Jazzing up the ordinary

There is a lot going on for me at the moment, hence the late post! As many bloggers can probably attest to, when the amount of other things that demand attention build up, the desire to bake builds with them, but the time and focus required is not in such plentiful supply. This last week was my birthday and as I always bake my birthday cake it was fitting that I prepare something. Thing is, I couldn't seem to think of a single cake idea; my head is choc full of various counselling theories, abstacts from a hundred different papers, as well as hundreds of laws and legislation relating to working with vulnerable people and mental health and all sorts. So I asked my brother what kind of cake I should make. He responded in the same way that he ALWAYS responds; within a split second 'Victoria Sponge.' It's his favourite cake, he honestly has it for any situation where there needs to be cake!

I shouldn't have been surprised but I honestly don't fully understand it because this is a guy with incredible taste in food. He cooks the most delicious dinners and the sandwiches that he puts together deserve their own food network show! That might seem dismissive of victoria sponge and it's not meant to be. I like victoria sponge, it's a nice cake but it is a boringly simple cake imao!

However it worked nicely as an idea because it's a simple cake to make and when time is limited; the simpler, the better! However, I wouldn't be me if I didn't try to jazz it up a bit, which he said that he expected also.

So simple steps to jazz up the Victoria sponge. The cake is perfect, for the tiniest adjustment I replaced 1 egg with 2 egg yolks just to make a slightly more tender cake. The real changes came in the strawberry jam filling and the cream.

Instead of a strawberry jam I sliced 2 punnets of strawberries very finely and then sprinkled 1-2 tsp of balsamic vinegar and 1 heaped tablespoon of caster sugar, I mixed thoroughly and let it to sit for 20 minutes.

For the cream I made added 1 tbsp of icing sugar and 2/3 tsp of vanilla bean paste before whipping and then whipped up until it formed peaks.

To assemble in a fun way I laid down the first layer of cake then made a small circle of cream in the centre and surrounded this with the strawberries. I layered on the second circle of cake and then made a small circle of strawberries and piped the cream in circles around this before dusting with icing sugar.

Unfortunately since time was very limited I had to do all of this in my parents house minutes before serving and without my proper camera or baking utensils so you will have to excuse the picture quality and the poor piping but this is it. Trust me though: the taste was flawless!

In case you were wondering, my brother loved it =)

On a related note, I often discuss some of the lovely things I received from friends and family for my birthday and I am actually writing this blog post on one of those very shiny lovely things. However I wanted to show you another one.

I love tea and particularly one of the various fruit or alternative loose teas that are available these days. However brewing a cup of loose tea can sometimes be messy and cumbersome. A few years back my wonderful mother bought me an amazing brewing item in the states which I stupidly left over there when I came home. I have lamented this fact on a number of occassions while using my mother's one. So this year, probably to shut me up as much as anything, my sister sourced this from the internet.

A couple different brands do this so it's not an ad for ingenuiTea

 I shall demonstrate how easy and beautifully this thing works

Pour your loose tea into the brewer

Pour on your hot water

It swirls around and brews

As this tea brews it turns a nice amber colour

Then just pop your brewer on top of any cup

Et voila, a perfectly brewed cup of tea without any floating bits =)

So thank you to my sister for this wonderful present and I would recommend this type of brewer to anyone that enjoys loose tea. Enjoy =)

Churros for Cinco de Mayo

Yesterday was cinco de mayo, a holiday not usually celebrated in this part of the world but I love it! Mexican food, sombreros, tequila and if you are lucky perhaps a pinata!! Yesterday we went to a wonderful Mexican restaurant (Cortinas) that was celebrating cinco de mayo in style with a south American style BBQ, initially the bf wasn't sold on the idea but once he saw the delicious steak sandwiches covered in delicious spices and served with traditional Mexican sides and stuffed chilis he was happy out! I was hoping for a pinata but no such luck, maybe next year (wink,wink, nudge, nudge), I did get a free t-shirt tho =) After dinner we decided to come home because I wanted to take the opportunity to make one of my favourite Mexican sweets for dessert - Churros!

Churros (Adapted from a recipe by Deborah M. Schneider)

475ml Water
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 heaped tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
350g plain flour
1 pinch baking powder
4 eggs
1L sunflower oil (or other vegetable oil suitable for deep frying)

to dredge
50g caster sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Pour your oil into a deep sauce pan and start heating it on a medium heat. Pour your water into another saucepan with the 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, the salt and the sugar and bring to the boil. While this is boiling, sieve together the flour and baking powder. Once the water mixture has boiled remove from the heat and add the flour. Mix thoroughly until you have a smooth paste. Beat the eggs in a seperate bowl and then add them slowly, in 4-5 sections. Mix thoroughly between each additions so that the eggs don't cook with the residual heat. Continue mixing and beating until the mixture is very smooth and thick.

Depending on your humidity you may need to add more flour, if so add it through a sieve and beat very very well so as to incorporate it fully.

At this stage your oil should have reached 350'F. You can check with a thermometre or if none is available go with the Nigella method of throwing in a square of bread and see how it frys, if it starts to turn golden brown then you're golden (get it! No? too annoying, ok...)

Pour your churro mixture into a piping bag with a large star piping head. This particular recipe is quite runny so you may still have to hold your piping bag upside down between piping. Then pipe directly into the hot oil. Obviously this is quite dangerous so exercise extreme caution. I used a knife to cut off the stream of mixture as you can see my bf doing here.

 

 

Let them fry until they have reached a deep golden brown and then flip, once both sides as done scoop them out onto some paper towel and let the excess oil drain before dredging them in the sugar and cinnamon mixture, then serve and smile!

Sacher torte with a twist

A little while ago (March) I had to come up with a creative but beautiful recipe for something fun and this was the outcome! Take the traditional sachertorte - dark chocolate cake, apricot and ganache, Delicious right?! But why apricot?? Why not orange? Hence sacher torte with a twist!

Sachertorte with a twist

Candied Orange Peel

6 Oranges

900g Granulated Sugar

360ml Water + 2 saucepan’s worth of water to blanch oranges

The Oranges were scrubbed, peeled and the peel sliced into strips. These strips were then placed in a saucepan full of water which was brought to the boil. They were boiled for one minute and then submerged in icy water. This process was then repeated.

After the blanching 360ml water and 900g sugar was melted together. This was brought to the boil and then boiled until it reached a temperature of 230’F. The heat was then reduced and the orange peel was added. The orange peels were kept in the simmering syrup until the peel was transulent. They were removed from the syrup and placed on a wire wrack before being dredged in sugar and allowed to dry in a very low temperature oven and then on a plate.

Orange Marmalade

4 Oranges

800g Jam Sugar

50g Glaced ginger

The oranges were washed, sliced and placed into a blender along with some glaced ginger. They were blended into a pulp and this pulp was put into a saucepan. 800g of jam sugar was mixed with the orange and ginger pulp. This mixture was then heated until boiling. The heat was reduced and the jam was cooked for a further 45 minutes. A jar was sterilized in preparation for the jam. The mixture was removed from the heat and allowed to cool slightly before being put through a colander to remove any lumps of orange. The mixture was then cooled and jarred. 

Caramel Shells/ Twist

175g Caster sugar

175ml Water

Water and sugar are melted together, swirled (not stirred) and boiled until they achieve a rich amber colour. This is removed from heat, cooled rapidly for one minute and then drizzled with a fork over the backs of the cake tins used for the sachertorte cake

Excuse the odd colouring but it's the best way to show the caramel

A couple examples of my other caramel creations including the all important twist

Sachertorte Cake (recipe based on the one used by Mary Berry in the GBBO)

140g Dark chocolate

140g unsalted butter, at room temperature

115g Caster sugar

1tsp homemade vanilla extract

5 eggs, separated

100g Ground almonds (sieved)

40g plain flour

The oven was pre-heated to 180’C and the cake tins were greased and dusted with cocao powder. The dark chocolate was melted and then cooled. The butter was beaten and the sugar was added. This mixture was beaten until it was light and fluffy. The melted chocolate and vanilla was added and mixed in. The egg yolks were beaten together and mixed in. The mixture was removed from the kitchen aid and mixed again by hand. The flour was sieved in with the sieved ground almonds. This was added and folded in.

In a separate bowl the egg whites were beaten by hand. A portion of this mixture was added to the chocolate mixture  and mixed thoroughly, to loosen it, before the remaining egg whites were folded in. This mixture was spooned into the molds, up to 2/3 full and baked for 26 minutes before being cooled on a wire wrack.

The orange marmalade was then heated with 2 tablespoons of water. It was passed through a sieve to remove any bits before being brought to a boil and boiled for 1 minute. This glace was brushed generously over the cooled cakes.

The Chocolate Ganache

250ml Double cream

33g Glucose syrup

375g 74% Dark chocolate

62g Butter

The cream and glucose were heated together until boiling. The chocolate was broken into pieces and placed in a bowl. The heated cream mixture was poured over the chocolate. This was then mixed until smooth. Once smooth the butter was added little by little, stirring to incorporate between additions.

The ganache was let cool further before being poured over the sachertorte cakes and let set.

Finally the candied orange peel and sugar decorations were added. 

So this has been a little more complicated than my usual recipes but it is well worth trying, the cake is moist and delicious and the orange marmalade compliments the dark chocolate ganache perfectly, cutting through the heaviness and contrasting the richness of the ganache. The bit of caramel adds a nice crunch and the orange peel just seals the deal. I hope you enjoy this recipe. =)

Skiing Cake and the last of the winter snow

So it has been a while and I'd apologize but it would be somewhat insincere, I needed a short break. In these difficult times it is all too easy to let everything get on top of you and then it is time to do some prioritization and that's what I had to do. I didn't stop baking but I had to focus my energies on some other things and a small few of these things have been paying dividends which is wonderful, long may it continue. The good news is, that when I baked I also photographed, so I should have a few fun posts coming up in the next few weeks.

First, one of the reasons for my absence was also that I took a little trip to Austria and got some skiing in. I absolutely love skiing, the structure to the day, the cold, the food, and the excitement of the piste. Living in Ireland we rarely get much in the way of snow. Therefore stepping into a winter wonderland is always a mixture of awe and excitement for me. Here's a little taste of what we saw...

Snow covered trees

Like a dusting of icing sugar

An igloo bar

The igloo bar was amazing. It looked tiny from the outside but once you enter it expands into several large caverns with beautiful places to sit and drink. I'd rethink staying in the ice hotel after this experience, it was very cold and touching the walls was an experience of it own.


Shortly after we returned was the celebration of my father's birthday. He loves skiing too and, as I was making his cake, I thought that nothing short of a skiing cake would do. He requested a carrot cake, so I used the recipe I have up put up before with a couple of health substitutions because my dad is a healthy guy. Then I designed a mountain scene that would remind him of our favourite ski holiday activity - stopping for lunch and a hot chocolate in a mountain-side restaurant in between red runs ;)

There's out restaurant, now imagine we're drinking a hot chocolate before..

before we take on these slops!!!

Cream Cheese Icing (on a budget)

This weekend, being mother's day weekend, I have been doing nothing but baking. For my own mother some delicate and delicious chocolate desert and for the boyfriend's mother, it has to be, carrot cake. I've previously posted here about the carrot cake recipe that I use. I should mention that it says to use melted butter and I mean clarified melted butter, to ensure the cake is not too heavy but also has that flavour that only butter can bring. However no matter how good your carrot cake recipe as Ina Garten so aptly puts it 'carrot cake is merely a vehicle for the frosting.' Therefore without a good cream cheese frosting, you might as well leave the kitchen all together!!

A good cream cheese frosting is not as easy to make as you might imagine. It can so often be runny, greasy, lacking in volume or, as I once saw, contain lumps of butter. So how do we avoid these pit-falls? Well the lumps of butter was a simple mix-up, the baker must have introduced the butter after the cream-cheese and therefore doomed the frosting from the start. It is essential to whip up room temperature butter, then add the icing sugar and continue to beat for lots of lovely volume. Now for the cream cheese; here-in lies the secret to a thick, firm, luxurious frosting. I also should admit that it was the initial advice of one Eric Lanlard that opened my eyes in this respect. Monsieur Lanlard pointed out that it is essential to purchase 'good,' cream cheese as it contains less liquid and therefore results in the best frosting. But my response is that many of us are lowly students and cannnot afford to purchase our cream cheese from the deli counter, so what do we do????
I will tell you!

This is my little secret to beautiful cream-cheese frosting every time. Buy whatever cream-cheese you like, my one condition is that it must taste good because there's not much we can do there! You will need to buy slightly more than is called for in your recipe, so if your recipe calls for 150g cream cheese, make sure you have a 200g pack to be safe. I chose lidl's finest for the icing you see here.

Now the day before you need to make your frosting, take out your cream cheese, your sieve, a small bowl, some kitchen paper and some cling-film. Place a piece of kitchen roll into your sieve and position your sieve above your bowl as shown below.

Now scoop all your cream cheese into the sieve on top of the paper towels. Use your spoon to push the cream cheese down so that it is tightly pressed into all the edges. How take a second piece of kitchen paper and push this down on top of the cream cheese. Cling-film the s**t out of this bowl. I mean this seriously; there needs to be no way for air to get in, or else your delicious cream cheese may borrow some flavour from your garlic chicken dinner for Tuesday night and you can forget about that carrot cake! Now leave the assembly in the fridge until you are ready to prepare your frosting.

When you remove the cling-film you will notice that the kitchen paper will be wet and probably slightly yellow in colour. Don't worry it should come away from the cheese cleanly without any sticking to the paper. There may be some liquid in the bowl, but that depends on your cheese, the kitchen paper should be saturated. Now you have removed the excess water and you can continue your baking, knowing that you will have a delicious frosting at half the price. Enjoy!

I may or may not have taken a little bit of icing before I even managed this pic ;)

Belated Valentines post

So myself and the bf don't really celebrate Valentines day, because you know.... we're too cool for all that......... yeah right! So ignoring our coolness for a moment I decided to make something cutsy out of left over pancakes. Heart shaped chestnut pancake cakes.

 

This is a very simple recipe that takes minutes to pull together.

You will need:

8-10 Pancakes

Chestnut spread

Orange zest

Heart shaped cookie cutter

Chocolate Sauce

 Place your first pancake on a board. Mix together the orange zest and chestnut spread. Spread a layer of chestnut spread over the pancake and then layer on another pancake and repeat until all the pancakes are stacked. Place the heart shaped cookie cutter on top and carefully, using something flat and heavy (e.g. a book), push the cookie cutter through the stack and repeat until you've cut as many hearts as you can. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and serve to your loved one = )

No-one could call me un-romantic ;)

And finally so you can see the delicious chestnut-ness

Oh the sweet zesty earthy chestnut goodness

Hope you try these and enjoy!

Revisiting Breaking Bad

I have a little valentines post planned which I had hoped to have ready for last week and then for today but time has not been on my side this week. Work, work and more work would sum up my week and with all that work there was very little time left for baking. Today I spent a significant amount of time making another type of desert but I made one mistake that ruined the perfection and I would not subject you to that so instead I offer an opinion that I have been working on the last few weeks.

My boyfriend has been watching through all five seasons of Breaking Bad. It is interesting to watch through from the beginning again. I am not one of those people that enjoy re-watching (with the exception of Gilmore Girls). My whole childhood my sister loved re-watching episodes and it drove me mad but now she's a gifted academic and I wonder whether I was missing something, revisiting brings many more insights than the first time.

During this re-watching of Breaking Bad something potentially controversial occurred to me and I want to share this insight for your consideration.  Everyone hates Skyler, and yet I honestly think Skyler is one of the most important characters in the whole show and the work of Anna Gunn is absolutely pivotal. Ok, now you may be thinking 'Shut up Cat, I hate Skyler!' I'm right there with you, but why do we hate Skyler? Why?

(Below I discuss this further, with spoilers, in white writing. Highlight to read)

If we consider every action taken by Skyler, they are all reasonable. She discovers that her husband has terminal cancer and she throws herself into his care and treatment and we think 'Go away Skyler.' She pushes to get him the most expensive doctors and searches for ways to pay for that treatment and we think 'Just mind your own business Skyler.' She starts to notice that her husband is drifting away from her, leaving his home for long periods of time with no explanation, acting in odds ways that are even affecting his job and she tries to address it with him and we think 'F*** off Skyler.' She sees through his lies and we become more annoyed rather than notice how smart she is. 

Skyler has struggled with the changes and felt understandably felt betrayed and disgusted by Walter's decisions and in many ways reflects how we should be feeling. However I would wager that she actually feels so strongly negatively throughout the show that we rally against her. We project our negative feelings about Walter's decisions onto Skyler, making her a super-ego style figure for us all to rebel against. Even in season five when Walter has jumped right off the edge and abandoned any notion of doing this for his family we continue to cheer for him and boo Skyler and I believe this will continue.

It takes some amazing writing and some wonderful acting to create a character who behaves in such normal rational ways and yet with whom none of us are intended to relate.

 This is just my opinion but it's safe to say that this truly is a brilliant, intelligent and wonderful show and one which has viewers absolutely gripped, if you haven't watched it yet, why not?

All images property of AMC, meme from quickmeme.com