I've Been a-Baking!
And my kitchen is still standing and the whole family is alive! Alive and well fed I might add. The husband reckons he ate 3/4 of a cheesecake all by himself! I reckon so too, as I only had two slivers and the kids weren't fans, yet there certainly appears to be no more!
Generally I am a rudimentary baker at best, sticking to old favourites that I know I won't butcher. I have been known to ruin brownie mixes I am so terrible with following recipes - thank heavens I found the foolproof One Bowl Brownie Recipe! It gets especially difficult working with American recipes and European measurements and ingredients. I'm convinced the flour here is different. I haven't quite figured out how, but I remember my Mam saying she couldn't make pastry when we lived in America, because the flour wasn't right. I think I just need to figure out which type of flour is best for what.
For whatever reason, the cosmos seemed to be working in my favour this week, as almost everything was a roaring success. I will not talk about the creme brulee which was awful, despite me normally being able to make a delectable creme brulee. The husband thinks it was the addition of kahlua to an already perfect recipe. Who knows? I just know I won't be doing it again! Despite that, I would like to share a few recipes with you. This will be a long post, but I'm sure everyone will find something they like!
Allow me to whet your appetite with a Lemon Cheesecake. I've missed cheesecake immensely since moving back to Ireland. My first cheesecake experience here was tragic. I was out for lunch in Castlebar where I worked at the time and all the girls were having dessert so I obliged and ordered the Bailey's Cheesecake. When it came out it looked ok, but when I tasted it, it was awful. I sent it back suggesting it might be old, that something was definitely off with it. He brought me back another piece that he said was cut from a fresh cake. It tasted the exact same. Naively I asked if they had forgotten to bake it. Laughter erupted from the table. "You don't bake cheesecake!" Ah-ha! Well that explained a lot. Apparently many people here can't stand baked cheesecake, and from the recipes I've seen floating around I can understand why - dense, glutinous masses. Cheesecake should be light, but it shouldn't be mousse either. This recipe is a perfect mix that both Americans and Irish should love! It's easy to make too, no bain marie, and if the surface cracks, no worries, you'll be covering it with lemon curd! This is from The Best of Dierbergs cookbook.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cups shortbread crumbs
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- 3 packages cream cheese (8oz Philadelphia in foil)
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp corn flour/starch
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 3 eggs
- 1 jar lemon curd
- Whipped cream, raspberries and mint to garnish (optional)
Combine the shortbread crumbs and butter and press into the bottom of a greased 9 inch spring form pan. Wrap foil around and underneath the pan. Bake at 325F/165C for eight minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
To prepare the filling, beat the cream cheese until soft. Beat in lemon juice.
In a small bowl mix lemon zest, sugar and cornstarch. Add to cream cheese mixture and beat until well blended.
Add eggs one at a time, until well incorporated. Pour filling onto baked crust.
Bake for 40-45 minutes at 325F/165C until edges are set and center is almost set.
Turn off oven, loosen the edges with a sharp knife. Allow to rest in oven with door ajar for thirty minutes.
Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Refrigerate eight hours or overnight. (I did not do this)
Cover with lemon curd. Garnish with quenelles of whipped cream, raspberries and sprigs of mint, or simply add lemon peel as I did. (How do you get that to curl??? Any tips?)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Next up is the very simple, yet frequently requested Irish brown soda bread. This goes hand-in-hand with my smoked salmon post. Growing up we always had brown bread and soda bread, but it seems elsewhere in the world, this is called brown soda bread, so there you go! I wish I could tell you this was a recipe passed down from generation to generation, but it's not. It's just from the back of the Odlum's flour bag!
Ingredients:
- 350g/12oz Coarse Ground Wholemeal
- 125g/4oz Plain Flour
- 15g/1/2 oz Wheatgerm (optional)
- 275-425ml/1/2-3/4pt Buttermilk or Sour Cream
- 1 tsp Bread (Baking) Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 25g/1oz Bran (optional)
Sieve the cream flour, salt and bread soda into a bowl. Mix in the wholemeal, wheatgerm and bran, if used. Add enough milk to make a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board. Knead until the mixture comes together smoothly. Place dough on a floured baking sheet. Cut a cross over the top.
Place in a central oven position and bake in a preheated oven 400°F, 200°C, Gas 6 for approx. 40 mins. When baked the bread will have a hollow sound if tapped on the base. Cool on a wire tray. A dry tea towel wrapped around the bread at this stage helps to give a softer crust.
Source: Odlums.ie
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I know I've posted a Blueberry muffin recipe before, but it is a bit complex. This is a really easy recipe that Ella and I whipped up the other day. It is from my cooking bible The Joy of Cooking. To keep calories low, use the minimum amount of butter and skim milk. You can substitute the blueberries for other fruit or chocolate chips, or anything that takes your fancy. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (optional - I used fresh grated)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup milk/cream
- 2/3 cup sugar or packed brown sugar
- 4-8 tbsp melted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries
- cinnamon and sugar for topping
Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together in a large bowl.
Beat eggs, milk, sugar, butter and vanilla in a separate bowl. Add to the flour mixture and lightly mix together. Batter should not be smoothed, but all dry ingredients should be wet. Fold in blueberries.
Divide into twelve muffin cases in a muffin tin. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon and sugar.
Bake at 200C/400F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I will try and post again before I leave on Tuesday, but I am going to Mayo tomorrow to drop the kids off, but there is no broadband, so if you don't hear from me I should be back around July 5th.
The competition officially closes on July 1, but since I won't be back, keep the last minute entries coming. I've got some great ones so far. Remember you are welcome to enter twice and you don't have to be a blogger or a parent!!!!
Have a great week everyone and don't forget to enter the competition. Tell your friends too!
|