Guinness Chocolate Cake – a piece of this is your only man!

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In true Irish style, Paddy's 'Day' 2016 is set to last 3 days. If you happen to be in Dublin, check out what's on and remember to knock up a quick batch of Guinness Chocolate Cake to keep your energy levels up.

When money's tight and hard to get
And your horse has also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt -
A pint of plain is your only man.

(The Workman’s Friend, Brian O’Nolan)

You’ll often see visitors to Dublin with what I call “Guinness face”, poised over a glass of the black stuff, feeling that they must taste the local brew but reluctant to put their lips near something that looks like it might have been scooped from the nearby Liffey.

If you are a Guinness virgin, wait until you are in Ireland to try this beverage. Although there shouldn’t be, there is a world of difference between the flat bitter stuff I’ve been served in bars in the UK or the States and a creamy mellow jar of the stuff in its native land.

Among the many pubs that pull a decent pint of Guinness are: Johnnie Fox’s in the Dublin mountains; Kehoe’s, just off Grafton Street; Davy Byrnes, also just off Grafton Street and a stopping point for James Joyce fans; and one of my favourites, The Stag’s Head, (just off Dame Street) a tavern almost as old as Guinness, and probably as close as you’ll get to a proper traditional Irish pub -  not a shamrock or leprechaun in sight.

If you are unable to make it to the Emerald Isle to paint the town green on Paddy's Day, well then, a piece of this rich dark Guinness Chocolate Cake is your only man. 

For one tray bake (15 generous pieces) or 8 mini cakes you will need...
... to pre-heat the oven to 160°C

Cake Batter

300g Muscovado sugar (or other dark brown sugar)

280g plain flour

40g cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon baking soda, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted

¼ teaspoon salt

250mls sunflower oil (or other flavourless cooking oil)

250mls Guinness (or other stout)

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1                    Lightly butter and base-line an 18cm x 26cm (9” x 13”) baking tin.

2                    In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

3                    Place the oil, Guinness, beaten eggs and vanilla extract together in a large jug and whisk to combine.

4                    Gradually add the oil mixture to the flour mixture, stirring together with a whisk until no dry mixture remains.

5                    Transfer the mixture to the baking tin and place in the preheated oven for 35 – 40 minutes until well risen. To check if it is done, lightly press the surface of the cake with your finger. If it springs back it’s done. If a small indent remains continue cooking for a further 5 minutes then test again. Alternatively, poke a cocktail stick into the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean (i.e. no damp batter clinging to it, it’s done). Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

6                    While the cake is cooling, make the frosting.  

Cream Cheese Frosting

100g full fat cream cheese

50g butter, at room temperature (i.e. soft)

350g icing sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon Guinness

½ teaspoon vanilla extract 

7       In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese until combined. Add one-third of the icing sugar and slowly beat until smoothly blended. Add in the rest of the icing sugar, the Guinness and the vanilla extract and continue beating until light and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes.  Transfer to the cake using a spatula, or pipe in generous swirls. 

Note:  For the mini cakes shown in the photos, I carefully removed the cooled cake from the tin and stamped out 8 mini cakes using a 6cm (3”) round cutter before piping on swirls of frosting. The scraps of cake can be used for trifle or cake pops.

Sorry Brian, sometimes a cup of tea is your only man!

First published in 2012

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Lipsmacking Blarney Kisses - Mwah!

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Sometimes a kiss will leave your heart pounding. Sometimes a kiss will leave your legs trembling. Sometimes a kiss will make your head spin. If all three sensations occur at once, and you begin to speak with unaccustomed expressiveness, there is only one possible explanation: you have just kissed the Stone of Eloquence (aka the Blarney Stone).

The experience goes something like this:

Stroll through beautiful blossom-filled gardens that line the approach to the 15^th century tower.

Blarney Castle, Co. Cork

Next, climb the steep, narrow, shadowy spiral of stone that could loosely be described as a staircase - but could more believably pass for a curly ladder, with steps worn to a smooth shine by 500 years of history.

Don't look down!

By the time you have ascended 6 hair-raising flights, your heart is galloping and your legs are shaking – from exertion or from terror or both. Now all you have to do is lie on your back on the parapet and wriggle over the edge. Don't worry, a friendly Irishman will grab a hold, preventing you from falling to your death.

There follows an enormous backbend (lucky you took those ballet/yoga classes eh?) as you pucker up and slap a kiss on the legendary blue stone – which is embedded much further down the battlements than you originally thought. If your eyes aren’t squeezed shut with fright, you’ll get a fleeting view of the perfect green lawn 6 storeys below. Eeeek!

The stone from below, (just above the top window);            "Don't look down";

Before you have time to panic, you are helped to your feet. You did it! Wait a few moments and pretend to admire the astounding view while your heart rate returns to normal and your head stops spinning.

Now all you have to do is get back to ground level, via another terrifyingly whirly flight of stairs.

Here is my latest creation – the Blarney Kiss. It is a walnut shortbread, with a toffee/caramel embedded to represent the stone, and a white chocolate x on top for the kiss. Whimsical? Yes,  but be sure to pack a few of these when visiting the Stone of Eloquence. You'll be grateful for the sugar hit as you make your way back to the ground.

Have a kiss and a cuppa!

For approximately a dozen kisses you will need...to pre-heat the oven to 170°C

175g butter, softened

80g caster sugar

200g plain flour

50g corn flour

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

a pinch of fine table salt

50g walnuts, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons iced water

approximately 12 soft toffees/caramels

75g white chocolate

1          Place the butter and sugar in a food mixer or a large bowl and mix together until fluffy and paler in colour.

2          Mix in the plain flour, corn flour, vanilla extract, salt, chopped walnuts and iced water and mix just until the ingredients come together in a ball.

Press a toffee 'stone' into the centre of each

3          Roll the ball of paste out on a floured surface to an oblong roughly 7mm / ¼ inch thick and using a knife dipped in flour, trim to a neat rectangle.

4          Cut the paste into rectangles large enough to frame the toffee/caramel which you are going to embed in the centre of each - making sure to push the toffee into the paste but not all the way through. Transfer to a non-stick (or lightly floured) baking sheet. Squash any off-cuts into a ball and re-roll.

5          Bake the cookies in the pre-heated oven for 12 – 15 minutes or until the biscuit is evenly golden and the toffee has melted.

6          Transfer to a cooling rack. When cold, melt the white chocolate and using a piping bag (or a freezer bag with a tiny corner snipped off) place an x (the kiss of course!) on top of this melt-in-the-mouth shortbread.



Mwah!

These are not sophisticated, but they are Mwah!
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