He Ain't Heavy,

He's my brother. And he is pretty cool.

Mr. C and I spent yesterday in the Ashbourne Rugby Club cheering on my brothers team Boyne, in the Provincial Towns Cup Final against a strong Tullamore team.

Thankfully, Boyne won the cup, for the first time ever (the club was formed in 1997 from the old teams of Delvin and Drogheda. Delvin won the cup in the 1960's. Drogheda never won it) and brought the silver wear back to Co. Louth.
Via the bar in the club house in Ashbourne!

The weather was amazing and the atmosphere was electric as Boyne fought hard to ensure that victory was theirs. My "little" brother scored the first try which was pretty great! However, the entire Boyne team and support team worked their hearts out and serious kudos is due to everyone!

My "little" brother, Niall on his way to score a try!

There were two great write ups in the national papers this morning about the match, and you can read them here and here

Suffice to say that the win, the good weather and the all round happiness meant that a few beers were consumed in the immediate aftermath of the game.

Mr. C and I made our way back to Dublin and picked up a takeaway from Bombay Pantry and had a few more beers. Not too many though as work beckoned this morning.
I am more than a little jealous that the rest of the family had the knowledge to take today off to aid in their recovery... Obviously confident in Boyne's ability!!!

More baking beckons later in the week. I am very busy with the day job meaning that I will need some de stressing by Wednesday!

Best run. the sun is calling me and my rapidly increasing freckles.

Hip Hip Hooray for Summer. And Boyne of course!

Orls xxx

Raindrops on roses...

The weather here at the moment is pretty terrible. By terrible I mean raining ALL day, and cold with it. Not the kind of weather I want to wake up to on an April Morning.... Especially not that Easter is over.
Surely there is a rule that says rain after Easter should only occur at night to make sure that plants are still watered etc?

As well as bad weather the news is nearly all bad. Recession, the economy is failing (we know!), strikes, job losses, and murders.
I don't know about anyone else, but I have been thinking about things that make me happy to try to counter the gloom! Or at least put a temporary smile on my face.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts
These are a few of my raindrops on roses...

1: Mr. C
2: my family, and realising that they will always be there for me
3: my lovely friends
4: baking a cake that looks like it is meant to. And tastes like it is meant to!
5: walking on the beach, with my dogs, with Mr. C, on my own. Barefoot.
6: running in the rain. and not caring if I get wet.
7: hearing a really hearty laugh. from anyone.
8: a really hot, soya latte, sitting in a park barefoot not worrying about getting back to the office in time
9: listening to music that I haven't heard in a while and remembering when I heard it first. And remembering what I was doing when I heard it.
10: taking a good photo, and having it forever. Capturing a moment!
11: planning my new kitchen (this could change depending on how stressful it becomes!!)
12: Electric Picnic with Hellers, peddling vodka tonic's and foot shaped biccies on anyone who passed.
13: being 29. and not worrying about what comes next. (this could also change as I get closer to 30!)
14: a good , cheap meal surrounded by friends, a few beers, a guitar and a sense of enjoying the moment.

These are in no particular order. They just jumped into my head.
I hope that you can add to these or write your own list. Keep it somewhere handy. Have a look at it when you need a little lift.

Orls
xx

Makin' Whoopie.

Whoopie Pies that is.

Having received 2 mails in as many days from 2 friends on different continents (Hellers in Dublin and Grace in Sydney) I knew that I had to make these little wonders.

Their name is slightly rude, funny and suggestive and lets face it, give you no idea at all of what they are.

Some Belgian cocoa that was lurking in the back of the press that was a gift from a friend (and was being kept for a special occasion) was hauled out in order to make some Whoopie.


To make the pies, you will need:

125g butter at room temp

1 cup light brown sugar, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 & one quarter teaspoon baking powder

one half teaspoon sea salt, 2 cups of flour

one half cup cocoa, one third cup of small chocolate chips

1 cup butter milk

Preheat your oven to 180C.

Cream the butter and eggs together and add the egg and vanilla until creamy and light. In a separate bowl, whisk the baking soda, flour, salt and cocoa together. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture little by little, alternating with the buttermilk. Ensure that it is well combined.

Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.

Using an ice cream scoop or two dessert spoons, scoop out 12 mounds of batter onto a greaseproof pan and place 6 inches apart. Bake until the tops are puffed and the cakes spring back when touched - about 12 mins.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before moving. The pies will be very delicate until completely cool.

When cooled, melt 125g of marshmallows in a bain marie with 2 teaspoons of water. Allow the mallows to cool for about 20 mins before filling as the mixture is very runny!
Place the filling on one side and gently place the other side together.
Place the pies into large cupcake cases for easy eating.
To store, place in an airtight container for up to 3 days, and to freeze wrap individually for up to 3 months.

Make Whoopie, eat and enjoy. :)

Orls xx

P.S, As an alternative, and more decadent filling, you could use a white chocolate ganache which has been infused with Vanilla Pods. Scrape a vanilla pod into 250ml of double cream. Put the pod in too and bring to the boil. Allow to cool for about 10 mins and pour through a strainer onto 250g of grated white chocolate. Leave to sit for about 5 mins and then stir until it starts to thicken. Leave to set. Pipe into the Whoopie pies and enjoy.

Hot Cross Buns

I have never tried to make Hot Cross Bun's before as they always seemed like a lot of hard work. This year however, I had a baking fest this week.

These buns are from Feast by Nigella. They take 2 days in total as you need to let the dough prove so make the dough the day before you want to bake them.

For the dough you will need ;

150ml milk, 50g butter, zest of one orange, 1 clove, 2 cardamom pods,

400g strong white flour, 1 packet of easy blend yeast (7g)

125g mixed dried fruit, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon,

one half teaspoon ground nutmeg, one half teaspoon ground ginger

1 egg

heat the milk, butter, orange zest, clove and cardamom pods in a saucepan until the butter melts, then leave to infuse.

Measure the flour, yeast and dried fruit into a bowl and add the spices. When the infused milk has reached blood temperature, take out the clove and cardamom pods and beat in the egg.

Pour this liquid into the bowl of dry ingredients.

Knead the dough either by hand or with a machine and keep kneading until you have a silky elastic dough. Form a ball and place in a buttered bowl and cover in cling film and place in the fridge overnight to prove.

It will have doubled in size.

Punch the air out of the dough and knead it again until smooth. Divide into 16 small balls and shape into smooth round buns. Sit the buns on to a lined baking dish and score a cross into the buns with the back of a knife. Cover with a clean tea towel. Leave for about 45 mins in a warm place to prove again.

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Brush the buns with an egg wash (beat an egg with a little milk). To make the crosses for the buns mix;

3 table spoons plain flour, 2 tablespoons water, half tablespoon caster sugar

to form a thick paste. Drizzle the paste over the buns where the scored cross is.

Bake in the hot oven for 15-20 mins.

When the buns come out of the oven, mix one tablespoon of caster sugar and one tablespoon of boiling water and brush onto the hot buns to form a shiny glaze.

Enjoy hot from the oven with some melted butter and some jam. Otherwise, store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To serve, heat gently in a medium oven for 5 mins and have as a mid morning snack, or mid afternoon, or even midnight snack!

You will be amazed at the subtlety of the cardamom and orange. yum!!!

Orls xx

When Life Throws you Lemons,

Get hold of some poppy seeds and make muffins! Easy!

In the wake of a very nasty and severe emergency budget on April 7th, I decided that the only thing to cheer me up was to do what makes me happy. And that is baking!

To make these muffins you will need:

Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

225g caster sugar, 300g self raising flour

2 tablespoons of poppy seeds

1 egg, lightly beaten

225ml milk, 60g butter melted

Preheat the oven to 200c, and grease a 12 cup non-stick muffin tin. You don't need to line it with paper cups.

Mix 2 teaspoons of the lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Mix the flour, poppy seeds, and remaining sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining zest, lemon juice, egg, milk and melted butter. Add this to the flour and sugar mixture and stir until combined. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and sprinkle the tops with the sugar and lemon mixture.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until risen and golden.


As soon as they are out of the oven, mix 100g of sifted icing sugar and the juice of one lemon together to make a glaze and drizzle over the muffins (this is why you don't need the paper cases, as they get all gooey and sticky).

Enjoy with a nice cup of tea and let all your worries float away. Including any of the horrid thoughts about the budget and the "R" word!

Orls xxx

P.S. When life throws you lemons you could also make lemonade. Or throw them right back!