful of raisins
• a handful of mixed peel (optional)

Preheat the oven to 175C

Whisk the eggs and milk and add the sugar, 1 tbsp of the maple syrup and the cointreau (if using)

Tear the croissants in half and pack half of them into a 9" ceramic oven dish

Scatter half of the raisins and mixed peel (if using) over the croissants
Drizzle over 2 tbsp of the maple syrup

Pour in the egg and cream mixture and scatter in the rest of the raisins

Drizzle over the last of the syrup and bake for 40-45 mins until golden and puffed up

Cool for 10 minutes or so and serve warm with cream.

Personally I prefer the bread version of this pudding but this is a firm family favourite, much lighter with a homey buttery taste and slight smokiness from the maple syrup! Delish!

Summerfruit Tart

Ethan's Mum recently moved into a new house and we are going over tonight to have dinner and a look around. From what I've been hearing it's an amazing house; an architectural oddity, (think 4 floors in a 2 storey house), complete with its own apple orchard out the back. I'll definitely be collecting windfalls for pies, tarts and crumbles come Autumn!


So she invited us over for dinner tonight and I said I would bring dessert. So despite the fact it's raining and a little chilly out there I decided to go with a summerfruit tart. This was my favourite dessert growing up, and when we were getting desserts from our local bakery it's the one I'd always go for. The combination of the buttery crust, light creme patisserie with real vanilla beans and the sweet summer fruit was just perfect. 


I have attempted to re-create my childhood with the recipe given to me by Mary, the woman who actually made the tarts in that bakery. I had a bit of a moment when my creme patisserie began to split but I was able to rescue it with a little milk and butter and the end result was light and delicately 
flavoured by the vanilla.


Summerfruit Tart
Makes one 9" tart


Tart Base

• 180g flour
• 120g butter, cold and cubed
• 110g white caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1-2 tbsp milk (if necessary)

Rub the butter into the flour using your fingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add the sugar and mix well, bringing the dough together

If the dough does not come together add the milk and knead until a ball of dough can be formed

Chill for 1 hour

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 9" tart pan.

Roll the chilled dough out to a thickness of about 3mm and transfer it to the tin,

pressing it into the corners and leaving about 2" of overhang.

Snip away some of the excess until there's about 1" left all the way around and prick the dough using a fork

Lay some baking paper inside the dough and pour in some baking beads (dried beans will work fine)

Bake for 20 mins and cool completely before removing it from the tin.

Creme Patisserie

• 300 mls full cream
• 200 mls milk
• 100g white caster sugar
• 40g cornflour
• 5 egg yolks
• vanilla pod

Mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a glass/ metal bowl

Pour the cream and milk into a heavy bottomed saucepan.

Split the vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds and add them and the pod into the saucepan.

Heat the milk and cream until just boiling then remove the pod, pour into the egg mixture and whisk.

Pour this mixture back into the saucepan and cook on a medium heat, whisking constantly until it begins to thicken

Cook for a further 3-5 minutes then remove from the heat and pour into a glass bowl to cool.

Assembly

When everything is cool then it's time to assemble the tart. For the fruit topping I used kiwis, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, but feel free to mix and match and change it up, this tart is really open to interpretation.

Pour the creme patisserie into the tart shell, spreading it into the crevices and smoothing it out to create an even layer. Then add the fruit on top of the creme, arranging it in either the traditional rings or however you would like. Keep chilled and remove from the fridge 20-30 mins before serving.

Notes:

• Some people glaze the tart with apricot jam but I actually don;t like it, I think it makes the tart far too sweet and sticky. But most bakeries do it and it does give the tart a very finished look so it's a bit of a toss up whether you would like to use it or not. 
• If your creme patisserie starts to split add a little drop more milk while the mix is in the pan and whisk like mad. Then, when the creme is cooked and has been poured into the glass bowl add 1.5 tbsps of butter. This will stabilise the creme and bring it back from the brink.

Mini Chocolate Fudge Cake

June is a busy baking month for me, this year especially. Most of my friends' birthdays are this month and with the opening of Kate's Bakes I also have orders and commissions on top of all this; case in point, a double order of flood-iced almond shortbread, a mini chocolate fudge birthday cake and a big strawberries and cream pavlova due tomorrow! Not that I'm complaining mind, it's just really funny because there was about a 2 weeks period of nothing going on; no birthdays, no nothin'. Now everyone decides to have a birthday at the same time :P

This is the first time I've made a mini cake. I toyed with the idea of buying the teeny tiny tins then decided I'd bake one 9" round and cut out the two 4" layers from that. When it's cooled it's going to be filled with chocolate cream and topped with gooey dark chocolate ganache (SO MUCH CHOCOLATE). The cake is moist but light with a delicate crumb. It's perfect for any celebration because the recipe quantities can be easily modified to make any size of cake (I've included the alterations in blue for a full 9" cake in the ingredients)

Mini Chocolate Fudge Cake

Makes one 4" sandwich cake/ one 9" round

• 90g (175g) plain flour
• 1 tsp (2tsps)  baking powder
• 65g (125g) butter
• 2 (3) eggs
• 75g (150g) light brown sugar
• 35g (50g) white caster sugar
• 1 tbsp (2tbsps) plain yoghurt
• 150g (225g) plain chocolate

Preheat the oven to 190 C

Melt chocolate over a bain marie

Cream butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy

Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition

Stir in chocolate and yoghurt

Sift in flour and fold in, aerating the batter

Pour the mixture into a 9" sandwich tin

Bake for 20-25 mins

Cool for 10 mins in the tins then turn out onto a wire rack

Gluten Free (But They'll Never Notice) Shortbread

This week I got an order for gluten free shortbread for a graduation, decorated as sparkly stars and champagne bubbles. I love shortbread; it's buttery, crunchy, crumbly and not too sweet. My All Butter Shortbread recipe is an all time favourite but I was a little worried about how the gluten free version would match up. Turns out I had nothing to worry about, the crumb structure was perfect and the cookies were just as buttery and delicious as the usually are. 

This cookie recipe gave me a chance to get three firsts over and done with. It was my first time covering cookies with fondant and my first time flood icing. The order was covered with fondant; pale lilac for the stars and cream/ivory for the champagne bubbles and I also used edible glitter for the first time to sparkle up the stars. 

With the remaining dough I decided to make some cookies to celebrate the end of exams/start of summer. I flood iced them with blue icing and decorated with white. It was a really nice combination and we polished them off lying in the grass in the sun in our back garden. 

Gluten-Free Shortbread

• 350g Gluten-free flour mix
• 220g butter (at room temp)
• 125g caster sugar
• 2tsp xanthan gum
• 1-3 tbsp milk (if necessary, omit if recipe needs to be dairy free)

Preheat oven to 150C, line baking trays with greaseproof paper

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy

In a separate bowl combine the flour and xanthan gum

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well (it will be a little crumbly at this stage, if it is too crumbly add the milk)

When the dough comes together into a ball chill it for 1-2 hours in the fridge

Roll it out to 5mm thick and cut out the desired shapes

Bake for 12-15 mins, until the edges are golden brown

Cool in the tin for 5 mins then cool completely on a wire rack

Decorate as desired when the cookies are totally cooled :) 

Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Got my first order in for anything gluten free the other day from a friend of mine who is allergic to both wheat and soy. I've never been so paranoid in the kitchen as I was when I was prepping all the ingredients and making up the dough. I obsessively washed the mixing bowls, chopping board, weighing scale bowl, storage tin, counter tops..... The kitchen was sparkling clean before I'd even put butter and sugar together! Having seen what even the tiniest bit of wheat does to him I checked and re-checked the ingredients seventeen times to ensure none contained wheat or soy. Having reassured myself, kind of, I set to work.

Gluten (and Soy) Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Makes 12

• 300g gluten free flour mix (I use Dove's farm)
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 250g butter, softened
• 340g light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 250g milk chocolate chunks (soy free; I used Cadbury's Dairy Milk)

Preheat the oven to 165C

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy

Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla beating well after each addition

In another bowl mix the dry ingredients

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well

Add the chocolate chunks and combine well

Divide into 12 lumps and bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden

The xanthan gum really fixes the crumb structure and gives the cookies the texture of normal cookies. It was the first time I'd used it and I was amazed. When they were cooled I packed them away in my super clean tin lined with greaseproof paper to be ABSOLUTELY sure they could not be contaminated. They were well received and suitably devoured. I think I'll find myself making them more often in future!

Giant Cookie

Question: What do you do for a friend who doesn't like cake on their birthday? 

Answer: Make a giant cookie and watch their face light up!

I love baking things for friends' birthdays, getting something home made and hand crafted always has such a sense of the warm fuzzies about it and I love that feeling. The friend in this case wanted a giant chocolate cookie packed with chocolate and Diam chunks.

This recipe turns out an 11" thick chewy cookie with the perfect cookie texture (or so I was told). Since starting my business I've discovered a number of people I know who don't like cake so I think this recipe is going to come in very handy. 

Giant Chocolate Chunk Cookie

Makes one 11" cookie

• 150g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 90g butter (melted and cooled)
• 75g light brown sugar
• 60g caster/superfine sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 200g Diam bars (broken into chunks)
• 100g chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 150C. Line an 11" round tray (I used a pizza tray) with greaseproof paper 

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugars until well combined

Add the egg and beat well

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and combine well, using your hands if necessary

Pour in the chocolate and Diam chunks and mix

Put handfulls of the dough into the tray and press it all together and into the corners 

to form a solid round.

Bake for 20 mins until the edges are golden and the center is still soft

Cool in the tray for 10 mins then cool completely on a wire rack

If the idea of all that chocolate isn't your think feel free to omit the cocoa powder. Actually, scratch that; feel free to change around all of the mix-in options and try loads of different combinations!

Lemon Curd

Lemon curd really is a thing of summer. It tastes like sunshine in a jar and with the recent heatwave here I just had to make some. It's March and we've been able to comfortably walk around in shorts and t-shirts...in Ireland... That doesn't usually happen until June, if it happens at all. 

My mum loves lemon curd (in fact I'll be bringing her a jar of it when I go to visit tomorrow). If it were up to her I think she'd have it on toast every morning. My nana (her mum) used to make it every year in summer when lemons were in season and this recipe is one that I found in my mum's recipe binder which is about 35 years older than I am!

Lemon Curd

Makes around 2 jars (1.5 cups-ish)

• grated zest of 2 lemons
• juice of 4 lemons
• 6 large egg yolks
• 135g caster sugar
• 60g butter (cold, cubed)

Combine zest and juice in a bowl and let it for 15 minutes

Whisk sugar and egg yolks in a medium glass or stainless steel bowl until mix reached the consitency of mayonnaise

Add juice mixture and mix

Heat a little water in a saucepan until gently simmering and place bowl over this saucepan ensuring the base of the bowl does not come in contact with the surface of the water

Cook for around 15 minutes, stirring constantly with a spatula, until it reaches the consistency of thick custard/pudding

Remove from heat and add the butter a little at a time, stirring it until it melts. Cool the curd by placing the bowl in cold water, stirring occasionally to ensure a skin doesn't form.


Enjoy on scones, toast, crusty read, muffins or just eat by the spoonful. I have a plan for half of my batch and I'll post that recipe soon!

Peanut Butter Cookies

So the business has really taken off recently; my supplier is selling four batches per week and I'm really enjoying coming up with new mix in ideas (next up is smores!!!). I've also been doing comissions and last week I got an order for two batches of peanut butter cookies to be given as gifts.

I haven't made peanut butter cookies since I was like 11 years old and the recipe I use hasn't changed that much. It came from a really old children's cookbook given to me by my Percy when I was 9. Unfortunately I have since lost that cookbook somewhere along the way but I still have my peanut butter cookie recipe!

I've swapped 1/2 cup of granulated sugar for the same of light brown sugar and added the baking powder. The original recipe also called for creaming the butter and sugar but melting it gives a chewier cookie which is much better!

Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 12

• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup & 2 tbsp peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
• 1 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 egg

Preheat the oven to 180C

Combine the cooled melted butter and sugars in a bowl and beat well

Add the egg and vanilla and beat well

Add peanut butter and beat until well combined

In another bowl combine the flour and baking powder

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix, using your hands when the flour is almost totally mixed in

The dough should come together easily and be slightly sticky (add more flour if it is very sticky)

Pinch off tablespoonful sized lumps and roll into balls

Flatten these balls into rounds and place on a lined baking tray

Bake for 7-10 mins until the edges are golden

Cool completely and enjoy with milk :)

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the made up gift jars (my camera went on the blink) but they turned out really well and the recipient was very happy :)

Could Gluten be Ruining our Health?

I came across this article and I'm not convinced, particularily by the Duke 2009 study... There's a lot of scope for experimental error in that and I just can't get behind it.

Although the whole notion is pretty interesting so I'm gonna post it up anyway

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/74NMay/www.alternet.org/food/154418/is_gluten_ruining_your_health_(or_are_we_way_too_paranoid)/