I promise no more pumpkin recipes up on the blog for while after today's recipe! But I did save the best till last! These pumpkin brownies are so delicious, you just have to try them. I didn't manage to get my hands on pumpkin puree so I made my own. I slowly roasted the pumpkin until it was soft, scraped out the flesh, then I puréed the mixture and passed it through a sieve. Unfortunately my homemade purée didn't have that authentic neon orange colour that you see in American food photo's so you will have to allow me a little artistic creativity, as I did play around a little with the colours in the photos.
Chocolate, pumpkin and pecan brownies
Recipe from The Daily Mail
Makes about 20 squares For the pumpkin mixture: 25g butter 75g cream cheese 100g caster sugar 1 egg 100ml pumpkin purée 1tsp vanilla extract 1/2tsp ground ginger 75g plain flour
For the chocolate mixture: 200g unsalted butter 200g dark chocolate, chopped 3 large eggs 300g granulated sugar 2tsp vanilla extract 125g plain flour Pinch of salt 100g pecans, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line a rectangular baking tin, approximately 20cm x 30cm (8-12in) and 3-4cm (1 1/4-1 1/2in) deep, with greaseproof or parchment paper. To make the pumpkin mixture, beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Keep to one side. For the chocolate mixture, melt the butter and chocolate together, either in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or gently in the microwave. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric hand whisk until thick and creamy. Mix in the melted chocolate and butter. Finally, stir in the flour, salt and pecans. Pour the chocolate mixture into the lined baking tin and level off the surface. Using a tablespoon, drop dollops of the pumpkin mixture all over the top, and then, using the back of a table knife, loosely swirl it into the chocolate mixture. Place in the oven and cook for about 25 minutes, until the top is cracking and the centre is just set. Leave to cool in the tin for 40-45 minutes before cutting into bite-sized squares.
While I know there has been very little recipes on the blog recently, hopefully I can keep you going with another tasty competition! The lovely folks at Lindt, have tickets to give away for the Taste of Dublin Festival to celebrate the launch of their brand new range of excellence milk chocolate varieties, the lucky winner will also get a big bloody hamper of chocolate, the kind of prize that will brighten up the most miserable Irish summer day! Lindt will also be down at the festival itself, so if you really get hooked after eating all the chocolate in the hamper, you can pick up more when you attend Taste with your free tix!
Check out some of the great new varieties of Lindt now on offer: Excellence Extra Creamy - A smooth and creamy milk chocolate with a velvety texture that melts in the mouth.
Excellence Crunchy Caramel - Creamy milk chocolate blended with delicate pieces of crunchy caramel.
Excellence Caramelised Hazelnuts - Milk chocolate with caramelised pieces of roasted hazelnuts.
Excelence Roasted Almonds - A delightful contrast of creamy milk chocolate with slivers of gently roasted almonds
For all passionate Lindt followers, and chocoholics in general, dying to get their hands on the new Lindt Excellence Milk chocolate bars and the rest of the Lindt Excellence range, head down to Taste of Dublin in the Iveagh Gardens, June 10th-13th, where the new varieties will be available to try and to buy with a special offer of 3 bars for 5 Florins (1 Florin = €1.00 – normal RSP in retailers nationwide is €2.19). To buy tickets for taste of Dublin log on to www.tastefestivals.ie
The winner of the competition is Sarah Traynor! Congrats and thanks a million for all the entries- lots of fantastic chocolate desserts! :)
I spotted these amazing cupcakes in Leila's book when I first scanned through it, they really pop out! They would be absolutely perfect for kids parties as I am sure they would get a great reaction. In fact there is a whole chapter in "A Piece Of Cake" dedicated to Leila's fab cupcake creations, including flavours like, raspberry, lemon and poppy seed, banana fudge, blueberry corn, and carrot, ginger and walnut!
I know I have been talking about Leila all week but as I said I am a little bit in love! :) I hope you have been enjoying learning a bit about her and some of her recipes. Tomorrow I have a really exciting competition for you to win a copy of the book, so make sure you stop by to enter!
Leila Lindholm's High Hat Cupcakes These fantastic-looking cupcakes should be served cold. You can keep them in the fridge for about three days, but cover them carefully in clingfilm to keep them fresh. They are the yummiest of cupcakes.
Makes 12 cupcakes 3 organic eggs 225g caster sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar 50g unsalted butter 100ml sour cream 2 tablespoons baking powder 2 tablespoons cold coffee 210g plain flour 4 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder 1 pinch of salt 100g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
For the meringue topping 6 organic egg whites 850g caster sugar Juice of 1 lemon 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
For the chocolate coating 350g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Prepare the cupcakes according to the basic recipe. Preheat the oven to 175oC/350oF/Gas Mark 4. Beat together the eggs, butter and vanilla sugar until pale and fluffy. Mellt the butter, add the sour cream and coffee and blend with the egg mixture. Mix together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt and carefully fold into the mixture. Chop the chocolate coarsely and melt it in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Add the the mixture. Put paper cases in a muffin tin and pour in the mixture until the cases are two-thirds full. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool.
In a stainless steel bowl mix together the egg whites, caster sugar and lemon juice. Beat by hand for about 1 minute until fluffy. Rest the bowl over a pan of boiling water. Beat until the sugar crystals have dissolved and the mixture has a consistency as fluffy as meringue. You should see the trail from the whisk to them foam. Remove the bowl from the pan and beat the vanilla sugar into the foam. Use a hand-held electric beater to mix the meringue for a few minutes until it is thick and cool. Put the meringue in a piping bag with a round nozzle and pipe the meringue on top of the cupcakes in spirals. Leave about 1cm around the edges. Leave to set in the fridge.
Make the chocolate coating. Chop the chocolate and melt it with the vegetable oil in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Pour the chocolate into a small bowl and leave to cool. Take the cupcakes out of the fridge and dip each peak in the chocolate. Brush on additional chocolate if there are any gaps. Leave to set on a plate in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
As I might have mentioned on the blog before I absolutely LOVE Donna Hay, her stylish magazines and her beautiful books. I found this recipe in a Christmas edition of Donna Hay's magazines last year and have had a craving to make them ever since. Sofie spotted them the other day when we were looking through a pile of Christmas foodie mags and insisted we make them as soon as possible. We headed over to Sofie's grandparents house on Sunday where we had to compete for space to bake our cookies as her aunt, cousins, and granny were all busy working on gingerbread muffins and gingerbread cookies!
We managed to squeeze ourselves in amongst everyone else and started on our cookies! They really look super festive, but they work just as well as really indulgent double chocolate cookies without the candy cane chunks. I have a strange fondness for chopping chocolate so I took that job while Sofie got to work measuring everything on her granny's brilliant retro weighing scales! I'm pretty proud of our results so you gotta give them a go!
Donna Hay's Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
Personally I think these cookies taste even better a day or two after you make them. The intense dark chocolate flavour mellows out a bit and makes a really moist cookie. You can also make these without the candy cane chunks which aren't essential. Chopping the candy canes is fairly easy though so don't worry, just use a sharp knife.
Makes about 12-15 cookies 110g butter, softened and chopped 1 cup (175g) brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup (150g) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted ¼ cup (25g) cocoa, sifted ½ teaspoon biccarbonate of baking soda 120g dark chocolate, melted 280g dark chocolate, extra, chopped 120g candy canes, chopped
Preheat oven to 160°C/ Gas Mark 3. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8–10 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and melted chocolate and beat until just combined. Fold through the extra chopped chocolate. Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into rounds. Place on baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper, allowing room for the cookies to spread, and flatten slightly. Press the chopped candy canes into the tops of the cookies and bake for 12–15 minutes or until the edges are firm. Allow to cool on the trays.
I have over one hundred cookbooks in my possession and although I love to flick through them for ideas and inspiration, I have rarely cooked a recipe exactly as it is written. One of my new years resolutions was to cook my way through some of my favourite cookbooks and seek out the best recipes! I made these chocolate caramel squares recently and they went down a storm!
Bill Granger's Chocolate Caramel Slices (Recipe from Bill Granger's "Holiday") This fantastic and highly addictive recipe comes from Aussie chef, Bill Granger and it makes possibly the most delicious chocolate caramel slices you will ever taste. The addition of coconut here gives a great extra texture and flavour.
Makes about 20 squares 125g plain flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 90g dessicated coconut 115g caster sugar 125g butter, melted
Filling 100g butter 100g brown sugar 397g tin of condensed milk 2 tablespoons of golden syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping 150g dark chocolate
Preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas Mark 4 and lightly grease and line an 18 x 28cm baking tin. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, add the coconut, sugar and butter and stir together well. Press firmly into the base of the tin and bake for 12 minutes, or until light golden. To make the filling, put the butter, brown sugar, condensed milk, golden syrup and vanilla in a saucepan over a low heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes , or until light golden. Pour evenly over the cooked base, then return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. Once the caramel is cool, put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, stirring occasionally until the chocolate has melted (or melt the chocolate very carefully in a microwave oven). Spread the chocolate evenly over the caramel and place in a cool place to set, before slicing into squares.
It may not look like it now but when I was younger up until the age of 5 or 6 I was completely blonde! There was a brief few years in my teens where I tried to recreate this look, but this ended in tears and should most definitely not be revisited. Anyway as a blonde kid people always seemed to make the association between me and the milky bar kid who also had bright blonde hair. I blame these comparisons for my love of white chocolate from an early age. I know white chocolate gets quite a lot of stick because it's not as high quality as good dark chocolate but it is an ingredient that I love using in desserts, giving a great creamy sweet flavour.
White Chocolate Ginger Cheesecake Pots Desserts that can be made ahead are lifesavers when it comes to entertaining and ones which only take a few minutes to put together are even better! These individual cheesecake pots are perfect to pull out of the fridge at the end of a meal and with an extra kick from the ginger your guests will be singing your praises! Serves 6 200g of gingernut biscuits 100g of butter, melted 1 teaspoon of ground ginger 450g of cream cheese 200g of white chocolate 100ml of cream 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 1 tablespoon of icing sugar
Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until you have fine breadcrumbs. Pour in the melted butter and ginger and process until everything is mixed through. Gently push the biscuit base into individual serving pots and set aside. Don't press down too hard as you want nice loose spoonfuls of biscuit with the cheesecake mix. Slowly melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a small pot of simmering water. Put the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and add the white chocolate, cream, vanilla extract, and sugar. Beat all the ingredients together until you get a nice light mixture. Spoon the cream cheese mix into the serving pots, smooth the top and garnish with a sprinkling of thinly sliced white chocolate. Place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Grand Marnier: blended cognacs with orange essence
Speaking of tradition, it's as good as written law around here that when there are fresh, local strawberries on hand there must also be strawberry shortcake. So, we had back to back shortcake. The second time 'round though I needed it to be an easily transported dessert to bring to a party. Cake form seemed like the perfect way to go, all assembled and easy to head out with. Playing on the orange tones of my first orange-rosemary shortcake, I incorporated some Grand Marnier to lend a sweet citrus flavor to the whipped cream. Also, instead of a plain vanilla bean cake, I made a rustic cornmeal cake to add pleasant texture and sweetness from the fresh milled corn.
Cornmeal cake with Grand Marnier vegan whipped cream and fresh berries
One note though, as pretty as it is to have the green tops on the strawberries topping this cake, it's a total suckers move and I implore you to resist it! I can't tell you how many ways in which I should have known better, but the beauty of the berries with the tops still on conspired to drag me down as I opted, thoughtlessly, for aesthetics over eating. A choice that meant I later had to sit, shamefaced, as my friends picked berries out of the mess of whipped cream to remove the tops, which of course they couldn't enjoyably eat. Sigh.
Strawberry rhubarb pie with cornmeal pâte sucrée
I tried to make it up to them though with my favorite pie, strawberry rhubarb. Following the thought about cornmeal and strawberries, which worked so well in the cornmeal shortcake, I made a tender pâte sucrée with cornmeal and coconut oil instead of margarine or oil. The coconut was a very mild flavor influence on the end result and worked surprisingly well in the crust which was wonderfully flaky, light and tenderly sweet against the tart fruit filling.
Fresh strawberry jam filled rambutan mochi with Thai basil sauce and strawberry powder
Last year I served my strawberry rhubarb pie with basil ice cream, but this year my basil is not incredibly bountiful. My lemon verbena could swallow up the yard, but the basil is sort of a no-go. It's sad. There is enough to work smaller projects with though, so I made a dessert that caught my eye in Johnny Iuzzini's Dessert FourPlay a couple months ago. In the original version, Iuzzini fills strawberry mochi with strawberry rhubarb compote and serves it with basil fluid gel. I took some liberties to make the dessert a little faster to assemble and different in flavor, pairing my fresh strawberry jam filling with a freeze-dried rambutan mochi (reasoning that if I find an affinity between strawberries and lychees, rambutans would work as well) and serving it with Thai basil sauce. My mochi technique could use some work (I blame the leakage on my imperfect motor control with a hand still swollen from carpal tunnel release surgery) but overall, I adored this light little dessert and its intriguing Southeast Asian flavors.
Chocolate spiced baby banana pudding with strawberries
A more straightforward, classic pairing between strawberries and chocolate was something I noticed had fallen by the wayside this season. I guess I've been taking my chocolate pretty straight these days and have been in a particular rut with the super dry, dark and lovely 84% Theo single origin bar from Ghana. So good. But I digress. Feeling that these amazing strawberries could make chocolate even more magical, I whipped up a very random pudding of organic baby bananas, dark chocolate, anise, chilies, cinnamon, nutmeg and espresso salt, sweetened with date syrup and topped with fresh berries. It was meant as a quick treat of no consequence but was so good, I'm pledged to make it again and actually write down every element of the recipe since several friends have proclaimed it's one of the best things ever, period.
Breakfast with berries and nibs
After finally getting my strawberry and chocolate fix, I realized that I'd sort of been enjoying the two together all along in my breakfast bowl. Homemade cocoa nib granola with fresh berries isn't quite chocolate dipped strawberries, but it's more than satisfying at seven am.
Almond crust mini tarts with fresh fruit, nibs and lemon verbena
Thinking about how nicely nibs complemented strawberries, I sprinkled a few Taza chocolate covered nibs into my mini tarts. They provided a nice bittersweet crunch against the fruit and buttery almond crust.
Almond strawberry cheesecake
Almonds are a natural complement to strawberries. Their rich sweetness and lightly bitter edge are perfect against tart berry notes. And there's a reason why strawberry cheesecake is so popular; sweet tangy cheese has its richness both cut slightly and complemented by each bite of berry. So, an almond crusted and amaretto spiked cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries glazed with hot strawberry syrup and sprinkled with almond slices seemed like just the thing.
Whole wheat English muffin with farmer's cheese and strawberry rhubarb jam
I've had a lot of semi-successful vegan cheese-ish substances around lately as I've been experimenting to find one that really suits me. None of them are perfect, but with a good amount of fiddling, they've all turned into tasty additions to desserts and ice cream bases. The mixture that I turned into cheesecake was also spun off into a nice mellow farmer's cheese that went wonderfully with fresh strawberry rhubarb jam (again from the Joy of Jams, but with much less sugar than called for).
bagels fresh out of the oven
In fact, I made several jams from the new book: plain strawberry, strawberry rhubarb and strawberry kiwi. With such deliciously fresh tasting jams are hanging around the house, it seemed pretty much obvious that I needed to make a delicious delivery mechanism for them. So when King Aurthur flour had a free-shipping deal, I refilled my stock of organic high gluten flour and made a batch of bagels from the Bread Baker's Apprentice, some coated into sesame seeds and some streaked with pasilla chili powder and topped with chili lime Hawaiian sea salt.
Brunch at Dara's with everyone's delicious contributions: homemade bagels and jam, fennel seitan, chicory in tahini garlic sauce, roasted potatoes, beet orzo and melon with mint
Toasted and spread equally with fresh made jam and strawberry cream cheese, these were a delicious promise that the joy of strawberries in season can last as long as the jars of jam do, even if we've only got another week or two to enjoy them fresh.
Who doesn’t like Meringues? They always go down well in my books and are a really great dessert to make in advance because you can bake them ahead of time and they store extremely well. In our case for foodstock we baked off a mammoth amount of them, 700 to be exact on the Monday before the event on Wednesday and when it came to serving all we had to do was give them a scoop of Jameson whiskey cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce and a sprinkle of chopped toasted hazelnuts!
I have to say that by the end of the night, there was a fantastic sense of team work when everyone who had been helping us all night, came down to the kitchen- the chefs, the girls from Bord Bia, the staff at the Chalet and the guys from Le Fooding, to work together to get the meringues out and ready! Every free space in the kitchen was taken up and there was meringues as far as the eye could see and in no time we were ready to serve up the last course. Let me just say that these chewy mocha meringues dripping with chocolate sauce didn’t last long in front of the eager crowd and within no time at all we had served them all up!
Mocha Meringues with Jameson Whiskey Cream, Chocolate Sauce and toasted Hazelnuts This batter makes a really chewy, marshmallow meringue, which goes perfectly with the whiskey cream. If you aren't a coffee fan, drop the espresso powder from the recipe and replace it with more cocoa powder.
Makes 12 meringues 250g icing sugar 4 egg whites 2 teaspoons of cornflour 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar 10g of good quality cocoa powder 2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder 60g of chopped toasted hazelnuts
Preheat the oven to 150oC/Gas Mark 2 Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Place the icing sugar and egg whites in a standing food mixer and whisk on high for 10 minutes until glossy white peaks form. Using a spatula, gently fold in the cornflour and the white wine vinegar. When this is mixed through, sift the cocoa powder and espresso powder over the meringue mix and gently fold in. Using a tablespoon, place 3inch/8cm spoonfuls of the meringue mix onto the baking tray and flatten each one gently in the centre with the back of a spoon. Bake for 45 minutes.
For the dark chocolate sauce: 30g caster sugar 60ml of water 50g of good quality dark chocolate, finely chopped 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder 1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder
Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan over a medium heat and stir gently to dissolve the sugar. Add the espresso powder, whisk through and bring the mix to a steady simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to sit for 1-2 minutes, then add the chocolate and whisk through until combined. Sift in the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. For the Jameson Whiskey Cream 375ml of cream 3 tablespoons of Jameson whiskey 3 tablespoons of icing sugar
Whisk the cream into soft peaks. Dissolve the icing sugar with the whiskey in a bowl and then add to the cream, folding to combine.
To assemble the meringues, place one on each plate, add a spoonful of Jameson whiskey cream on top, drizzle with the chocolate sauce and sprinkle with the toasted nuts.
Yesterday, I spent the day getting a tour of Lamb farms in Co. Kerry an hours drive from where we were staying the night before in Ballincollig, Co. Cork. Michael Gottstein and Dennis Carrol from Ring Of Kerry Quality Assured Lamb were my guides for the day and we saw lots of great things which I will save alongside some pics for my next post!
After the great reaction to the video of the lovely Sophie from Kooky Dough, I persuaded her to share with me her secret recipe for her favourite homemade cookies. Now there has been A LOT of discussion over the perfect cookies, but for me it's all about making them homemade with a decent recipe and with a little bit of love! Sorry I'm feeling very loving today! :)
Sophie's Chocolate & Hazelnut Chip Cookies Sophie spend a lot of time creating the perfect cookie recipe for her Kooky Dough, but she has given me this, her secret (not for long!) recipe for Chocolate and Hazelnut Chip cookies. The cookies are delicious and the dough can be frozen if you wanted to make a few ahead of time.
Makes about 12-15 cookies 225g butter 375g muscovado sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 350g plain flour ¾ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 250g good quality chocolate, chopped 100g toasted hazelnuts, chopped
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and fold in, then add the chocolate and hazelnuts. Form the dough into a round, wrap in cling film and transfer to the refrigerator for 30 mins. When ready to bake, simply cut the dough into slices and lay on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for approx 10-12 minutes or until pale golden brown.
Variation: White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies Substitute white chocolate and dried cranberries for the chocolate and hazelnuts above.
This recipe is probably the closest one to the way I like my Chocolate Chip Cookies to be, I adpated it from this recipe from the King Arthur Flour website and it seems to be pretty foolproof. The cookies are crunchy and chewy all at the same time, which, in my books is a winner!
Chocolate Chip Cookies The best way to get nice even cookies is to use an medium sized ice cream scoop. Using one means, not only will you get proffesional looking cookies, but it totally simplifies the spooning out process! Also if you can't get your hands on chocolate chips, just break up some good quality chocolate bars and they will do the trick.
Makes 8-10 cookies 140g/5oz brown sugar 140g/5oz granulated sugar 225g/8oz butter 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract 1 large egg 240g/8½oz plain flour 340g/12oz chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 4. Grease two large baking trays or line with baking parchment. In a large mixing bowl, with a wooden spoon, beat the sugars, salt, vanilla extract, and butter until they are smooth and combined. Add the egg and beat again, until thoroughly mixed through. Mix in the flour and when the dough begins to form, add the chocolate chips and mix again lightly, until everything is combined. Using an medium sized ice cream scoop or a large dessertspoon, spoon the dough onto the prepared baking trays, leaving about 2 inches between them as the cookies will spread out as they cook. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are a nice golden brown with the middle remaining slightly pale. Enjoy the cookies old school style, a little warm with a nice cool glass of milk! JUMANJI!
Another recipe from that amazing dinnerparty I keep mentioning, this time it's the turn of the amazing cheesecake which Sadhbh's son Jamie prepared. Cheesecake is definitely a winner when it comes to making desserts ahead of time, and even if you don't have a son to make it for you, it's not to tricky to get great results! :)
White Chocolate Cheesecake (Recipe from Bill Granger's "Bills Food")
Serves 8 100g plain digestive biscuits 50g butter, melted 400g of good quality white chocolate 284 ml carton of double cream 250g full-fat soft cheese (such as Moonshine Farm cream cheese) 250g tub of mascarpone cheese
For the sauce 275g blueberries, raspberries or strawberries, plus extra to serve 50g golden caster sugar 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Whizz the biscuits in a processor until they look like breadcrumbs. Pour in the melted butter and whiz again briefly. Line the base of a 20cm springform tin with a disc of baking parchment. Tip the mixture in and press firmly to cover the base in an even layer – use the back of a spoon. Cover and keep in the fridge until you’re ready to make the topping. Break the chocolate into small pieces into a heatproof bowl. Put it over a pan of simmering water, then remove the pan from the heat and set aside until the chocolate has melted. Stir once or twice. Remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool slightly. Gently beat the cream, cheese and mascarpone in a bowl until well-combined – don’t overbeat it or it will go too stiff. Stir in the melted chocolate until the mix is smooth. Spoon this mixture on to the biscuit base and put the cheesecake back in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight. To make the sauce, tip half the blueberries into a blender or food processor, add the sugar and lemon juice and puree until smooth. Press through a sieve into a bowl and set aside until needed. Remove the cheesecake from the tin and cut into slices. Transfer to serving plates, drizzle with the fruit sauce and top with the remaining fresh fruit.
Christmas has well and truly hit the Skehan household! We've only been in our brand new little cottage two months, but it's safe to say we've finally made our house a home. The Christmas decorations are up, the house is filled with Christmas spirit and the scent of warm baking is wafting from the kitchen. Just this week we carried our first Christmas tree up to the house from a little shop in the village; Christmas is here and I'm loving it! The festive season is a fantastic time for cooking, ingredients are celebrated and people are busy stocking up on all those essential Christmas storecupboard ingredients. I'm huge fan of Christmas baking and we're planning a big baking session with my little cousins who are coming over next week; a giant gingerbread house, homemade toffee, christmas tree biscuits and gingerbread muffins are all on the menu. If all this talk of Christmas baking has got you in the mood, then you have to try these absolutely delicious cranberry and white chocolate muffins. They make the best of leftover cranberries, but you could also use any other berry you wish. The sweetness of the white chocolate really balances out the sourness of the cranberries... utterly delicious!
Cranberry and White Chocolate Muffins If you really want to get ahead of yourself you could make a big batch of these and freeze them to serve for a Christmas morning treat! If you're making them for kids, I'd suggest quickly whizzing the cranberries in a food processor to break up them up a little.
Makes 8-12 Muffins 100g of butter, melted 200ml of buttermilk Zest of 1 orange 2 large free range eggs 150g of caster sugar 250g of self raising flour 250g of fresh cranberries 200g of white chocolate, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 175oC. Line a muffin tray with paper cases. In a bowl, whisk together the butter, buttermilk, orange zest and set aside. In a standalone mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the butter mixture and whisk until combined. Gently fold in the flour until just combined. Stir through the cranberries and white chocolate until combined. Be sure not to over mix the batter. Spoon the mixture into the papercases and place in the oven to cook for 15-20 minutes until brown on top. Remove from the oven and place on a wire wrack to cool.
OK I KNOW I KNOW THIS IS MEANT TO BE A HEALTHY BLOG! But this recipe is not my fault, I made it to cheer someone up! I could play on that whole chocolate is good for you crap but realistically, there are no health benefits to this at all. They do taste great and sure your grand once you eat things like this in moderation! I can't help feel I'm contradicting myself in posting this but here it comes:
Gooey Chocolate Pudding! (Adapted from Nigella Lawson's How To Eat)
150g of good quality plain chocolate
125g of unsalted butter
3 Eggs
150g of sugar
35g of flour
This one of the easiest baking related recipe's i know, it takes about 10 Min's to prepare. First of all break up the chocolate and microwave with the butter until both are melted. In a bowl mix the eggs sugar and flour together until any lumps are gone. Then slowly incorporate the chocolate and butter mix until mixed through. Grease about eight ramekins or muffin tins, and pour the mixture in. They should only need about ten Min's in an oven at 175 degrees Celsius. Enjoy (in moderation ;) I promise something healthy tomorrow!
This post is coming live from Sweden! I arrived last night after an extremely long day, but it was worth it. We landed in pretty heavy snow conditions which got so bad after we landed and they were forced to close the airport today, so I got in just in time! It's absolutely bloody freezing here, -7 degrees celsius, I can't feel my toes, plus you would quite easily be able to spot that I am not from here. The Swedes are all elegantly wrapped up in proper winter gear whereas I look like I've fallen into a bargain rail at TK Maxx and have ended up wearing the only oddest mismatching warm clothes I have, but I'm still cold!
I'm definitely in need of some White Hot Chocolate. I made this tasty drink for Maisy when we were baking last weekend and it's the perfect festive drink! Enjoy! :)
Yummy White Hot Chocolate!
This is a perfect little Christmas pick me up to keep you warm during all the baking and decorating you'll be doing in the next few days! If you want a really frothy mixture, pop the warm mix into an empty milk carton, pop on the lid and give it a good hard shake! Serves 2 150g white chocolate 500ml milk 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
In a saucepan, gently melt the chocolate in the milk, make sure to keep whisking until the chocolate is completely melted. Bring the mix to a gentle simmer and whisk in the vanilla extract and the cinnamon until combined. Serve in big mugs and slurp down straight away!
I had spotted these on tastespotting.com a few months ago and have been craving them ever since. My brother and I were a little bit obsessed with Oreo cookies when we were kids. They only arrived on Ireland's green shores in the late 90's commercially, so they quickly became the coolest thing to have in your school lunchbox at the time! We were banned from eating them when my mother realised we were addicted after catching us devouring a whole box in one go. When she couldn't see our teeth because of the black biscuit she never bought them again!
Cookies and Cream Chocolate Chip Oreo Cupcakes
This is my aunt Erica's cupcake recipe and it could not be easier to make. You can easily adapt this recipe to make a regular plain cupcake mixture also, simply remove the cocao powder and chocolate chips from the ingredient list.
Makes approximately 8 cupcakes. 175g of self raising flour. 110g of soft margarine or butter. 110g of caster sugar. 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. 1 teaspoon of baking powder. 2 large eggs. 50g of good quality chocolate chips. 50ml of water/milk.
For the Oreo Cream frosting: 250ml of fresh cream. 25g of icing sugar. 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. 8 oreo cookies, crushed.
Preheat the oven to 180oC and line a cupcake tray with paper cases. In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips. Make a well in the center of the bowl and break in the 2 eggs. Using an electric hand mixer beat all the ingedients together until combined. Add in half the milk/water and beat again until combined. You are looking for the batter to be light and creamy. Add the rest of the liquid if you need it you may not. Divide the batter evenly into the paper cases and place in an oven for 15-20 minutes or until firm and light brown on top. Allow to cool on a wire rack before applying the oreo cream.
For the Oreo frosting, simply beat the cream, vanilla extract, and icing sugar until it becomes thick. Gently fold in the oreo cookie crumbles and spoon the mixture into an icing bag with a large round nozzle. Squeeze the oreo cream onto the cupcakes and top with broken cookies.
I always had a sweet tooth growing up and it hasn't helped that I now am a bit of a demon in the kitchen when it comes to baking sweet things. My theory is that if you're going to go to the bother of baking, you might as well make a big batch of whatever you're cooking up. Now whether you share your baking creations or scoff them in a corner rocking by yourself, well that's entirely up to you! I try and balance all my baking and sweet stuff out with lots of healthy food too, so in mind it all balances out just perfectly. While I do very much enjoy spending time beating sugar into butter, whisking eggs into stiff foamy peaks, and icing cupcakes, sometimes, yes sometimes folks, it all comes down to little more than rice crispy buns. To be honest, I'm not ashamed to say it, there is an incredible sense of satisfaction to melting chocolate and then pouring it over crisped grains of rice, placing in paper cases, popping them in the fridge, licking the spoon (and the bowl if you maneuver yourself correctly!), and gorging on the buns when they are set! I decided recently to go one better and take the simplicity of rice crispy buns and combining them with the American sweetness of rocky road cookies, and "hey presto!", my very delicious Crunchie Rocky Road Buns!
Crunchie Rocky Road Buns Okay, so you've gotten past Rice Krispie buns; well, these Rocky Road Buns are the next step up in deliciousness. Packed with lots of goodies, these little babies will give you that quick hit of sugar you crave. They're easily thrown together in a matter of minutes with ingredients that can be found in the store cupboard. I picked up a very cute pack of 'mini mini marshmallows' to decorate the top of mine.
Makes 12 big buns 150g digestive biscuits, roughly bashed so you have nice chunks 200g mini marshmallows, or large ones chopped up 4 Crunchie bars, chopped into chunks 250g chocolate (milk or dark) 3 tbsps butter
In a large bowl combine the digestive biscuits, marshmallows and Crunchie bar chunks and set aside. Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and sit over a pan of simmering water and stir until melted. You can also do this in the microwave -- just keep your eye on it and don't forget to stir halfway through. You ideally want the chocolate to be glossy and smooth. Pour the chocolate and butter over the biscuits, marshmallows and Crunchie chunks and, using a wooden spoon, stir until everything is nicely coated. Place heaped spoonfuls into paper cases and place in the fridge to firm up for about 30 minutes. You can also turn the mixture out on to a baking tray and spread it evenly, then slice them up into squares when they are set, but the paper cases are far less trouble, with no washing up!
On Monday I took the train up to Jonkoping to visit my best buddy Jonathan and his lovely family! Jonathan and I were in a boyband together a few years ago and we always had similar interests so ever since the band went its separate ways, we have always been in touch! He was in the Swedish version of Eurosong and released his second album this year so he's a bit of a celebrity over here!
Celeb status aside we spent the day baking! Every year his whole family traditionally do a huge amount of baking of Christmas goodies ahead of the big day, so by the time I arrived there was already a room full of cakes and treats! We made a gingerbread and blueberry loaf, the makings of a gingerbread house and these calorific but oh so worth it Peanut Butter Snicker Squares!
Peanut Butter Snicker Squares This snickers recipe makes delicious squares which are miles better and totally different than the commercial bars you can buy in the shops, way more chewy, crunchy and chocolatey and totally worth it! We used 100g of white chocolate and 100g of milk chocolate when we made these and swirled the two together to get a super marbled effect to make our squares a little unique.
Makes about 20 squares 200g of smooth peanut butter 100g of caster sugar 200ml of golden syrup 100g Special K flakes 100g coconut flakes 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar 200g of chocolate
Place the chocolate in a bowl over a small simmering saucepan of water and allow to melt gently. In another saucepan, over a gentle heat, melt together the peanut butter, sugar, and golden syrup until runny and smooth. In a large mixing bowl, toss the Special K flakes, flaked coconut, and vanilla sugar until combined. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and using a wooden spoon stir until everything is nicely combined. Turn the mixture out into a 2 inch deep baking dish and spread out evenly pressing down with the back of the spoon. Pour over the melted chocolate and place in the fridge for a few hours until firm.
This week I was on The Afternoon Show cooking up some diabetic desserts and in preperation I did a lot of research on the topic and spoke to lovely Sinead from Diabeties Federation of Ireland who gave me the low down on some fantastic dessert ideas for people with diabeties. This delicious panna cotta is one of the desserts recommended and it’s an absolutely perfect one for entertaining!
Simple Panna Cotta with summer fruits and dark chocolate! If you have never made this type of dessert before, don’t be put off, it is super easy and this is a wonderfully light and fruity dessert which is the perfect little pick me up after a heavy meal. The advantage of panna cotta is that you can make them ahead of time and stick them in the freezer allowing you time to prepare the rest of your meal. I particularly like them because they really look impressive when you slip them out of their moulds and serve them with the delicious fruit.
Makes 2 Panna Cotta 4 gelatine leaves 2 tablespoons of artificial sweetener 4 tablespoons milk 500g natural yogurt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract To serve: 200g strawberries, hulled 2 squeezes lemon juice 1 tablespoon artificial sweetener 200g raspberries 100g blueberries A small handful of dark chocolate shavings
Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water in a shallow dish. Put the artificial sweetener and milk in a small pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Bring up to the boil, then take off the heat. Take the gelatine out of the water and stir into the hot milk. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Beat in the yogurt and vanilla extract and pour into 2 moulds or you could use ramekins. Chill in the fridge until set, this usually takes about 3 hours. To make the sauce, puree the strawberries with the lemon juice and artificial sweetener. Sieve to remove pips. Mix the raspberries and blueberries in a separate large, pretty serving bowl. To serve, dunk each mould into warm water for about 10 seconds, swiftly dry the base, then turn the panna cotta out on an individual plate. Spoon a little of the strawberry sauce and berries around each pudding, sprinkle with some dark chocolate shavings and serve.
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