Best Irish Soda Bread

 I have tried a lot of soda bread recipes over the years for St Patrick's Day but this one by far was my favorite. It was a very simple recipe with an interesting method. Turns out it was the recipe I've been searching for. And even warmed up nicely the next day... :) 

4 cups flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425.

Mix dry ingredients together and then mix in buttermilk until all the flour mixture is wet. Be careful not to overmix or your bread will be tough.

Gently knead on lightly floured surface.

Place in greased and floured round cake pan (8 or 9"). Cut cross on top with sharp knife. Cover with second round cake pan of same size, lining up the edges of the two pans. Place carefully into oven.

Bake for 30 minutes. Then remove top pan and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until dark golden brown and sounds hollow when bottom is tapped.

Remove from pan and let cool a bit on wire rack. Serve warm with or without butter. 

Irish Car Bomb Bundt Cake

I recently bought a mini bundt cake pan to make 6 adorable little cakes. I hadn't gotten a chance to use it yet, but St Patrick's Day seemed the perfect opportunity. For its maiden voyage I went with another variation of my Spiced Rum Cake recipe using stout, Irish cream and Irish Whiskey.

I wish I had taken more pictures during the process but I was also busy making orange caraway Irish soda bread, corned beef, cabbage and mashed potatoes. :)

Oh, and I also made Irish cream whipped cream for an added bonus... Yum!

Cake:

1 box chocolate cake mix
1 small box chocolate instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup stout (a dark beer, do not substitute)
1/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients together for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Grease and sugar/flour your bundt cake pan, size of your choice. Fill with cake batter.

Bake 20 minutes to 1 hour, depending on size of pan, or until pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove to wire rack and let cook 10-20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool.

Make glaze while cake cools in pan.

Glaze: 

1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 - 1/2 spiced rum

Melt butter in sauce pan; stir in the water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Prick cake top. Drizzle and smooth prepared glaze evenly over top and sides, allowing cake to absorb glaze. You don't have to use it all. I never do. 

Place a large baking pan or parchment paper under the wire rack to catch the drips. There are a LOT!

Then let the glazed cake cool completely.

Ganache:

3.5 oz heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon Irish whiskey
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Place chocolate chips in small bowl.

Heat heavy cream until it JUST comes to a boil. Remove from heat and pour right over chocolate chips. Stir until melted and smooth. Stir in whiskey and mix well.

Chill the ganache until it is thick enough to pipe through a bag. 

Fill a zipper bag with the ganache. Cut off a very small tip of one corner. Pipe the chocolate over the cake.

Chill cake to set genache. 

This is the recipe I used for the Irish Cream whipped cream. The only thing I did differently was to add a bit of Instant Clear Gel to my sugar as a stabilizer. 

Irish Mocha

In honor of National Irish Coffee Day, I made myself an Irish mocha. Like Irish coffee, only better because there's chocolate... ;) 

All you need is a 6oz cup of coffee, a heaping Tablespoon of hot cocoa mix, 1 shot of Irish cream, 1 shot of Irish whiskey, some whipping cream and a pinch of nutmeg. 

That's it...

Irish Baked Potato

I’m sure I’ve mentioned already that we LOVE corned beef and cabbage around here! I make it every St Patrick’s Day and serve it with potatoes on the side. Yesterday, I thought I’d throw it all together and see what happened. It made for a yummy, stick to your ribs supper that is the perfect way to use up any leftover corned beef! If you have any…

Just bake some nice big potatoes until they are tender.

Sauté some chopped cabbage in butter with some sliced onions. Season with salt and pepper. Throw in some shredded corned beef and heat through.

Mash up your potato, add plenty of butter and top with your cabbage, onion, corned beef mixture.

It is really good with a really cold dark Guinness stout!!!

Irish Brownie No-Bake Cheesecake

This ultra-rich St Patrick’s dessert is one of my best original ideas EVER and even my cheesecake-hating hubby smiled when he tried a bite! It uses my favorite trifecta of Irish spirits: Guinness stout, Bailey’s Irish Cream and Jameson Irish Whiskey… It’s a bit rich, so you’ll want to serve this one at your St Patty’s Day party and invite some friends to share!

Guinness Stout Brownie Crust

Prepare your favorite brownie recipe or box mix, replacing the water with Guinness stout.
Pour into a parchment-lined (cut into a circle to fit in the bottom) springform pan and bake according to recipe or directions.
Cool completely on wire rack.
White Chocolate Irish Cream Cheesecake Filling
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Irish Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 small box of white chocolate instant pudding mix
Mix cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add whipping cream and Irish Cream. Beat until smooth Add pudding mix and beat for 2-4  minutes or until thick. Spread over brownie and tap on countertop to make sure it settles without holes in filling.
Chill for 1 hour in freezer. Run a butter knife along the edge and remove edge and bottom from cake.
Return to freezer while making topping.
Irish Whiskey Dark Chocolate Ganache
7 oz heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons Irish whiskey
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Place chocolate chips in small bowl.
Heat heavy cream until it JUST comes to a boil. Remove from heat and pour right over chocolate chips. Stir until melted and smooth. Stir in whiskey and mix well.
Place in fridge to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Then carefully pour over top of cake, spreading it over the sides.
Place back in freezer to let chocolate set before serving. About 30 minutes???

Cut into thin slices and enjoy!
   

Irish Creamy Chocolate Fudge

I love St Patrick’s Day! Mostly because of the food… This is my newest attempt at an Irish themed dessert using one of my favorite combos: chocolate and Irish Cream.

Melt 1 12oz bag of chocolate chips with 1 stick of butter in a large bowl in the microwave for 45 to 60 seconds. Stir until smooth.

Sift 4 cups of powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in 3/4 cup Irish Cream and 1 tsp vanilla until very smooth.

 
Spread chocolate mixture into sugar mixture and mix well.

Pour into buttered 8x8 baking pan. Score when soft.

Place in fridge. Cut when firm.

Store fudge in the fridge but serve at room temp.

Irish Chocolate Cupcakes

I know that St Patrick’s Day is over but I just needed these cupcakes today! And I have to tell you that they did the trick… I used to think I didn’t like cake, but I just wasn’t doing it right. Now, I’ve got it figured out! ;o)

This recipe is a variation of the Irish Car Bomb cupcake from the BrownEyedBaker. I’m sure her recipe is even yummier, but I have to confess that my bad day needed something a little quicker.

The cupcake was so good that it may become the basis for many more recipes to come…

Cake:

1 devil’s food cake mix

1 cup Guinness stout

1/4 cup sour cream

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

Beat on medium high speed for two minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl, occasionally.

Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes, or until pick comes out clean.

Let cool on wire rack.

Remove centers of cupcakes with an apple corer.

Eat the plugs… LOL

Filling:

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 Tablespoon butter, at room temperature

2 teaspoons Jameson Irish whiskey

Bring cream to simmer over medium heat. Pour over chocolate chips. Let stand 1 minute. Stir to combine. Add butter and whiskey. Stir well to mix.

Put in fridge and let it thicken enough to pipe into cupcakes. I do this by putting the ganache into a zipper bag and clipping the corner off. Works great and easy clean-up!

 

Frosting:

1 cup butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

3-4 Tablespoons of Irish cream

Beat butter on medium high speed for 5 minutes. Scrape bowl occasionally. Gradually add powdered sugar until it is incorporated. Add Irish cream and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.

Frost filled cupcakes.

Find friends to share them with because you can only eat ONE of these babies!

Sautéed Cabbage

I will never eat cabbage that has been boiled ever again! I never like the way cabbage turns out when it is cooked along with my corned beef. This stuff was AMAZING!!!

1 head cabbage, cored and chopped thin

3 Tablespoons butter

salt & pepper, to taste

Melt butter in large skillet over high heat. Add cabbage and sauté until wilted and tender, about 10 minutes. You may need to add the cabbage in stages as it fills up a skillet pretty quickly before it begins to wilt.

Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Irish Cream Mocha Cake

This cake was inspired by one of my favorite winter drinks: hot cocoa, coffee a shot of Irish Cream all topped by a dollop of whipped cream. Yeah, it was like that only richer, denser (but still very moist) and more fattening… That’s why I liked it so much! ;o)

Cake:

1 18 1/2 ounce package chocolate cake mix
1 3 3/4 ounce package yellow instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup very strong coffee
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup Irish Cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube or 12 inch bundt pan. Mix next 6 cake ingredients together and pour batter into pan. Bake 1 hour and cool. Invert on a serving plate.

Frosting:

2 cups heavy cream
1/4 - 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream, or more to taste (4 wasn’t quite enough to really taste it)

*1 Tablespoon instant clear gel (for stabilizing, but it is optional)

Whip the cream until thick. Mix sugar and clear gel (if using) and add to cream. Add Irish Cream. Continue to whip until very thick.

Spread onto cooled cake. Serve immediately and store leftover cake in fridge.

 I only had enough cream to make half a batch of frosting…

Irish Cream

I love Irish Cream! I love it in hot cocoa or coffee! I even love it on ice! But it is really expensive… I only have it about once a year at Christmas or St. Patrick’s Day.

But now it is also really easy to make. Just make sure you buy good quality Irish or Canadian whiskey. I’ll probably still only get it once a year though… :o)

1 cup heavy cream

1 can condensed milk

1 2/3 cup whiskey

1 teaspoon instant coffee

2 tablespoons chocolate syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix in blender on high for 30 seconds.

Store in fridge. Shake well before serving.

Pancake Rainbow

This year I broke tradition and made something new for St. Patrick’s Day breakfast….

A rainbow of pancakes!

All you do is add food coloring to your pancake batter! But it does mean making a whole lotta little batches of pancake batter…

I think this would also be good for a meal if you were studying Noah’s ark or if you have a little girl that loves rainbows and unicorns… (I was one of those little girls 30 years ago) :o)

Easy Peasy Irish Soda Bread

I decided to try making a yeast bread version of Irish Soda Bread. It worked pretty good!

Heat up 2 1/2 cups buttermilk to about 115.

Pour into large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp yeast and 2 cups bread flour.

Mix gently and let sit for 20 minutes.

Add 1/3 cup oil, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 3/4 cup raisins.  Add 5 cups of wheat bread flour.

Stir and then turn onto floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic.

Divide into 3 round loaves. Place onto greased baking sheet.

Let rise for 2o minutes in a 170 degree oven.

Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 20 minutes or until sound hollow when tapped.

Remove from oven and brush tops with melted butter.

Irish Soda Bread

I don't know how authentic this recipe is and I make individual ones instead of one big loaf, but we really like it and look forward to having soda bread every St. Patrick's Day!



2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1/3 cup raisins or currents



Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in butter. Add milk and egg. Stir just until moistened. Stir in raisins or currents.



Drop onto greased baking sheet and bake at 375 about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

St. Patrick's Day is a holiday we look forward to every year because it means corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread and potatoes. Andy said it is the "best meal of the year"!

This corned beef is so easy to do in the crock pot and is so tasty! It makes you feel like you have "the luck of the Irish"!

1 onion, sliced

2 1/2 - 3 lbs of corned beef brisket

1 cup apple juice

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp orange zest

6 whole cloves

2 tsp prepared mustard

6 cabbage wedges

Place brisket in crock pot. Combine apple juice, brown sugar, orange zest, cloves and mustard. Pour over brisket. Place cabbage and onions on top.

Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours or on high for 5 to 6 hours.