Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I usually make this as a loaf, but decided to try it a different way for a change! The recipe for the loaf makes about 24 cupcakes, and they were still as moist and light as they would be if I made it as a full cake. The recipe for the carrot cake is here

Ash Wednesday - Hot Cross Buns!

Hot Cross Buns are a must at this time of the year, especially on Ash Wednesday. This was my second time making these, and because I dont work with yeast and bread making that often they were a bit crazy to make! All in all they turned out ok, they tasted great but they were a lot smaller than expected. I used the recipe in Rachel Allen's Bake, and the recipe says make them into 40g balls and let them rise again so maybe next time i'd make them into 60g balls??? Who knows! I always change things up anyway :)

I'm only going to put up the pics for this one as the recipe is long enough, but if you really really want it you can e-mail me jennifer.omahony@gmail.com

Lemon Loaf with White Choc Drizzle

I LOVE LEMONS! :) This loaf is like a madeira loaf, the yoghurt in the recipe makes it nice and moist. Its a great cake to have with a cup of tea and it's not too rich that you feel like you're being bold!

Recipe:

340g plain flour, 2tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 240 ml plain natural yoghurt, 225g caster sugar, 3 eggs, finely grated zest of 2 lemons, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 120ml vegetable oil

Grease and line a loaf tin and Bake at 180C

Beat the eggs, sugar, yoghurt, vanilla and zest until well mixed. Slowly beat in sifted flour baking powder and salt. Fold in the oil until well incorporated. Pour into the prepped tin and bake for 45mins. Keep an eye on it depending on the oven and if its fan etc.

Melt 2 packs of white buttons and drizzle over the loaf when it's completely cooled.... Boil the kettle!

Brick Oven, Cork

Decided to have a nice dinner out to start the week and ventured to The Brick Oven, Probys Quay in Cork. It's the second of it's kind in Cork, the other being in Bantry and hats off to the proprietors for creating a relaxing, warm atmosphere and serving up top nosh. The menu is simple yet tasteful ranging from seafood starters of calamari or shrimp to steaks and  pizzas cooked in their fantastic "brick oven"! It was my second time visiting the city branch, the first time was a staff night out and we were delighted with our choice. Service was quick, the food was great and the wine never stopped flowing. The round of vodka and prosecco during the night was an added bonus!
Tonight, it was a calmer evening to say the least, no alcohol unfortunately as we were both driving. I had the chicken breast stuffed with sundried tomato and parmesan, wrapped in pancetta and a creamy mash with a  mild salsa garnish. It was delicious, but the portion of mash definitely could have been bigger! Joe had the steak ciabatta, with salad and home cut chips, also very good. And we had a nice cup of tea after!
All in all, a lovely bistro with nice staff and good food. I'll visit again :)

Bailey's Mocha Cupcakes

I wanted some sort of a coffee cupcake, then decided to add a dash of chocolate to the mix for good measure! I was going to top the cakes with coffee butter icing and I thought sure why not add a splash of Bailey's ... They were divine! I'm going to recreate this idea as a drink some evening after work when I need a serious wind down .. yum!

Recipe @ 190C, Gas 5
175g self raising flour, 50g cocoa, 225g light brown sugar, 175g butter melted, 4 eggs separated, 60ml strong coffee**, 3tbsp water

**I diluted 2 tsp of instant coffee in hot water, bringing it up to the 60ml and let it cool.

In a spotless dry bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Meanwhile in another large bowl, sift in the flour and cocoa, then add the sugar and mix well. Using a wooden spoon beat in the egg yolks, melted butter, water and cooled coffee until nice and smooth. Gently fold the cake mixture into the egg whites, until no white can be seen. Spoon into cupcake cases filling to only 3/4 of the way. Bake for 15mins

Coffee Butter Icing with a Baileys Twist :)
200g icing sugar, 100g soft butter, 1-2tbsp baileys, 3tbsp cooled coffee
beat the butter until very soft, beat in the icing sugar gradually add in the liquid and beat until creamy and smooth. Decorate away! I topped them with some cadbury Flake aswell... whats a few more calories :)

Key Lime Pie (gluten free version!)

Made this gluten free key lime pie for dinner at Joe's brother and girlfriend's house! It was a great evening, plenty of wine, chat and good food :) What more could you want!

Recipe
Crumb crust : 175g gluten free digestive biscuits(i used GF choc chip cookies), 2tbsp caster sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 70g melted butter

Filling: 400ml can condensed milk, 125ml fresh squeezed lime juice, finely grated rind 3 limes, 4 egg yolks

Serve topped with whipped cream and a lime garnish! mmmmm...........

Preheat the oven to 160C and grease a 9inch tart tin
For the base, put the biscuits sugar and cinnamon in a food processor and whiz until its fine crumbs (not powder)! Add the melted butter and process until moist. Tip the mixture into the prepped tin and press over the base and up the side. Bake for 5 mins.
Meanwhile, beat the condensed milk, lime juice and rind and egg yolks on med to high speed until well beaten. Remove the tart tin from the oven, pour the filling on and smooth out to the edges. Bake for another 15 mins until set but still a bit wobbly in the middle.
Cool completely on a wire rack, cover and chill for 2 hours. Spread with thick whipped cream about a cm from the edges. Tuck in!!!

Lemon QueenCake :)

Considering it is the name of my blog I decided I'd better make some lemon queencakes :) They are delicious! These particular ones are made with ricotta cheese, they are light and fluffy, melt in your mouth cupcakes .... damn new yr resolutions gone out the window again! I cant resist lol

Recipe for a large batch of regular size cakes (yields about 30):

2eggs, 300g caster sugar, 240g butter*melted*, 300g ricotta, 2lemons zested and juiced, 2tsp vanilla extract, 3tsp baking powder, 400g plain flour

*****if using self raising flour, still add 1tsp baking powder
******substitute one lemon for one orange, it makes a nice mixed citrus cupcake

Method:
Beat the eggs and sugar together for 3 mins on medium to high speed until light and creamy, mix in the melted butter , ricotta, juice and zest of fruit and the vanilla. Beat well for another minute or two. Fold in the flour and baking powder and mix well. Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases in a tray, fill 3/4 of the way. Bake in a moderate oven at 180C for 20 to 25 mins

When cooled thoroughly, ice with a creamy lemon butter icing
400g icing sugar, 200g soft butter, 2tbsp milk, lemon juice to your taste (i love it almost bitter!) Beat together well!

Alex's Vedett Birthday Cake

A very good, regular customer and friend asked me to make him a birthday cake for Friday just gone. I was given total reign over the cake, he didnt specify even a flavour haha so I was left to my own creativity ! :) As I know that he has a little obsession with the Belgian beer Vedett, I decided this had to be the idea for the cake and I took a major risk in making it with Chocolate Mayo Cake and vanilla buttercream. It turned out superbly though and he was so surprised.. YAY! :)

I made a double batch of the choc mayo recipe, and baked it in square tins, each 9inch. I put the cake together on a board 2cakes on the bottom, iced together with buttercream. Then i sandwiched those with the other 2 cakes so all in all I had an 18inch rectangle to work with. The bottom part was the perfect size for the base, so I cut out the shape of the Vedett bottle on the top. I buttercreamed the whole cake, and cover it in a fondant icing that i had dyed using Sugarflair Christmas Green, I made the bottle top out of plain white icing, and the label also out of fondant dyed with Christmas Red, Black, and Gold Dust.

It was a teeeny bit stressful, ok maybe a LOT! But only because I'm a bit of a perfectionist :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX :) xxx