Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with St. Patrick's Day Frosting

We love St Patrick's Day in this house. It's always a big family day and an excuse to eat some lovely Irish food, watch the parade in town and maybe (just maybe) have a little tipple (or two).This year we have the added bonus of babysitting my two little nieces also, so we will be baking these cupcakes in the morning for their arrival!

I trial-baked these cupcakes on Sunday with my daughter to share with her cousins on a playdate. We made 12, and they went down so well that I actually didn't have one to myself at all. I had to rely on family taste reviews to let me know that they were good. Very good I'm told. Too good my mother said!! I used Rachel Allen's recipe for chocolate cupcakes from her book Cake; and just added 100g of chocolate chips. I tried to make the frosting as green as I could. I ended up using a full tube of green gel food colouring.

Where ever you are celebrating St Patrick's Day, I hope it's a safe and fun day for everyone. Fingers crossed for good weather. (nothing worse than parade watching in an unbrella jungle)

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 100g soft butter
• 150g of vanilla sugar (sugar in a jar with vanilla pods)
• 2 large eggs
• 125ml milk
• 175g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 25g cocoa powder
• 100g chocolate chips

St Patrick's Day Frosting

• 100g very soft butter
• 225g icing sugar, SIFTED
• 30ml milk
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 tube Dr Oetker green food colouring (or any colour). The more colouring you add the deeper the colour of your icing.

To Decorate

• Chocolate stars (or smarties, chocolate shavings, sprinkle, to name a few)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tray with 12 paper cases.
2. Using a hand whisk (or electric) cream the butter, add the sugar and whisk until light and fluffy.
3. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and then slowly add them to the butter, whisking all the time.
4. Pour in the milk and beat until mixed.  
5. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.
6. Add the chocolate chips and gently fold stir until the flour mix is incorporated in.
7. Divide the bun batter between the 12 cases and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
8. Allow to cool on a wire rack in the tray for 5 minutes, then remove and cool completely. They need to be completely cooled before icing, otherwise you will have a runny mess.
9. To make the icing, whisk all the icing ingredients together, either using a hand held whisk or an electric mixer.
10. You can decorate using a piping bag, but I prefer a more 'homemade, rustic' finish and used a warm palate knife.

Enjoy and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Healthy Spotted Dog

I make Spotted Dog every morning when in peak season in the B&B; my guests love it and so does my family. It's a wonderful recipe I learned whilst attending a cookery course in Ballymaloe by the famous Darina Allen.

This is a fabulous Irish recipe, perfect to share with the readers in the lead up to St Patrick's Day. Ever the health conscious I've tweaked the original recipe just a little to make the bread a little healthier; which will help with the guilt of overeating it.

Spotted dog is wonderful with lashings of Kerrygold Butter (now softer) and Strawberrry jam, when fresh from the oven. But my own personal favorite way of having this bread is with Kerrygold butter and chunks of Mature Irish Cheddar Cheese and some creamy homemade coleslaw.

The trick to getting a fantastic light bread is all in the technique of lifting the flour and adding air into the dough; do not skip or slack on this step, Spotted Dog is sometimes called a cake of bread so treat the dough with the same care as you would treat a cake.

The bread freezes well too, sometimes I like to make two to three cakes of spotted dog; and when they are completely cooled, I half them and wrap them well in tin foil and freezer bags and throw them into the freezer. To defrost for a lovely breakfast bread at the weekends when it's just myself and my husband; I just take the half loaf out of the freezer and let it defrost on the counter top overnight.

Ingredients

• 200g plain flour
• 250g of wholemeal flour
• 350ml of buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of bicarbonate soda
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 100g of sultanas
• 20g of porrigde oats

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
2. Sift the flour into a bowl with the bicarbonate soda, sugar, salt and sultanas.
3. Lift the mixture with your fingers, allowing the flour mixture to fallen between your fingers, this adds air to the flour and as mentioned above is a critical step in getting a nice light bread. Do this 10 times or so.
4. Mix the buttermilk and the egg together in a jug.
5. Making a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the liquid.
6. Mix to combine, taking care not to over mix.
7. Turn out onto the counter and mould gently into a round shape.
8. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
9. Cut a cross in the cake with a sharp knife (Irish folklore says this is so the fairies can escape)
10. Top the cake with the porridge oats and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
11. After 20 minutes turn the oven down to 200 degrees and bake for a further 30 minutes.
12. Cool on a wire rack.

The bread doesn't keep very well over a few days; though I doubt there'll be any trouble in finishing it off in a day.

There's nothing more Irish than homemade soda bread; so why don't you try this recipe for St Patrick's Day.

(Above:Serving suggestion from Kerrygold Butter, Now Softer)

Wherever you are in the world Lá Fhéile Padriag Shona Daoibh; have a good one!

Don't forget to check out my recipe for a good strong Irish Coffee..http://serenasmediumrare.blogspot.ie/2012/03/best-irish-coffee.html

Go on, go on, go on!!

The Best Irish Coffee

With Paddy’s Day rolling closer this weekend, what better way to raise your glasses and say ‘Sláinte!!’ than with an indulgent Irish Coffee!!!

This is a tried and tested plain and simple recipe for the best way to prepare an Irish Coffee!

Wherever you are in the world and whatever nationality you are, I wish you a Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh.

I hope you will enjoy the day with family and friends and perhaps raise a glass of the black stuff!!!

Serves 2

Ingredients

·         Irish Whiskey, 2 Irish size shots

·         Cream, 100mls softly whipped

·         Brown Sugar, 2 tbsp

·         Freshly brewed strong coffee (I used Nespresso)

Method

1.       Pour the whiskey into a heat proof glass (preheated) and stir in the sugar.

2.       Top with the coffee and stir well.

3.       With the back of a spoon, pour in the cream, and sprinkle with chocolate powder.

4.       Drink with a smile on your face and heat in your belly!!!

Nicola's St Patrick's Day Muffins

My good friend and baker extraordinaire, Nicola, is back by popular demand here with another occasional baking recipe. Here is a great little recipe for muffins, which can be baked any time, it doesn't have to be St. Patrick's Day......its just a good excuse!!!! 

For the occasion, Nicola has made bright green buttercream frosting which adds a real fun element to the muffins, not to mention delicious, its nearly a shame to tuck in they look so good! Arra- be-garra!!!

Saint Patrick’s Day - Lá Fhéile Pádraig is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on the 17^th of March in Ireland. When the 17^th March comes round every year we all get very proud of our Irish heritage, especially those of us who are living abroad and away from family. Family dinners and get-togethers will be very special for me this year as I will visit family at home. I have decided to make a few muffins for the occasion with a built in ‘green’ theme.

St Patrick’s Day Muffins

SERVES 12Muffin Ingredients
310g (lloz) plain flour
4 level teaspoons baking powder
55g (2oz) caster sugar
28g (1 oz) dessicated coconut (optional)
2 eggs
375ml (13 fl oz) milk (full fat)
160g (5 and 3/4oz) melted butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients

140g/5oz unsalted butter. (at room tempeture)

280g/10oz icing sugar

1-2 tbsp Milk

Few drops Green food colouring

Muffins - Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6. Lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin.
2. Put paper cups into a muffin tray.
3. Get two bowls, one large one medium.

4. Put the flour baking powder, Caster Sugar and dessicoted coconut (if using) into the large bowl.

5. In another bowl, mix the eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla extract.

6. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Mix with a wooden spoon everything together the mixture
should be lumpy, don't be tempted to over-mix it’s meant to be that way.

7. Spoon the mixture into paper cups in the muffin tray or straight into the
muffin holes Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

NOTE

Ovens vary so keep an eye on it near the end. They should have risen beautifully and golden. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then lift out and place on a rack.

Buttercream Icing – Method

1. Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth.

2. Add the remaining icing sugar and one tablespoon of the milk and beat the mixture until creamy and smooth. Beat in the milk, if necessary, to loosen the mixture.
3. Stir in the food colouring until well combined.
4. Decorate with coloured sugar, smarties and other edible decorations.

Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled. Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.