Christmas Cake Pops – A perfect Gift

Posted on 20/11/2011 by

Around this time every year, I do a clear out of my freezer. Due to limited space, I couldn’t get a chest freezer when I moved into the house – which bugs me to this day – and I had to buy a 3 drawer freezer. Now there are only 2 of us living here so we manage, but I tend to make lots of things. An extra portion of pizza dough? Pop it in the freezer. Bought too many bagels in the last shop? Pop them in the freezer (pre sliced and individually wrapped for ease). However, this constant popping of things into the freezer means that once a year, I have a bit of a melt down (no pun intended) and go at it like a woman possessed. I am ruthless and we end up eating treats that have come from the depth of the icebox for a week.
Well on this clear out of the freezer I found a large piece of a Christmas cake from last year. Wrapped up like a present I may add which made it perfect to eat.

However, when I looked at it, I had another idea. As part of little gift hampers I make for friends and family at Christmas, I thought these cake pops, inspired by Bakerella, would be a perfect use for some left over Christmas cake. You could also use this years cake too. Just make a little bit extra and cook in a smaller tin. It will all be blitzed up in a blender so you don’t have to worry about what it looks like!

To make 10 Cake Pops you will need
Approx 500g christmas cake
1 heaped tablespoon of chocolate/fudge icing
100g chocolate of your choice to decorate
lollipop sticks (link below)
a shallow baking dish
decorations, hundreds & thousands of your choice.

First things first. Take your piece of cake – I used about 500g and place in a food processor and blitz until you have crumbs. Try and make sure that all the lumps are broken up. Place into a good sized bowl and add a tablespoon of chocolate fudge icing. I use the Betty Crocker vareity which is super handy and keeps in the fridge for a little while. You can find it in most supermarkets. Mix the icing into the crumbs really well with a fork. Make sure that you work the whole thing really well so there are no big lumps of frosting – however nice they taste!

Take a shallow baking dish and line it with parchment and place to one side. Now with clean, damp hands or using food prep gloves, take a heaped teaspoon amount of the crumb mix and roll between your hands into a ball. Give the mix a squeeze and shape again, making sure that the crumbs are nice and compact. Cover the dish with cling film and place, easily, into your newly emptied freezer for an hour.

When you are ready to move to the next step, remove the cake balls from the freezer and set aside. In a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water melt 100g of chocolate – I used white but you can use any type you like.
When you are melting chocolate remember that the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water or your chocolate can burn and sieze very quickly. Also melt the chocolate slowly as if you try to melt it too fast, you could burn it. You can also melt chocolate in the microwave, but do so in very short bursts of heat and stir each time you take it out.

When the chocolate has melted take it off the heat and allow to cool slightly. While you are waiting for this, you can pop the lollipop sticks into the cake balls. I use the short Wilton pop sticks which I bought in the US recently but you can get a similar product in Kitchen Compliments
Once you put the stick in, give the cake another squeeze around the stick to make sure it is secure.

Now comes the fun part. Decorating the cake pops. You can do what ever you wish at this stage. Dip them, sprinkle chocolate all over them, half dip them. It is up to you. You can also use some decorations to make them prettier than they already are. Once you have dipped them you will need a piece of foam block or florists oasis block to place the cake pops in until they have set.
If you are using white chocolate you may also need to dip them twice to get an even coverage.

Once set, you can decorate them accordingly. Wrap them in poly bags and tie with ribbon. Tie a couple of them together to make a little bouquet with them. Or simply eat them! They are really tasty and have a lovely hint of christmas, without the super strong flavour making them the perfect treat for anyone who likes the thought of Christmas cake but not the taste.

The cake balls themselves can be made up to a week in advance and stored in the fridge in an airtight box (once they have spent their hour in the freezer) and dipped a day before they are needed.

They are also a perfect treat that can be made by little hands who can get involved in rolling the cake balls, and decorating them as they wish – just make sure to supervise the blitzing and chocolate melting stages.

Enjoy – now I have sorted out the freezer, I am off to sort out my garden. I spotted some lovely little brussels sprouts starting to appear on the plants. I have to somehow protect them from digging dogs.

Have a wonderful Sunday, and a great week.

Orls xx

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Can we Have a Drumroll Please???

Posted on 18/11/2011 by

Last Friday I celebrated three full years of blogging. I feel like such a grown up. Its funny how much things can change.

The last week has been eventful to say the least with some very exciting opportunities coming across my path. I can’t talk about them at the moment but I am very hopeful for the next couple of months and indeed years.

Now onto more important things. The prize draw. A cute polka dot apron (I have been wearing mine all week), an equally cute set of oven gloves and coordinating, as they say in the fashion world, tea towels.

And the winner is…….

Lisa  at Karma per Diem . Congratulations Lisa. I have dropped you an email and if you reply with your address, I will get your prize in the post as soon as.

Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on the blog. They really made me happy.

Have a great weekend all. I am off to see the beginning of the end. Breaking Dawn – Part 1 hits cinemas this weekend and I will be acting like a teenager and swooning at the lovely Robert Pattinson. Go Team Edward!!

Orls xx

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Happy Blogday Giveaway

Posted on 11/11/2011 by

Gosh- I can’t believe that it has been three years since I started Gracies Bakes.
So much has changed in that time.
I bought a house. I lost a job and found another one. We got a dog – Charlie Bird. Then we got another dog – Davy Fitz.

I have baked a lot of food. I have tasted a lot of food. I stopped eating meat and found out that it suits me.

I have changed a lot in that time.

My first ever blog post was, looking back, terrible. Not at all thought out.I had the name Gracies Bakes – after my dear cousin Gracie, in my head for a while. I knew i wanted to use it. But when I started the blog I think I was using it more to keep myself accountable for my running. I had great plans about logging my miles and recording the races I take part in.
But I quickly realised that my running was a very personal thing. If I had a bad run, I wanted to forget it and move on. Not write about it and be reminded of it.

I also realised that the blog was called Gracies Bakes. And I loved baking. And making food and cakes and buns. Baking is my other way of zoning out. I use it as time out.

I guess that this blog has grown with me. I have found my groove if you like.
I still find it hard to blog as much as I can. I work full time and sometimes in the evenings (most of the time actually) when I get home I have a list of other things I want to do. Like run, walk the dogs, spend time with Mr. C. Normal things. Life things.

However, I love the blog. I love the network of bloggers and the number of amazing Irish food bloggers that have emerged in the last few years. I love the freedom to write as I wish on the topics that I want to write on. And I love making food. It makes me happy to see people enjoy things I make them.

I plan to keep the blog going as long as I am still enjoying it. I think when you no longer enjoy something, you should walk away. If you no longer get a shiver of excitement when you pull a tray of perfect cookies from the oven. Or when you make the perfect cake that rises and is still moist and flavourful. When you lose that excitement, you need to walk away.

How cute is this apron?

So to celebrate three years of Gracies Bakes, I am having a little giveaway. I spotted these items the other day and I just thought they were perfect. A polka dot Apron – complete with frills and a cute pocket, a matching set of oven gloves and a cute set of tea towels – all vital parts of a kitchen will brighten up the winners kitchen – and hopefully encourage some more baking.

So how to win? Simply leave a comment below telling me What do you love to make? Or why do you bake and cook?

Leave a comment by next Friday, November 18th at 5pm and I will randomly pick the winner.

Until then – I will leave you with the out take photo. Dave doesn’t like when he is not the centre of attention. * Please note that I bought myself one of the super cute aprons too. Couldn’t leave them behind!

Enjoy – and Happy Baking.

Orls xx

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Nóirín’s Christmas Cake

Posted on 29/10/2011 by

My Granny (mum’s mum) was known for her cakes. All her baking was exceptional but her Christmas cake especially was renowned for its flavour, quantity and most of all its moisture. She used the same fruit cake recipe for wedding cakes and made lots of them. One was transported all the way to Boston on my dad’s knee for a wedding, and the one that comes to mind most often was for my aunts wedding. When the bride and groom cut the cake, the staff took it away to portion it out but shortly came out to tell my aunt that the cake was actually still uncooked in the centre. It wasn’t actually uncooked. That was just the way the cakes were, but for a few moments there was a fear that no one would get cake.

When my gran died we all realised that no more would there be 10 or more cakes baked in her small kitchen around this time of year for her family and neighbours. She always made her cakes early. It allowed the flavours to develop and she could tick them off the list. Anyway, when I was leafing through my other grans recipe book (my dad’s mum) I found Nóirín’s recipe. I was so happy and delighted and had a giggle at the fact that the two wonderful women had obviously sat down and exchanged recipes.

I had to take a couple of liberties when I was making the cake as the recipe as it is written literally has all the ingredients written down with the instructions “Mix, leave for a day and cook” No temperatures or steps. I worked from previous Christmas cakes I have made and it turned out okay.

There are a couple of steps you need to take before making the cake.
You will need a 12 inch tin – square or round is completely up to you.
Grease and line the tin with parchment paper. Then do it again. Around the outside of the tin, wrap a double layer of brown paper and tie in place with string. Cut out a double thickness size sheet of brown paper or parchment paper to sit over the top of the cake. Place all this to one side and start the fun part.

Ingredients

1lb raisins, 1lb currants, 1lb sultanas, 4oz glacé cherries, halved, 4oz mixed peel, 4oz whole blanched almonds, 4oz ground almonds, 2 large cooking apples grated, Juice and rind of 1 orange 1/3 cup brandy, 1tsp cinnamon, 1tsp nutmeg, 1tsp mixed spice, 1lb Butter softened, 1lb soft brown sugar, 1 & 1/4 lb plain flour, 5 eggs.

In a very large bowl add the raisins, currants, sultanas, cherries, mixed peel, both almonds, apples, orange rind and juice, brandy, cinnamon, nutmeg & mixed spice. Mix well ensuring that all ingredients are well combined. Cover and leave for 12-18 hours.

When you are ready to assemble the cake pre heat your oven to 150 C.
Beat the butter and sugar in a mixer until fluffy and light using the paddle attachment. You can also do this by hand but just make sure that the butter is very soft. Add the eggs one by one mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of your mixer at regular intervals to make sure that all the butter is well incorporated. Once the eggs are mixed in, add the flour in three parts again scraping down the bowl after each addition.
When you are ready, add the batter to the bowl of fruit and mix carefully to ensure that all of the fruit has been mixed with the batter.

Transfer to the lined tin and flatten with the back of a damp spoon. Cover the top of the cake with the brown paper and place into the oven for 3 hours and 50 minutes.

Check the cake after an hour and if the top or corners are beginning to brown too quickly, cover the top of the cake with an additional layer of tinfoil.

As all ovens are different, check your cake after 3 hours and then every 10 minutes after that. The cake should be firm to the touch but still have a little give. Test the centre of the cake with a toothpick which will come out clean when ready. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. If you wish at this point you can “feed” your cake. Pierce a number of holes in the top of the cake and drizzle a 1/4 cup of the brandy you used in the soaking process over the top of the cake.

Once fully cooled, remove the cake from the tin and wrap in a double layer of parchment paper. Then wrap tightly in either tinfoil or brown paper. If you want a very strong cake feed it every week or so until Christmas. If not, leave in a cool, dry and dark place until Mr. Claus has been.

If you wish you can also ice the cake. I don’t like the icing as I find it too sweet but the cake? I would eat it all on my own given the chance.

If you can make your Christmas cake a minimum of 4 weeks before December 25th – it will give the cake flavours time to develop. And it will let you tick one more thing off your list!

Enjoy & Happy Baking
Orls xx

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Sleepless In Seattle – Part One

Posted on 13/10/2011 by

Fall Flowers near Pike Place Market

You know I reckon that whoever wrote the film Sleepless in Seattle was obviously jet lagged. I sit here at 7am, writing this after being awake for the past hour. Like wide awake, no hope of going back to sleep awake. This is a vast improvement on our first night here when I woke at 2am for an hour before dropping off for another couple hours. Heres hoping tonight is a full 8 hours. I am not a great sleeper anyway, but this is just ridiculous.

Back in April or May, after a work distraction that involved pricing flights to the USA for Thanksgiving, Mr. C and I got to talking about taking a trip to Seattle. Why so far I hear you say? Well our dear friends live here and their beautiful son is celebrating his first birthday in a couple of days. As my birthday also falls at the same time of year, we carefully crunched some numbers and thanks to ebookers, a 6am flight from Dublin to Amsterdam followed by 10 hours in a plane, we figured why the hell not. So last Tuesday morning, with just 0.3kg before I shattered my weight allowance for luggage we checked into the shiny new Terminal 2 (I don’t care how much it cost, it is so pretty) and started humming “Leaving on a Jet Plane”

Fast forward 14 hours, some pretty awful food, not nearly enough sleep and me waking the plane while howling laughing at Bridesmaids, and then having a cry during Water for Elephants, we arrived in SEA/TAC International airport. To lashing rain. So we aren’t here for the weather then.

As I mentioned we are staying with our lovely friends, Mrs. D, her husband and their gorgeous, happy and fun son. We are staying in the lovely area of Ballard, which is about a 30 minute bus ride to Downtown. The area is really lovely. It is easygoing, and has an array of lovely, independently owned businesses with lots of coffee shops, bakeries, clothes stores, book shops and record stores. We went for a stroll on the first day, and got our bearings – well as much as you can on your first day in a strange city while battling through serious sleep deprivation.
As is the law in Seattle, we had a coffee. Mrs. D brought us into a lovely little shop called Fresh Flourss which serves strong strong coffee which did its job. While we had eaten before leaving the house, I spotted some Aduki Bean Pastries and brownies that I will definitely be heading back to sample.

I crashed pretty hard at about 8.30pm, which was almost the same time as the One Year Old. After a disturbed night sleep where I was tweeting at 2am Seattle time, I started my holiday the one way I knew would make me feel better. A 4 mile run. Seattle is made for runners. With a lovely runner and cyclist path out of Ballard towards Golden Gardens I ran past the water on one side with amazing views of the Puget Sound. It made me happy. My legs were a little heavy after the travelling, but it set me up for the day.

Mr. C and I headed Downtown to start the sightseeing, and to indulge in a little retail therapy. We started the day with a Duck Tour. Now after spending my J1 in Boston I was very familiar with the sight of WW2 Amphibious trucks driving round the city and quacking, and the Viking Splash tours in Dublin are the same. But for my shame, I had never been on one. I have missed out. We had the lovely Captain Dan driving the boat and it really is a great way to see a city. I would recommend taking the tour on the first day. It really gives you an idea of where you are, what places you would like to see later on your trip and an idea of how to get there. And floating around Lake Union gives you a pretty good view of the city.

Seattle from Lake Union

All the fresh air and lack of sleep meant that as soon as the tour was finished our tummies were rumbling, getting louder and louder so we decided that we would do the total tourist thing and headed for Pike Place Market. Pike Place is where the fish throwing takes place. Handsome young fishermen fling massive salmon and tuna at each other and tourists stand around oohing and aahing. Now call me skeptical, but I reckon these boys are too handsome to be working boats in terrible weather being battered by all the elements. Tanned and smooth skinned? I don’t buy it. Saying that, I know I wouldn’t be able to catch a 30lb fish being hurled at me.

We wandered a little through Pike Place and found ourselves headed towards Lowell’s which has ocean view seats or Market View seats. As you would expect the ocean view seats have a longer wait. We live beside the sea, so decided that the Market View would be fine. It was good to people watch too. While a little on the pricey side for lunch, we figured, we are on holidays and we have been pretty careful about money to make the trip.

Mr. C had a tuna melt with chips, which I settled on the first thing I spotted on the menu- a wild Salmon Filet sandwich, served with artichoke tartare, pickled red onion, field greens and tomato on a grilled kaiser roll. I was speechless through lunch. The fish was cooked perfectly and the pickles added a certain something to the flavour. I also ordered a glass of Merlot but ended up drinking less than one third of it. It tasted great, but I just wasn’t in the mood for wine. Having not drank in 2 months, my tolerance is not what it used to be.

Can we have a minute silence please for the amazing food?

After lunch, we popped into the Seattle institution that is Starbucks for a little pick me up.
We spent the next 2 hours wandering a little, ticking some items off my shopping list (Including a trip to Lululemon for some running/yoga gear)

Tonight, Mrs. D and I will partake in a little more shopping.

Our plans for the coming days include a trip to Vancouver on Sunday for my birthday. Well not for my birthday, it just happens that my birthday is on Sunday and we are headed for Van City on the same day…
Monday will involve me trying not to pass out when we take the elevator to the top of the Space Needle. There will also be a trip to the Chocolate Factory, some more shopping, lots more food, some running and of course the very important first Birthday celebrations of a very special little boy.

Right, I am off to cram some sleep into my day.

wish me luck.
Orls xx

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Raw Cacao Snack Bars

Posted on 09/10/2011 by

Mr C. and I are going travelling soon and part of that trip involves a long flight and a layover for a couple of hours in a mainly business flight airport. Now I don’t know about you but airport food isn’t my favourite thing in the world. It is an awful lot better than it was years ago but it is still mainly overpriced, over processed and not particularly healthy.
For that reason, when I travel I usually stash some food that I know I like and gives more bang for its buck nutritionally than a bun or plastic sandwich.

For this upcoming trip I needed something that was tasty, easy to carry and not smelly. Nothing worse than someone opening their onion and egg sandwiches when you are in a sealed container 30,000 odd feet in the air and you can’t crack a window.

These Raw Cacao snack bars are just the job. Inspired by the Nak’d Cocoa Loca bars they are ready in 5 minutes, are vegan and require no baking. Just a food processor and a parchment lined baking tray.

Ingredients

250g pitted dates, 160g porridge oats, 80g raisins, 60g cashew nuts, 30g cocoa powder, 10g almonds, 10g walnuts, enough apple juice to bind – about 15-20ml.

Place all the ingredients except the apple juice into a food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together and is still quite tight. This means that the mixture will ball and will move around the processor bowl.
Turn the processor onto a continuous whizz (that is a technical term!!!) and add a little apple juice through the spout. Add little by little until the mixture loosens up and becomes smoother. You do not want it too wet or it will not set properly.

Once you have reached the consistency you want, press into your prelined baking tray. Leave a lip of about 1-2 inches of parchment over the top of the edge of the baking dish you are using. This will make it easier to lift the bars out of the tray when ready. I use an 8inch by 8inch but have used a smaller one for thicker snacks. Smooth the top of the bars down with the back of a wet spoon and cover in cling before placing in the fridge overnight to set.

When the bars are set, carefully lift them out onto a chopping board. Using a sharp and heated knife, slice the bars into the size you want. I cut mine into small squares. Store in an airtight box, using a sheet of parchment paper to separate the layers.

These bars will travel well. Wrap them in a small piece of parchment and place in a zip lock bag. Enjoy mid flight, safe in the knowledge that your fellow passengers will not hate you for stinking up the plane and may event ask you for a bite.

These bars, as well as being tasty, are healthy with no added sugar (make sure you use apple juice that is unsweetened) meaning that you won’t get any sugar highs or lows.

If you are travelling, you could also bring these Chocolate Coconut Banana Balls which are also a tasty and healthy snack.

Right, I must shoot. I have a mountain of ironing, laundry and housework to do before I even start packing. I am not looking forward to any of them. If anyone has an elf at a loose end who might want to help, then send him my way.

Have a great Sunday.
Enjoy,
Orls xx

Posted in cocoa, Oats, Raw, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Spicy Butternut Ginger Soup

Posted on 25/09/2011 by

Last year when I announced I was giving up eating meat, my lovely friend, Mrs. D, for my birthday, sent me a beautiful book called Love Soup by Anna Thomas. Containing 160 vegetarian recipes, the title (rightly) suggests that the book is packed full of amazing recipes for soups – light and chilled summer soups, soups that are almost a meal and zingy, tasty soups that will warm your soul on a cold day. I was in dire need of the latter early this week as the cold that I had been fighting finally took hold. I hadn’t really much of an appetite but I knew that I needed to eat something. I wanted something warm that would stick to my ribs so to speak, but also that had a little kick to try to stave off the stuffiness I was feeling.

Enter stage right, Spicy Butternut Ginger Soup. Ticking all the boxes above just by reading the ingredient list I knew I was onto a winner. And happily, I had all the ingredients in the veg box.
Prepping this recipe is the hardest part. Peeling, scooping and chopping. But it is worth it. Believe me.

Firstly you will need to preheat your oven to about 200C.
Ingredients
900g Butternut squash – Peeled and chopped with Seeds removed. I had a large squash and used nearly all of it. I had about 1/5th of the flesh left.
450g yellow onions- chopped into large chunks
225g potatoes-scrubbed and chopped into 1 inch chunks.
1tbs olive oil
1tsp salt
700ml vegetable broth
3tbsp finely chopped or grated fresh ginger
20g chopped coriander
2tsp rice vinegar (you could use white wine vinegar if you don’t have rice vinegar)
2Tbsp lemon juice*
1-2 tbsp honey *

*used for seasoning at the end, didn’t use either, and needed to add a little more salt as the squash can be quite sweet.

When you have carefully peeled and chopped the squash, potatoes and onions, place in a large bowl. Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil and toss until all coated. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt and toss again. Place on a large baking tray or two medium ones and place in the oven.

Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, then turn the vegetables and reduce the heat to 175C and roast again for a further 20 minutes. At this stage the vegetables should be soft and browning on the sides.

Place the roasted vegetables into a large soup pot with 500ml water, and all of the vegetable broth. Add the fresh ginger, rice vinegar and coriander and simmer everything for about 30 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, or an upright blender, blitz the soup (in batches if needed) until smooth and then return to the pot. Add a little more vegetable broth or water if you think it is too thick. I found I added quite a bit of water towards the end.

Bring the soup back to a simmer and season with the lemon juice and honey if needed. Squashes will be quite sweet by their nature so taste before adding anything. I found I needed a little more salt and pepper as opposed to honey and lemon but tastes are individual so use your own palate for this one. I was keeping this soup for a few hours before serving so I also added a teaspoon of crushed chilli flakes to give it a little more of a kick. Just enough to warm it a little more and not enough to take over the heat from the ginger.

When you are ready to serve, dish up with a spoonful of creme fraiche and some fresh sprigs of coriander & warm brown bread straight from the oven. This soup will fill you up and warm you to the bones. Perfect for cool Autumn days.

enjoy,
Orls xx

Posted in Autumn, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Meals | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment