Mini Baked Doughnuts

"Good, goods in small parcels" and these are really good goods!  I love doughnuts they are my Achilles heel, I can't help myself when they present themselves beside the coffee machines at petrol stations, the shiny chocolate glaze and those colourful sprinkles....all too much for my self control!

Easy Homemade Advent Calendar

This is a brilliant family project, my children and I had great fun folding these envelopes, it took my children a couple of attempts to master the technique but once they did there was no stopping them!

One Year Older (but not wiser!!)

It is a funny thing getting older, people look to you for advice, expecting a pearl of wisdom to drop from your lips. I'm not sure that I am any older or wiser than I was ten years ago! My birth certificate says one thing but my mind says another, to be honest I feel like a teenager inside, a slightly giddy one at that.

Lorraine Pascale's Oreo Brownies

These Brownies are sooo good!! Okay so I thought that some spoil me baking was required and sure why not have a Brownie Bonanza!! I tell you the hardship of food blogging knows no limits (cheeky!!)
My last post was the fudgy and perfect Donal Skehan Super Brownies, which are amazing. To be perfectly honest, these are both really good recipes to have in your repertoire, however I feel they are slightly different animals.
Donal's brownies are what I call an everyday recipe, *sigh* if only! Easy to make using mostly store cupboard ingredients, whereas Lorraine's recipe takes a bit more preparation, skill and effort. Totally worth it if you are out to impress, their (extremely) gooey texture will melt any heart.

Donal Skehan's Brownies

This has to be my most favourite time of the year! I just love to catch up with friends after a beautiful summer of days out with our families. Part of this ritual is doing some home baking. These Brownies reign supreme on that front!! 

These are proper brownies, rich and fudge like that just melt in your mouth. In the past year I have tried all sorts of "healthy" brownie recipes and to be perfectly honest they varied from fair to a complete disaster. Now my quest still goes on for that good for you brownie (as if!!), but for now I'm going to stick to what works.

After Eight Chocolate Cake

There are times when you have to bake a cake for a very special occasion, this is one such cake. I feel that this should be served after a lavish dinner party with a string quartet playing in the background! Okay maybe that is taking it a bit too far but it is definitely the type of cake that spells posh (to me, anyway). After Eight's were always the sweets that you mother kept for the grown up's or for special occasions like Birthdays, they have a certain elusiveness to them. So this cake is for grown up's only, no sharing with the little ones ;)

Serves 9

Recipe slightly adapted from Rachel Allen Cake

Ingredients
125g Dark chocolate, broken into pieces
50ml Milk
150g Butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

150g Caster sugar
3 Eggs
200g Plain flour, sifted
2 tsp Baking powder
100g After Eight mints

For the icing
15g Grated dark chocolate
250g Icing sugar, sifted
100g Butter, softened
1 tbsp Lemon juice
A few drops of peppermint essence, optional

A few drops of green food colouring, optional

Decorating

20g Dark chocolate, melted

Piping bag

Baking paper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC or 160ºC Fan/ 350ºF /Gas 4. Grease and line both the base and sides of a 20cm square cake tin, I used a greased and floured silicone cake tin instead.

Melt the chocolate and milk in a heatproof bowl  on high in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each session until melted or set the bowl over a pan of simmering water. When melted remove from the heat and set aside. 

Cream the butter until soft in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Continuing to beat, pour in the melted chocolate, then add the eggs, one at time, beating continuously. 

Add the flour, baking powder and mints and gently fold in just until mixed (lowest setting on your mixer).  

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, level off and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean (although there may still be traces of mint or chocolate). The mints did sink slightly in the mix but it only added to the finished cake.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before carefully removing the cake and leaving on a wire rack to cool down completely. If you ice before the cake is completely cool, the icing will melt right off in a puddle on your serving plate!!

Meanwhile make up the icing as follows. Grate the dark chocolate with a vegetable peeler or grated, set aside. Beat together the softened butter, icing sugar, lemon juice, green food colouring and peppermint essence together until light and fluffy.  

 Carefully fold in the grated chocolate until just combined.

Spread the icing over the cooled cake with a butter knife or a pallet knife if you have one handy.

I piped 20g of melted dark chocolate directly onto baking paper into the shape of leaves (although some look more like chocolate goldfish!!), allowed them to set and then used them to decorate the top of the cake. The original recipe called for fresh mint leaves to be dipped (on one side only) in melted dark chocolate. Allow the chocolate to set, then peel off the mint leaves and use the chocolate leaves to decorate the cake. I didn't have any fresh mint so I improvised.   

Real Chocolate Sauce

I think it is fair to say that my favorite dessert recipe of all time is David Lebovitz, Vanilla Frozen Yogurt. It is creamy, sweet and really too easy to make!! Now top all that off with a real chocolate sauce, topped with sprinkles and it is really irresistible. It is that childlike feeling of satisfaction when you crack the chocolate with your spoon and dig in... heaven.

The recipe for this little piece of heaven is thanks to Gimme Some Oven so why not drop over there and indulge.

I made my sauce with a mix of dark and milk chocolate and some vegetable oil, this recipe will work with any chocolate. Enjoy!

No Bake Nutella Bites

If you are looking for a quick and easy recipe that requires no effort at all then you are in the right place. Basically heat, stir and chill and you are on your way to a chocolatey chewy bite that didn't even raise a sweat. These little tasty morsels are very moreish and even if I say so myself are real lookers! Perfect for some after dinner dining, party treats or perhaps as a movie snack.

Recipe adapted from Dinner Dishes and Desserts

Yield 80-90 pieces

Ingredients
450g White Sugar
4tbsp Cocoa powder
113g Butter
125ml Milk
1tbsp Vanilla extract
165g Nutella
230g Porridge oats

Method
Line a 30x25cm shallow baking tray with baking paper.

Place the sugar, cocoa powder, butter and milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring frequently. Boil for 1 minute, remove from the heat.

Fold in the vanilla extract, nutella and porridge oats. Mix until all the porridge oats are coated in the chocolate mixture.

Pour into the prepared tray, level off.

Gently tap the dish on your work surface to remove any trapped air bubbles.

Before the mixture sets, shake over sprinkles of your choice.

Chill for 2-3 hours or until firm, use the baking paper to help lift the chocolatey goodness out of the baking tray. Place on a chopping board, with a sharp knife cut into roughly 2cm square pieces. Serve and devour!!

How to Make a Shirt and Tie Cake

I made this cake recently for Father's Day (we made matching cards too), it could also be a very thoughtful birthday cake. Birthday cakes for men can be a tricky thing, as a result I am constantly looking for inspiration for the men in my life. To compound the thing it is even more of a task if they don't support a football team. This on the other hand is what I call a neutral cake, it could be made for a birthday, thank you teacher or a retirement cake without any problem.

Thank You Teacher Smarties and Kit Kat Cake

We are on the final count down to turning off the alarm clock...woo hoo!! Yep as of the close of business on Wednesday school is out for summer. I personally can't wait, no school lunches, ironing uniforms and above all falling outta bed in what seems like the middle of the night :)

I imagine that the teachers are relieved too. We were very lucky to have two brilliant teachers again this year, so with that in mind, I couldn't resist making these choc-a-holic cakes!

The concept is fairly straightforward, take a cake, slather it in chocolate buttercream and then decorate it with even more chocolaty delights. (Clock against you? I suggest you cheat and buy a ready made sponge, ready made chocolate buttercream and decorate).
If you would prefer just one large cake, then make this cake, but substitute 3 tbsp of self raising flour with cocoa powder, bake and cover with the quantity chocolate buttercream stated below.

Whatever you decide, the finished cake will wow the recipient (even if that's you) and impress all those looking on. Enjoy!!    

Makes 2 Cakes

Ingredients
Chocolate Buttercream
250g Butter at room temperature
500g Icing Sugar
4 tbsp Cocoa Powder
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp Water

Chocolate Sponges
255g Self raising flour
45g or 3 tbsp Cocoa powder
300g Soft margarine

300g Caster sugar
1½ tsp Baking powder
6 Eggs

Decorations
40-44 Kit Kat 2 finger bars
750g  Smarties (or M&M's)
3m Ribbon of your choice
Cake board (optional)

Method
Preheat the oven to 190º/375ºF/Gas Mark 5. Grease and line the base and sides of two 20cm sandwich tins with baking paper. Set aside.

Chocolate Buttercream:

In a large bowl beat the butter with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer, until smooth. Add the icing sugar, salt and cocoa powder, beat in slowly at first.

Mix on high until the ingredients are combined, add the water and mix again until the buttercream is soft and creamy. Set aside (if refrigerating, allow to come to room temperature before using).

Chocolate Sponges:

Place all the chocolate sponge ingredients into a large bowl, combine using either a wooden spoon or on high speed in an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes.

Divide the sponge mixture between the two sandwich pans, level off. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the centre of the sponge springs back when gently pressed with your finger.

Allow the sponges to cool slightly before turning out on a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.

I decided to split the sponges, if that puts the fear of God in you then leave it, they will be just as tasty left whole.

Although not necessary, I flipped the sponges so that the completely level base is facing upwards, handy tip for decorating any cake. Smear a generous amount of the buttercream onto the bottom of your serving plate and position the cake centrally. Cover the entire cake with half of the buttercream.

Cover the sides of the cake with a thick layer of the buttercream (so as to give the Kit Kat fingers something to dig into!). Level off the top and straighten the sides.

Stick 20 of Kit Kat bars to the outside of the cake, secure with the ribbon.

Tip 375g of the Smarties (or M&M's) into the center on the cake and you're done! Repeat with the other sponge.

I baked this cake some weeks later and it was my Classic Victoria Sponge with 3 tbsp of self raising flour substituted for 3tbsp of cocoa powder and with half the stated amount of the chocolate buttercream above.

How I transported all my cakes, very handy!

This is the second cake. I ran out to buy 1 meter of ribbon thinking that would be enough, it wasn't! If you want a more lavish bow then I suggest you purchase 1½ meters of ribbon per cake.

Both cakes were presented to teacher in semi-disposable cake carriers. The built in handle in each lid made carrying much easier for little hands!

Smarties Cookies

It is fair to say, the weather in Ireland recently has been somewhat unpredictable, the days are more like micro seasons, sunny with blue skies one minute and hail showers the next!! The cherry blossoms have at last dressed themselves in their beautiful gowns albeit a month late, the trees are in full bloom and the swallows are busy building their nests. It has been a tentative start to the summer but I think we are finally getting there. Baking for me is very cathartic and baking smarties cookies is the most beneficial of all, these bright jewel cookies are the perfect antidote for our strange weather and will be cheery no matter what it's doing outside!! 

This of course all seems so trivial by comparison to the great wonders of the universe, which have been put very much in perspective in the past couple of days with the safe return of Commander Hadfield to earth. We have been enjoying his tweets and videos, especially Space Oddity, although my children were more interested in his "Tears don't fall in space" video, this new found wisdom has been passed on with great excitement to anyone that will listen, you have been warned!

Makes 20-25 cookies

Ingredients
100g Butter softened
150g Light brown sugar
1 Egg + 1 egg yolk
250g Plain flour
½ tsp Bicarbonate of soda
150g Smarties (about 4 tubes)

Method

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350º F/Gas Mark 4. Line two large baking sheet with baking paper. Combine the flour and the bicarbonate of soda, set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until pale with a hand mixer.

Add the egg and egg yoke with a tablespoon of flour (to prevent the egg from splitting) mix until combined. Add the remainder of the flour until you have a stiff dough. 

Roll the cookie dough into walnut sized balls or scoop with an ice cream scoop, place about 5cm apart on the baking sheets to allow for spreading, flatten with wet hands.

Place the smarties onto the cookies

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden around the edges. Allow to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Why not try......

Fold in 150g of dark chocolate chip and the smarties to the cookie dough.

Place walnut sized balls onto the prepared baking sheet and flatten as before.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

 Serve with a glass of ice cold milk and devour!