Oh my Guinness

Kiss me I'm Irish!



Source: allrecipes.com via Tanya on Pinterest

OK, so I'm not really. But I do love to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Maybe it's because of the green beer, or Irish food, or because it's the only day that is is OK to dress head-to-toe in green, but I think it is mainly because in Canada St. Patrick's Day is an excuse to have fun with friends with no strings attached.

So once again we invited our friend over for a little Irish themed festivities.

After the success of the Guinness Cupcakes last year I decided to try a recipe that I pinned for Guinness Chocolate ice cream.


It is a great simple recipe that only has 4 ingredients!
(Beer, Sugar, Cream and Chocolate)

So I pulled out my ice cream maker (that I don't get to use nearly as much as I would like) and whipped up this recipe in no time at all.

I really loved the taste and texture of this ice cream. You can taste the Guinness more in the ice cream than in the cupcakes, but it is not overly strong or distracting.  It is smooth and light more like store bought ice cream and not as dense as custard based ice cream.

I did have have a problem with the chocolate chips though. Maybe because I bought store brand which may not be as high of quality (though I think store brands are usually comparable) or maybe I did not stir enough, but I had problem incorporating the chocolate into the mixture. The chocolate seemed to cool faster than the mixture and small bits of chocolate came out when it was setting. I did try to strain some of this out when I poured into the ice cream maker but I still had some gritty chocolate in my otherwise perfect creamy ice cream.

I plan to try this again with different chocolate and/or try incorporating the chocolate chips while the mixture is still on the heat. Because it is so easy to make so it will be no problem to try again.

 

I also made the Guinness Cupcakes again this year. Since I was planning ahead I made the whisky ganache that I did not have time to make this year. Not surprisingly these were a big hit. The ganache tasted great and not at all boozy. The Guinness chocolate cake with Irish Cream icing and Whisky chocolate filling is a great combo. Though if you are short on time I still think they are great without the filling as well.

Jello Roll-Ups

OK I'll admit it, I'm a big Jello fan. I can't think of anything that is especially great about Jello, but some days you just need a little Jello to brighten your day.

I love this idea to add a little more fun to my occasional Jello treat so was was excited to see this:

Source: joyofjello.com via Tanya on Pinterest

 

And it was really easy to do.

All you need is 1 package of jello, 1/2 cups of water, 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows and a little cooking spray.

1. Heat Jello and water for 1 minute in the microwave. Add marshmallows, and heat for another 30-40 seconds until they just start to puff up (my microwave is old so I heated for the full 40 seconds).
2. Whisk  until marshmallows dissolve.
3. Poor into pan that has been coated with cooking spray. Place in fridge and let set.
4. When you remove from the fridge it will be in two layers.
5. Roll (it said to roll tightly, but I'm not sure how tight you can roll something made of Jello) 
6. Cut into slices.
7. And you are done! 

Conclusion:

Overall this worked great and was really easy and quick to do. I found it a little too sweet for me, but I can see how kids would love it. Also, for some reason I made it with watermelon Jello (I'm susceptible to the opinions posted the Pin description) which I am not a big fan of. I will definitely try this again though (maybe with cherry next time).

For better instructions visit the origional post on Joy of Jello

Greek Yogurt Chocolate Cake

I have seen a lot of posts lately for 2 ingredient cakes or other variations on the boxed cake recipes. Now, I have never found the regular 2-3 ingredient boxed cake recipes that difficult to make. So alternatives that offered shortcuts did not seem that exciting.


Source: hungry-girl.com via Tanya on Pinterest

But I did end up saving this pin from Hungry Girl that contained a collection of these recipes. Not because I finally got tired of the 3-step cake mix, but I often find myself missing eggs, one of the 3 main ingredients needed. 

Or, as happened the other day, I have an ingredient that I need to use. After finding a container of Greek yogurt in the back of the fridge that I wanted to use I decided to give one of the recipes a try, Cake Mix + Fat-Free Greek Yogurt.

Result: Not surprisingly it does work. The cake was a little more moist than the regular version but was still a good result.

Conclusion: Not the best cake ever, but more than editable, and great if you need to use up some ingredients or in a pinch if you are missing oil, eggs or water.

Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes with Cauliflower Icing....yum?

After the success of the Guinness Chocolate cupcakes I decided to go out on a limb again with these avocado cauliflower cupcakes.


Source: glorioustreats.blogspot.com
via Tanya on Pinterest

I wasn't actually looking for odd cupcake combinations to try. It happened after finding a pin how to decorate cupcakes. My friend sent me a message about how she was trying to focus on eating healthy when she was distracted by my pin that appeared on her Facebook news feed:





Source: sweetlifebake.com via Tanya on Pinterest

So to balance everything out I decided to look for healthier cupcake options, and I came across this recipe for Chocolate Avocado and Cauliflower cupcakes. When I originally pin it I did not actually intend to give it a try. But after I kept on seeing it on my Pintrest and seeing the interest in it I decided to give it a shot. 

The cake turned out great. It was a nice dense chocolate cake almost like a brownie (if you like a fluffy cake like you get with boxed mixed this is not for you) and once cool I was not able to taste the avocado. The batter is very thick and will need to be scooped into the cake tins as it will not poor. I may also have over-cooked it a bit as a toothpick will not come out clean when cooked like other cakes (I did not trust and left them in the oven for an extra 3-5min).

On the other hand the icing was a complete flop for me. The recipe posted on the Sweet Life is from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious and calls for 2 Tbsp of vanilla extract. I am now questioning if this should be 2 tsp as my icing turned out to be a very runny mess and would not stay on top of the cupcakes. My cauliflower may also have not been drained well enough after it was steamed. Either way I scrapped the icing and just went with a standard buttercream.

These were not nearly as good as the Guinness cupcakes but I will likely make them again. Hopefully I can get the cauliflower icing to work next time.

Are there any other strange cupcake combinations that you enjoy?

Irish Cupcakes

This has to be one of my favourite pins! These cupcakes were such a great hit at my St. Patty's Day party that people were still talking about them days latter.



Source: browneyedbaker.com via Tanya on Pinterest

This was just a random pin since I like liquor and and love cupcakes so how could it go wrong? I actually hadn't planned on making them (at least not this year) but when my guest bringing dessert call in sick I quickly remembered this little gem. And I am glad I did.

For ease and time I did skip the Irish whiskey chocolate ganache. Which I think may make them a better cupcake. The original post on BrownEyedBaker  did say that they could be a little boozy, but without the ganache I didn't find this at all. The Irish Cream icing was fantastic with just the right flavor of Baileys, though if I remember correctly I may have had a few sips by then and added a little extra. And the cake is a wonderful rich chocolate that does not taste like Guinness at all. Though I will admit that I feel more Irish just knowing it was in there.

I did not get a final results picture as I was making them last-minute and did not have the time before guest arrived, and they did not last long enough to get a picture when I thought about it latter.