Salted Butter Ice Cream

Ice Cream + Butter + Sea Salt = AAAHHH DELICIOUS

Salted Butter Ice Cream 

Recipe 

400 ml milk 

320 ml double cream 

100g butter

4 egg yolks 

130g sugar

big pinch sea salt

METHOD

heat milk and cream,

In a mixing bowl whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale

remove milk and cream from the heat and add butter 

let stand for 2 minutes until butter has melted

pour mixture slowly over eggs stirring continuosly

pour mixture back into pan and heat until thickened

leave to cool completely

preferably in the fridge overnight (but ok to just leave for a few hours)

Pour into ice cream machine 

or freeze in a container and remove every hour to whisk away ice crystals 

 

enjoy 

x

Pear Back

I cook to relax

Currently I am away from home 4 days a week working in Dublin

and when I come home at the weekends I bake

Baking, for me, is a form of meditation

I can concentrate on what I am doing and not worry about anything else 

It is also a great activity to do with my 4 yr old son, who is very happy to help

The problem with this is 

All this baking leads to a lot of baked goods

and a lot of baked goods in the house leads to a lot of snacking on baked goods 

This, in turn leads to me no longer fitting in to my jeans .........

So, I am at a turning point

The last week I have been on a Staycation

There has been a lot of baking......

So, if you follow me on Pinterest you may have noticed my pins in the last 24 hours

 have changed from this 

To this 

I have decided it's time for a change 

This is my plan 

1 Start Running 

2 Go back to Bikram Yoga

3 Cut out refined sugar

4 Eat a healthy breakfast

5 Cut down (way down) on Carbs

6 Add more fresh fruit, vegetables and seeds to my diet

It's not rocket science......

This is what I have achieved so far

1 Start running

Bought new sneakers, I actually went to a sports shop and did a fitting where they video you running and recommend the correct shoes for you. 

I have heard too many injury stories from cheap sneakers.

I downloaded the  "couch-5k" running APP

Yesterday did my first run EVER!

I did enjoy it

although it was tough at times and I wouldn't say I LOVED it

2 Go back to Bikram Yoga

I used to practice Bikram and I did love it but I haven't done it in 6 years

I did a little research online and found out 

there is a bikram studio literally 3 mins from my office

signing up when i return from Far East trip next week 

Bought a Yoga Mat 

3 Cut out refined Sugar

I had a little chocolate yesterday 

Hey it's progress

Bought Agave syrup 

4 Eat a Healthy breakfast 

This morning had a delicious smoothie

frozen raspberries, frozen banana, clementine juice (didn't have any oranges), natural yoghurt, oats and chia seeds (both were soaked for 30 mins) 1 tsp agave syrup

yum! and a good by product is everyone else in the family had some too

(i didn't tell them bout the oats or chia seeds)

I also made Granola 

I followed this recipe

but substituted flaked almonds for the nuts (only because this was what I had)

I added the flaked almonds 10 mins before end of cooking time 

I substituted Agave syrup for Maple

I also added apricots and raisins to final cooled granola

This is delicious 

I love ginger though 

If ginger isn't your thing simply leave it out 

This is a very simple and very delicious granola 

5 Cut down on carbs 

I am not cutting out carbs completely

but none after lunch 

I will eat bread but only brown and seeded

I will also eat Short grain brown rice

 

6 Add more fruit, vegetables and seeds

Doing well so far

(see 4) 

I also find that simply cutting out carbohydrates makes me make better choices 

that is, not a croissant for breakfast 

not a white bread sandwich for lunch 

not a cake for a snack

It takes a little more thought and planning though. 

Yesterday i bought Chia seeds and lots of fruit and veg

This is an easy one for me really as I actually love fruit and veg and all kinds of salads 

I just forget sometimesor I fall in to the trap of waiting

until I am absolutely RAVENOUS 

before I eat 

this almost always leads to a bad decision  

So, that is it 

Stay tuned for my progress

xH

 

  

 

 

Banana Bread

This is a simple but utterly delicious recipe for 

Banana bread

Given to me by the lovely James from Avoca

I have added choc chunks

because.........well, do I need a reason

JAMES' BANANA BREAD

3-4 small ripe banana's

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg beaten

1 tspn vanilla essence

1 tspn Baking soda

pinch salt

1 1/2 cup flour

100g bar of dark chocolate broken into large chunks

 METHOD

Pre heat oven to 350f or 180c

add the melted butter to banana's and mash

add sugar, egg and vanilla and mix well

sift in flour, salt and bak soda and chocolate chunks and mix

transfer into a 4x8 buttered loaf tin and bake for 45 mins

(but check after 35)

or until a cake tester comes out clean

Enjoy

x

Cheese bread

 

This is delicious with soup, with a salad or just with lots of butter...........
I make it anytime I buy a cheese that turns out not to be so popular amongst the crew here, or anytime I seem to have an abundance of cheese!
Think of it as a cheese scone pretending to be a loaf of bread

111/2  ozs plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

31/2 ozs cheese..... strong cheddar works well , I usually use whatever has been hanging about in th fridge for more than a little while

7 fl ozs milk

2 eggs

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

2 flozs olive oil

Preheat oven to 180C (350F) 

lightly oil loaf tin

sift all the dry ingredients in to a bowl

add the grated cheeese and mix

Pour the milk eggs and mustard into a jug and whisk very lightly with a fork

add the liquid to the dry and mix well

You will get a fairly wet dough

scoop into tin

Bake for 50 mins 

remove from tin and bake for a further 10 mins

leave to cool

Great to bring on a picnic as we did last weekend ....... enjoy

Adapted from Rachel Allen's rustic bacon and cheddar bread 

Ultimate chocolate chip cookies

 Let me preface this by saying I have been searching.......

searching......... searching for the ultimate choc chip cookie.

I have read many recipes and
baked many variations
and I have come to understand that 
your ultimate choc chip cookie might not necessarily
be my ultimate choc chip cookie!

and
 yes,
 vice versa

but I highly recommend you try these 

Chewy, with the lightest crisp coating on a soft centre....

and the brown sugar gives them a hint of caramel

After my 11 year old son ate one

 he looked at me with eyebrows raised and said

"mum you are unbelievable!"

The other amazing thing about these cookies is that the recipe came

not
 from my favourite San Francisco baker

not
from the english domestic goddess

and not from the little artisan baker around the corner in Brooklyn

but

from

The back of the
"Gold Medal All Purpose Flour"

I bought 2 days ago
Sometimes the best things are in the most unexpected places

RECIPE

3/4 C sugar

3/4 C soft brown sugar

1 C very soft butter

1large egg

2 1/4 C All purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 oz semi sweet choc chips ( I use Ghirardelli)

METHOD

Preheat Oven to 375

Mix well together sugars, butter, egg.

Add flour, bak soda, salt and choc chips

Mix well

form walnut size balls place on ungreased cookie tray bake for 11 mins

Until they look like this (see image below)

Leave to cool on tray for 3 -5 mins

remove to cooling rack

EAT!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did

x

Recipe originally from "Gold medal all purpose flour" 
altered slightly by me
all photos Helen James

Breakfast Biscotti

Sometimes the morning after a day of feasting

one doesn't feel like a large slap up brunch

but more a crunchy,
yet sweet breakfast of strong coffee and Italian biscotti

I started to make these when I lived in
rural Ireland and purchasing Italian Biscotti
meant a train ride to Dublin.
Now I know these are better than any store bought ones I have tried.
The method sounds a little fiddly but really it is incredibly simple
maybe just a step more than your usual cookie
But this is what gives these their tooth breaking crunch.

RECIPE

1 large egg

4ozs sugar

1/2 tspn vanilla extract

5 ozs plain flour

1/2 tspn baking powder

1/4 tspn salt

2 ozs whole almonds

3 ozs chocolate chips

METHOD

Line a baking tray with parchment paper

Pre-heat oven to 350f/180c

Whisk the egg and sugar with an electric whisk until pale, you want it to leave ribbons when you lift the whisk

Add vanilla extract, then fold in flour, salt and baking powder

Add choc chips and almonds

Shape dough into a log approx 10" long which is tapered at each end

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes

Remove and leave to set for 5-10 mins

Slice into biscotti and lay back on the baking tray 

Pop back in oven for 10 mins then turn and cook for a further 5-10 mins

Remove and cool on a wire rack

You can store them in an airtight container for 7-10 days... but

They probably won't last that long.

Photo's by Helen James

Orange and Vanilla Almond Cake

This is an adaptation from Nigella Lawson's Damp Lemon Almond cake. I do love Lemon cake but as there were no Lemons in the house I decided to make it with Oranges, then thought vanilla would be a nice mellower of the sharpness from the citrus. I also made some other changes based on what I had and time.
The resulting cake is a delicious moist cake with an old world flavour like an orange sherbert, maybe I should call it Orange Sherbert cake.

RECIPE (I converted it to imperial)
Pre heat Oven to 180'C
8ozs soft butter *(see notes)
8ozs sugar
4 eggs
2ozs flour
8ozs ground almonds * (see notes)
tspn vanilla essence
grated zest of 2 oranges and juice of 1 (or both if small)
20cm springform tin greased and floured

METHOD
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. I use a handheld electric whisk. Now add the eggs one at a time and beat in with a wooden spoon, add a little flour after each egg. After all the eggs are incorporated add the ground almonds and vanilla essence, orange zest and juice and gently stir in.
Pour the mixture into the buttered and floured cake tin.
I like to Sprinkle the top with flaked almonds and sugar, this will give you a lovely crisp and crunchy top.
Bake for approx 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool
Turn out of tin and sprinkle with icing (confectioner's) sugar to serve.
This cake keeps really well. wrap in tin foil and keep for up to a week.......but don't worry it won't last that long
notes
* if  am using butter straight from the fridge I cut into cubes and place in the bowl in the pre heating oven for a minute, this softens it up but do not let it start to melt
** I know that grinding your own almonds is the best way BUT sometimes life is too short. If you are going to grind your own I recommend using flaked almonds, toast lightly and grind to fine dust. These will give you a more textured cake. You can add a few crushed flaked almonds to the bought ones as a cheat way to acccomplish this.

ready to go in the oven

fresh out of the oven see the shiny crisp sugar top

sprinkled with icing sugar ready to eat

yum!