Sweetness in Dublin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0d4vTyNMwY

My brother Sean and I have headed to Dublin to visit some accounts and attend the Digital Media Awards tomorrow night. Tonight, we decided to splurge and feast at Thornton’s. Here’s a video of the desserts. Mine was a warm chocolate tart with raspberry sorbet and rasberries. Sean had a blood orange souffle with mandarin sorbet. Memorable!

For those interested, Kevin Thornton has a lively blog here.

Beghrir Moroccan Pancakes

Beghrir Pancakes Today is Shrove Tuesday, and while elsewhere in the world people are dancing and singing with Mardi Gras and Carnival, here we eat pancakes. Although I’d much rather be cavorting on the streets of New Orleans or Rio, at least I can console myself with a sweet traditional meal before we head into Lent.

Two years ago at this time, I was in Morocco, and there I came across amazing pancakes called Beghrir. They are served with honey and are oddly pock-marked. Here’s a recipe, in case anyone wants a pancake that’s as tasty as it is unusual.

Beghrir

Ingredients:

  • 125 g semolina
  • 40 g non-rising flour
  • 150 ml warm water (ca 40C)
  • 150 ml milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried active yeast
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • Pinch of salt

What to do:

  1. Combine the yeast with 50 ml of the warm water and the sugar. Set aside.
  2. Sieve the other dry ingredients.
  3. BeghrirWarm the rest of the water and the milk in a small saucepan to 40 C.
  4. Beat the egg well and add the warm milk and water, stirring all the time.
  5. Add to the yeast and stir until fully combined.
  6. Stir into the dry ingredients in small parts, mixing vigorously until it is combined and free of lumps.
  7. Cover and allow to rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
  8. Warm a non-stick crepe pan or sauce pan over medium-high heat.
  9. Pour batter into the pan to make a thin, round pancake.
  10. Cook until the top layer is dry – bubbles will form.
  11. Flip the pancake and cook for another 20 seconds.
  12. That’s it! It’s ready to eat.

Yield: About 10 small pancakes.

Note: Traditionally these would be eaten with honey mixed with butter and warmed in a pan. The ratio, if you want to try it, is 1 part butter to 4 parts honey. Simply combine them in a pan and cook over medium heat until the butter melts. Remove immediately from the heat and stir until smooth.

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Granny’s Cooking

Kitty in Cork Eoin from Mercier Press has been working through ideas and issues of new media and the publishing industry on his blog for some time now. That’s fine, you might say, but why would an ice cream man be interested? Well, Eoin has come up with a brilliant idea, and it relates to Irish food.

Here it is: he has launched a website, Our Grannies’ Recipes, where he will collect and showcase recipes of good, old-fashioned Irish cooking – the kind our grandmothers might have made.

The best recipes will then make it into a book to be published by Mercier in October. The royalties will go to Age Action Ireland.

I have to say this really gets me excited – new media meets old media with a lot of munching involved. So all you Irish (and Irish American, etc.) food bloggers out there who want to get published in print – it’s time to pay homage to Granny (or Granddad)!

Now… which recipe??? My own dear departed Cork grandmother Kitty (photo above)Â will be keeping a close eye on me from above, and she’s certainly able for lots of inspiration…

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Chocolate Macaroons with Cognac Ganache

Chocolate Macaroon I have given a recipe for meringues here as a solution for what to do with the egg whites after making ice cream. Another possibility is macaroons. Anyone who has been to Paris is sure to have tasted these amazing confections, which rise in pyramids in bakery windows.

The following recipe is adapted from Pierre Herme, although the ganache (filling) is ours. They aren’t hard to make, although I sometimes have difficulty in getting them to rise properly (here’s a photo of a batch my brother made with a little more height). No matter. They still sure are tasty!

I like a dark cognac ganache filling, and it’s actually adaped from Wiebke’s (my brother’s wife) Sachertorte.

Ingredients:

  • 150 ml egg whites (from ca. 3 large eggs)
  • 250 g powdered sugar
  • 150 g finely ground almonds
  • 25 g unsweetened cocoa + a bit more for dusting

For the ganache filling:

  • 75 g 70% chocolate
  • 25 g butter
  • 50 g golden syrup
  • 1 teaspoon cognac

What to do:

  1. Pre-heat the oven at 150C.
  2. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form (don’t over-whip!)
  3. Sift together all the dry ingredients.
  4. Fold into the egg whites in four additions.
  5. Put a teflon baking mat on the counter, or put a teflon liner (cheap and reusable and should be available at any supermarket) on a baking tray.
  6. Spoon the dough into a piping bag and pipe out half inch to one inch round circles on the baking tray, leaving 1 inch of space around each cookie for them to expand. You can also simply use a spoon.
  7. Try to keep the size of them the same, since you will be using two to make the filled macaroons. I like them small.
  8. Dust with cocoa.
  9. Macaroon CloserBake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are firm but still pliable.
  10. Place on baking racks to cool.
  11. For the ganache filling, melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler over (not touching) simmering water.
  12. Remove from the heat and stir in the golden syrup.
  13. Stir in the cognac.
  14. Allow to cool until it is semi-solid, and then either pipe or spoon onto the flat side of a cookie.
  15. Top with a second cookie.
  16. Allow to set before serving, if you have that kind of patience!

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Caffeine Crazy

Espresso I’m all jittery after a very early start (I’m definitely NOT a morning person), a long day, and an afternoon drinking coffee. We’re opening the shops again tomorrow after a short winter break, and there’s always so much to do. One piece of that was getting our coffee right.

Every time we have our espresso machines serviced, it takes a lot of tinkering and tasting before we’re happy again with the taste. This year, we’re extracting our coffee for longer at a slightly higher pressure, and the result is a little more Italian than what we’ve been serving – a little more flavour and kick, although we’ve worked hard to retain the smoothness.

It’s part of our Continental drift, I suppose. People talk about whether Ireland is more aligned with Boston or Berlin – for us and coffee, it’s more a matter of Seattle vs. Sorrento. Anyone who reads this blog knows we gravitate toward the latter…

Gravity is not something I’m feeling much of, though, at the moment. I probably tasted 30 espressos, and I’m bouncing off the wall. The good news is that I have copy of the Instituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano‘s “Espresso Italiano Specialist” book, and they say that 20% of caffeine is metabolised every hour, so I’m sure I won’t be up all night. I’m bound to fall asleep by 4 or 5 in the morning…

They also make some considerable claims for the health benefits of coffee. I knew about the healthy side of chocolate, but I’m already feeling slightly less jittery in the knowledge that coffee:

  • Heightens memory capacity
  • Alleviates headaches and migraines
  • Heightens conditioned reflexes
  • Increases artery tone and improves circulation
  • Increases pulminary ventilation
  • Helps digestion

… and so on (it’s a long list). They also point out that to reach dangerous levels, one has to drink 100 espressos right after the other. I’m relieved I stopped after 30.

Finally, I’m happy to pass on the fact that we will almost certainly be going organic on the milk for our coffees (thanks to everyone who took part in the poll). We will have to add an average of 10c to pay for the additional cost (on top of a price increase to deal with price increases from our suppliers), but I think our customers will appreciate the added value of organic. We work hard to be the best and organic milk will taste better and feel better. We’ve been using Fairtrade coffee for a while now, so I guess it’s a natural step.

Now I’ll go and try to relax. Maybe I’ll test my conditioned reflexes or test my memory capacity. Mama Mia. How do the Italians do it? Bring on the grappa?

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Orange Jaffa (Oráiste) Ice Cream

Orange Jaffa Ice Cream This was one of our very first ice cream formulations and has proven very popular of the the years. In fact, there is a certain little girl whose first word was reportedly “Jaffa” when demanding this flavour from her parents. It’s a crowd-pleaser, with shredded bits of Jaffa cakes as well as another British invention – marmalade.

Marmalade goes way back (the Oxford English Dictionary cites 1480 as the first usage of the word) and is generally made with citrus fruits – orange being the most popular option. As citrus fruits became more available in Britain in the 16th century, marmalade became a choice sweet. In fact, anyone who has travelled in the UK will be hard put upon to remember a traditional breakfast without the option of these preserves and toast.

We like to use the marmalade as a base flavour and freshen it with orange zest. The great thing about orange zest (besides its magnificent taste) is that it uses a part of the fruit one would normally just throw away or compost, and that always is a pleasure.

ORANGE JAFFA (ORÁISTE) ICE CREAM

Ingredients:

  • Jaffa Cakes130g sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 240 ml cream
  • 200 ml milk
  • Zest (grated peel) of half an orange
  • 50 g marmalade
  • 4 Jaffa cakes

What to do:

  1. Add the orange zest to the milk and bring to a simmer.
  2. Remove from the heat.
  3. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.
  4. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
  5. Pour the mixture back into the pan, and place over low heat.
  6. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs!
  7. Immediately remove from the heat. Sieve if you want to remove the orange zest.
  8. Stir in the marmalade.
  9. Transfer the custard into a small container, cover, and refrigerate until cool (5C).
  10. Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks – don’t over-whip).
  11. Fold the cream (gently stir) into the custard.
  12. Shred the jaffa cakes into small pieces.
  13. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, adding the jaffa cakes when it’s semi-solid. You can also just cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours, and again, add the jaffa cakes when it’s semi-solid.
  14. If you’re using a domestic ice cream machine, transfer to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place it in the freezer, and continue to freeze until it is solid.

Note: To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

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Irish Blog Awards Sneak Preview

Gastronom.ie has a sneak preview of the long list for the 2008 Irish Blog Awards in the Food blogs category, and there are some great ones in there and a few new to me. Congrats to everyone!

  1. Well Done Fillet
  2. Val’s Kitchen
  3. English Mum in Ireland
  4. The Humble Housewife
  5. Sour Grapes
  6. Little Bird Eats
  7. What the Waiter Knows
  8. Just Add Eggs
  9. Food Lorists
  10. Ice Cream Ireland
  11. iFoods
  12. Martin Dwyer
  13. Italian Foodies
  14. Eat Drink Live
  15. The Mood Food Blog

P.S. Where is Bubble Brothers?

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Meringues, Take Two

Meringues Given that all of the ice cream recipes I have given here call for egg yolks, I wanted to re-visit meringues, since they are such an obvious solution in terms of what to do with the egg whites. I wrote up a recipe before here, but I think the following is simpler and better.

Meringues are a lovely dessert – crunchy puff of sweetness on the palate. They can be enjoyed on their own, with whipped cream, or with ice cream and fruit. You can shape them into little baskets or simply make little meringue drops. They are, of course, gluten-free.

Meringues are said to have been invented in the 15th Century in the Swiss town of Meiringen by an Italian chef named Gasparini. They are made simply by beating egg whites, adding sugar and other ingredients, and then baking them. I like mine with a little hint of lemon. This recipe makes quite a lot of meringue, but since the ice creams mostly call for 5 egg yolks, it seems useful to use the 5 egg whites!

Ingredients:

  • 5 egg whites
  • 350 g caster sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

What to Do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 150C.
  2. Butter two large baking sheets.
  3. Beat the egg whites in a dry glass or stainless steel bowl (if using an electric mixer, do this at medium speed rather than high speed, which will take a bit longer but give the meringues more strength) until fairly stiff.
  4. Meringue BatterBeat in the sugar in a slow stream, and then add the lemon juice, mixing all the time.
  5. Beat until very stiff and shiny.
  6. Using two spoons, place on the baking sheet. It should make 18 large meringues, so divide accordingly, leaving space around the meringues to allow them to expand.
  7. You can shape them as you wish!
  8. Bake for 45 minutes.
  9. Cool on wire racks.

Notes:

  1. If you want to make meringue nests, the easiest way is with a piping bag. Start in the centre, work out in a tight spiral, then build up the sides. Make them smaller that you might think, for the baked meringues will expand!
  2. There are many of things you can add to meringues in terms of flavouring – vanilla essence, almond essence, and cocoa for chocolate meringues are just a few examples. If you do add flavouring, always add it at the end, once the meringues are stiff.

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