EAT DRINK LIVE

THE RISE AND RISE OF THE DARING BAKERS.

After missing the last two Daring Bakers challenges I completed this one with two whole days to spare (a first for me I think) and once more all eleventy squillion of us are rising to the challenge with bread. Mary and Sara chose Julia Childs French bread to be a little more precise. Julia Child has not had such a deep impact on this side of the Atlantic, as we have Darina  and the UK has Delia, but in the States she introduced a whole generation to the art of French Cookery. I only seem to bake bread when being bossed around by my fellow DBers but I confess I really enjoyed this challenge.

Bread is one of the great levellers. Since the most ancient times humans have broken bread together and almost all cultures have there own signature loaf (any number of flat breads, ciabattas, pumpernickels, soda breads, baguettes...). I say fie to dietician type people who think that bread has no nutritional value, I'll happily eat it with nothing but several inches of butter but some mature cheddar, crisp little gems and home-made Bramley apple and sage chutney might make it a little more well rounded. There are the Ladas of bread vehicles and then there are the classic Jaguars. I know which one sends shivers up and down my spine.

There's no getting around the fact that this recipe takes all day. Most of this time is spent thinking of jobs not to do while waiting for the dough to rise. The secret of this recipe is patience as those bubbles need to take their sweet time forming. It's worth every yeasty minute though when you end up with a chewy-crusted, soft doughed loaf with that slightly sour note that will see you turning up your nose at supermarket bread forevermore. It's an addictive thing working with yeast, when it works you're ecstatic, when it doesn't, heartbroken but hopefully willing to try again.

You'll have to go to Mary to get the recipe but be careful not to let the bread bugs bite.

MUCH ADO ABOUT MUFFINS X: NUTCRACKER SWEET.

Can't talk. Eating.

Adapted from How to be a Domestic Goddess.

SNICKERS AND PEANUT-BUTTER MUFFINS

• 250g plain flour
• 85g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tbls baking powder
• pinch of salt
• few drops of vanilla extract
• 160g crunchy peanut butter
• 60g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 175ml milk
• 5 x 65g Snickers (4 for the recipe, 1 for you)
• handful of honey roasted peanuts, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases or with squares of parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the peanut butter and mix until you have a bowl of coarse crumbs. Add the melted butter, vanilla extract and egg to the milk and beat lightly to combine. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a fork adding 3 of the chopped Snickers bars with the last few strokes. Divide between the muffin cases and sprinkle the remaining Snickers bar over the tops of the batter with the honey roasted peanuts if using.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden. Sit in the tin on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes the transfer to the wire rack to cool(ish).

Makes 12 muffins but if you think I'm sharing you are sadly mistaken.

Something good can always be made a little better.

From Nigella Express.

CHOCOLATE AND PEANUT-BUTTER SAUCE

• 175ml cream
• 100g milk chocolate
• 100g smooth peanut butter
• 3 tbls golden syrup

1. Put everything in a microwaveable bowl and zap for 20 seconds at a time until everything is almost melted then stir until you have a smooth sauce.

WHEN ONLY CHOCOLATE CAKE WILL DO.

Those of you of a chocolate persuasion may have noticed that there is a new "When Only Chocolate Cake Will Do" category over on the right somewhere. In my world there are very few situations that can't be conquered with a slice of chocolate cake (unholy stomach bugs excepted) and now that I've brushed away the last of those cobwebs and flung back the curtains I can see quite a few things that have been neglected and left to get rather dusty. So lets see how far this cake can go.

It's original incarnation was as Val's birthday cake, chocolate and orange as requested, and it performed it's duty with the utmost chocolatey professionalism. Adult rich, studded with toasted almonds and candied orange zest, even I would preach self-restraint when it comes to serving this one. Over a pound of chocolate in an 8 inch cake is not to be taken lightly so use the very best you can find even if it means beans on toast for the rest of the week. It happens to be gluten free but that just means there will be even more people who can share the chocolate love.

Next up was my first blog birthday but that ship sailed about two weeks ago, I marked the occasion myself by finishing off the slice immortalised above.

A virtual slice is offered to all of you who succumbed to lemon flavoured bribery and kindly nominated Eat Drink Live in the Irish Blog Awards, being held on March 1st in Dublin's Alexander Hotel. The short lists are out and I made it onto the Best Food and Drink Blog and Best Blog, so thank you muchly for my night out, though I will be playing Cinderella on the night and hauling my pumpkin rear back to Limerick at midnight. March 2nd is Mothers Day and the mums of Limerick must not be denied their well earned buns.

Lastly but not leastly, I suppose I should acknowledge the day that's in it. I've made my anti-Cupid stance known before but seeing as I gave in to the dollar signs flashing before my eyes and went out the door with 5 dozen love-heart topped cupcakes this morning, it would be mercenary of me not to wish you all a happy chocolate-coated Valentines Day.

Adapted from an old issue of Vogue Entertaining and Travel.

CHOCOLATE AND ORANGE CAKE

• 3 oranges, rind thinly peeled into wide strips (a vegetable peeler works well)
• 260g caster sugar, plus a few tablespoons extra to coat
• 300g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped
• 50g flaked almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
• 190g unsalted butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 225g ground almonds
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

For Ganache:

• 200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
• 60ml double cream

1. Place the orange rind in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Drain then repeat the process twice. Return rind to the pan, add 110g of the caster sugar (leaving 150g for later) and 125ml of water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then simmer for 15 minutes or until syrup is thick and rind translucent. Drain and reserve syrup. Cool rind. Toss in extra few tablespoons of sugar and chop coarsely.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease and line the base of an 8 inch/20cm cake deep cake tin with greaseproof paper. Place the dark chocolate in a bowl and pour over 150ml boiling water. Whisk until combined and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Beat the remaining 150g of the unsalted butter (the extra 40g is for the ganache), the 1/2 tsp salt and the remaining 150g caster sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each one. The mixture will look quite curded but don't worry it all comes together when you add the remaining ingredients. Next beat in the chocolate mixture. Sift over the ground almonds and baking powder, add flaked almonds and orange rind and stir in with a spatula to combine. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake on the bottom shelf of the oven for 50-55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out almost clean. If the cake is colouring too much cover it with tin foil halfway through the cooking time. Stand the cake in it's tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. To make the ganache: Stir the chocolate, cream and remaining 40g of butter ina bowl set over a pan of simmering water until melted. Leave to cool for a while until it thickens slightly the spread over the cooled cake swirling with a flat-blade spatula as you go. Add some of the reserved syrup to some whipping cream and beat until soft peaks form. Serve with the cake.

Serves 6-8.

GRANNIES 'R' US.

 

I'm popping in to brush away the cobwebs and plead the unholiest of stomach bugs as one of many reasons why I have been neglecting things around here. Seeing as even chocolate cannot tempt me today I'm going to point you in the far more delectable direction of the launch of a new site Our Grannies Recipes, which you won't need a Hazmet suit to enter.

The brainchild of Mercier Press (who are bringing The Ice Cream Ireland Book to a store near you in April), they came up with the idea for this site as a means of gathering together favourite Irish recipes that have been handed down through generations. The recipes contributed will be compiled into a book (to be published in October this year) with the royalties going to the more than worthy Age Action Ireland.

The beauty of this idea is that we can all get involved by submitting recipes, voting for the final cover and discussing the whole process, hopefully bringing forgotten memories flooding back. Eoin has gotten the ball rolling with an appropriate pancake recipe so head over and take a look round and see if you would like to make your own mark on this collection of recipes.

I'm lucky enough to still have my paternal granny, who I'm sure will be willing to part with her potato cake recipe, but I'll have to go visit and watch because I don't think there has ever been a weighing scales in her house!