Irish Crepe Cake New

Cakes, good. Crepes, better. Guinness, good. Irish Cream, better. Chocolate, good. Frosting, better. A Chocolate Guinness Crepe Cake with Irish Cream Whipped Frosting....Top of the Morning To You, You Just Found The Pot Of Gold At The End Of The Rainbow, Holy Mary Mother Of God, Let Me Say A Few Hail Marys, This Is Sinful, Yes Please Pass Another Slice!!

Nothing more to say, I will get straight to the recipes because I know you want it.

Chocolate Guinness Crepes

• 2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour, Sifted
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder, Sifted
• 5 Tablespoons Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 3 Cups Buttermilk
• 1 Cup Stout Guinness
• 3 Eggs
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1. In a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. 
2. In a different bowl combine the buttermilk, beer, eggs, oil and vanilla. Keep separate until right before cooking.
3. Heat a lightly oiled pan, non stick in good condition is best, over medium low heat. 
4. Combine wet and dry mixture together. Mix until smooth but do not whisk or over beat. 
5. Place a small amount of batter on the pan and swirl around until a thin coat forms over the bottom. Around 1/3 cup for a 7 inch skillet. 
6. Cook until lightly set and then flip carefully. 
7. Remove form pan when fully cooked and place on a plate to cool.
8. Continue until all batter is gone. 

Irish Cream Whipped Frosting

• 3 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 6 Tablespoons Bakers Sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Irish Cream

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Whip until stiff peaks form.

(If you do not have Bakers Sugar, just measure out 6 tablespoons of granulated table sugar and run it through a clean coffee grinder real fast. ^_~)

Chocolate Guinness Crepe Cake With Irish Whipped Cream Frosting

• 1 Batch Chocolate Guinness Crepes
• 1 Batch Irish Cream Whipped Frosting

1. Place a single cooled crepe on your serving plate.
2. Place a large dollop of frosting in the center and spread around until a thin layer covers the crepe.
3. Center another crepe on top.
4. Continue with whipped topping and crepes until the cake is the height you wish. 

(For added decoration, use a large cookie cutter to cut a shape out of the top. I use a large shamrock. It is an Irish Cake after all. I am serving this one for St. Patricks Day ^_~)

Huge thanks goes out to Chef Jason Gibson of Cynical Cuisine for letting me alter his Basic Crepe recipe for this and cooking up the crepes for me. ^_^ 

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Irish Crepe Cake

Cakes, good. Crepes, better. Guinness, good. Irish Cream, better. Chocolate, good. Frosting, better. A Chocolate Guinness Crepe Cake with Irish Cream Whipped Frosting....Top of the Morning To You, You Just Found The Pot Of Gold At The End Of The Rainbow, Holy Mary Mother Of God, Let Me Say A Few Hail Marys, This Is Sinful, Yes Please Pass Another Slice!!

Nothing more to say, I will get straight to the recipes because I know you want it.

Chocolate Guinness Crepes

• 2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour, Sifted
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder, Sifted
• 5 Tablespoons Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 3 Cups Buttermilk
• 1 Cup Stout Guinness
• 3 Eggs
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1. In a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. 
2. In a different bowl combine the buttermilk, beer, eggs, oil and vanilla. Keep separate until right before cooking.
3. Heat a lightly oiled pan, non stick in good condition is best, over medium low heat. 
4. Combine wet and dry mixture together. Mix until smooth but do not whisk or over beat. 
5. Place a small amount of batter on the pan and swirl around until a thin coat forms over the bottom. Around 1/3 cup for a 7 inch skillet. 
6. Cook until lightly set and then flip carefully. 
7. Remove form pan when fully cooked and place on a plate to cool.
8. Continue until all batter is gone. 

Irish Cream Whipped Frosting

• 3 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 6 Tablespoons Bakers Sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Irish Cream

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Whip until stiff peaks form.

(If you do not have Bakers Sugar, just measure out 6 tablespoons of granulated table sugar and run it through a clean coffee grinder real fast. ^_~)

Chocolate Guinness Crepe Cake With Irish Whipped Cream Frosting

• 1 Batch Chocolate Guinness Crepes
• 1 Batch Irish Cream Whipped Frosting

1. Place a single cooled crepe on your serving plate.
2. Place a large dollop of frosting in the center and spread around until a thin layer covers the crepe.
3. Center another crepe on top.
4. Continue with whipped topping and crepes until the cake is the height you wish. 

(For added decoration, use a large cookie cutter to cut a shape out of the top. I use a large shamrock. It is an Irish Cake after all. I am serving this one for St. Patricks Day ^_~)

Huge thanks goes out to Chef Jason Gibson of Cynical Cuisine for letting me alter his Basic Crepe recipe for this and cooking up the crepes for me. ^_^ 

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St. Patricks Rainbow Cupcakes

Top of the morning to you! (Yeah, okay done with that.) It is late and I am tired. I promised that I would do a quickie for my St. Patricks Day Cupcakes and here I am. ^_^

I made these last year and they were a huge hit. These are super simple cupcakes that anyone can honestly do no matter where you are or what you have. Whether you are a beginner or a pro, these are sure to please anyone this St. Patricks Day.

I normally go with a simple Chocolate Cupcake Recipe and then do a mint flavored buttercream in favor for the holiday but feel free to change up what you do. The ones I did this year are just simple plain vanilla cupcakes, some chocolate, and all have a buttercream icing.

Now, before we start I want you to head over to Glorious Treats and check out these various links. I swear it is the perfect place to get the best cupcake and icing recipe for this. Now I have used each recipe I am posting here for this very lesson and tested them myself. I know they work and give them my Surreal Approval Stamp!

Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Buttercream Recipe - For white white icing I substitute the butter with crisco, it works well.

While you are at it, read through these two pages to learn some more about cupcakes. It is well worth your time.

How To Bake Cupcakes - I reread this every time I make cupcakes
How to Frost Cupcakes - Good quick lesson on basic frosting techniques if you have tips.


Now onto the tutorial. You will need a few thing.

• Batch of Cooled Cupcakes
• 2 Batches of Buttercream - 1 white, 1 green. I recommend making the white first, setting it aside and then making the green. If you aren't careful the color will separate with the green after a bit, so best to make it last. 
• "Pot O Gold" Candy - Rolos, Reeses Minis, Ferrero Rocher or anything in a gold wrapper
• Rainbow Chew - Warheads Sour Rainbow Twists, Airheads X-Treme Rainbow Berry Sour or any rainbow like rope candy
• Green Food coloring - Wilton or Americolor Leaf Green/Mint Green works best for me
• Grass tip for your icing - or green sprinkles if you don't have one. 

Now for what you to.

1. Use your grass tip and decorate half the cupcake with the green frosting. 
2. Decorate the other half with the white, use a basic large round tip. 
3. Cute your rainbow rope about 4 inches in length and stick one end in the icing. 
4. Bend it gently and stick the other end on the other side of the cupcake.
5. Place a Gold Foiled Candy at the end of a rainbow and done.
6. Marvel how easy, complain to those you give them to how long it took. 

Seriously, that is it. You can do variations with what you have near you. Some with clouds, some without. Some on grass fields, some covered in candy shamrock sprinkles. Small rainbows, big rainbows, double rainbows (OMG WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!?!?! LOL) Just enjoy them. Super simple for the kids to help out with. ^_~

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Lavender And Roses

I must admit that I do love flowers. Granted I am not your usual girl who wants them in vases delivered to my door. I am more the....So, what can I cook with them? Spring is coming up, as well as St. Patricks Day so I wanted to do something weaving those two together. What better than taking a step back in time to when Vanilla and Chocolate wasn't the in thing and people looked more to their flower garden for flavor? With this I decided to take a trip with a classic pairing of flavors, Lavender and Rose. Both have been used for centuries to flavor baked goods and they pair perfectly together in this little duo.

My Shortbread recipe for this is a little different than my traditional Irish Shortbread recipe. It still uses the rich Irish Butter but it a much lighter and delicate cookie. This cookie can be rolled out and cut with a cookie cutter before hand, unlike my other recipe but it still does spread a little. I would recommend basic shapes or ones that you don't mind some rounding to. Don't use this recipe for cutters needing sharp edges and I really don't think you should mail these. They are just far too delicate. Now, onto the recipes!

Lavender Irish Shortbread

• 195 Grams Unbleached All Purpose Flour. (Roughly 1.5 Cups)
• 65 Grams Cornstarch (Roughly 1/2 Cup)
• 226 Grams Salted Irish Butter, room temp. (8 ounces - 2 sticks)
• 60 Grams Confections Sugar (About 1/2 Cup - Sifted)
• 2 Grams Lavender Extract (1/2 Teaspoon)

**If you can use weight over volume for this recipe. If you need to substitute Dried Lavender, 2 crushed teaspoons.**

1. Place butter in your mixer and mix until creamy smooth.
2. Add in confections sugar, mix until smooth and no lumps.
3. Add in lavender extract. Mix until incorporated. 
4. Sift together flour and cornstarch.
5. Add to bowl, mix until it just comes together.
6. Place between 2 sheets of wax paper.
7. Roll out until 1/4 inch thick. 
8. Place on a cookie sheet and stick in the fridge for 3 hours.
9. Remove from fridge, cut out shapes you wish.
10. Place cut out cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Work fast, dough warms quickly.
11. Place back in fridge for 1 hour. (This will help it keep a shape.) Scarp dough can be rerolled, chilled and cut. I usually repeat this until all dough is cut and chilled and just bake all at once.
12. Preheat oven to 375F.
13. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until lightly browned edges, depending on how large a cookie. I bake 2 inch diameter rounds 10 minutes.
14. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet. Move to wire rack to cool fully. Careful! They are delicate!
15. Cool fully and enjoy, or decorate. (Dip in dark chocolate or drizzle with rosewater icing - Recipe next!)

Rosewater Icing

• 150 Grams Confectioners Sugar (About 1 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 - 1 Teaspoon Rosewater (Warning, strong stuff. I use 1/2 and slowly work up by drop if I want it stronger.)
• 2-4 Tablespoon Milk (Will depend on how thick you want it. I usually use 3-4 depending on humidity for drizzling.)

1. Sift sugar and place in a bowl.
2. Whisk in the rosewater and milk until smooth. Add more rosewater for stronger flavor, little goes a loooooooooonnnnnggggg way. Add more milk to thin it out. Add more sugar to stiffen it up if you are wanting to pipe it. 
3. **Optional Step** Add a smidgen of food coloring if you want it slightly pink.
4. Drizzle over the top of the cookie and let dry for a few hours to set. 
5. Enjoy!

And there you have it. Now this recipe does call for some items that people usually don't keep in their kitchen unless they cook constantly. You can find most items on Amazon or from various baking stores online and not for much.

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St. Patrick's Day

Chocolate Mint Irish Coffee

I had planned on a huge post for today but after a weeks worth of cooking I am about beat. LOL And sadly I haven't had a drink yet and it is already past dark! Yeah, major St. Patties day foul there. Okay, well I hadn't had a drink at all until the hubby broke out the Whiskey and the Baileys and started making Irish Coffee. Different versions actually. And after all was said and done and all pictures taken I threw together a new little twist on the Baileys version and am on my 2nd cup right now with plans of many more. LOL

Irish Breakfast Essentials

But anywho, little sum up of this week. As you have seen I have been making a lot of food. In fact I am having to flip back through everything to see what I have posted about and what I have not. In looking at all this I find I have finished up a few things I did have planned...So you will probably see cookies decorated in Irish Themes over the next week that I should have posted by today but didn't...Oh well. And I just have to do them because I had some of the coolest ideas for cookies I have had yet so I am doing these comma damn it exclamation point. I'm Irish so I can post Irish stuff any day of the year. :P (Yes, I played the Irish Card. I don't use it for fights or drinking so I can throw it down now.)

A Full Irish Breakfast

Anywho, all over the place with this post. Can you follow this? I hope so. Let me see if I can stay focused enough to finish this..... Today started out the perfect way for an Irish Family on St. Patrick's Day, probably a perfect way for everyone out drinking tonight to start tomorrow. The Full Irish Breakfast, or at least as close as I could get out here in the States and trust me I tried! Oh my god this is a lot of food and really sticks with you. In fact most of the family didn't eat anything else for the day except to pick at things here and there. I can understand now why Irishmen were able to build the skyscrapers and railroads decades back. Starting out with this breakfast will enable anyone to take on the world. That or put you in a food coma. Either way it is all good.

Irish Scones & Shortbread

What all is in a Full Irish Breakfast? Well that differs from area to area in Ireland and here in the States, as well as just home to home. So, I will just go with what is in the Gibsons Full Irish Breakfast.

• Fried Eggs
• Bacon
• Beef Sausage Links
• Pork Sausage Patties
• Stewed Mushrooms and Tomatoes
• Boxty
• Traditional Irish Shortbread <--Recipe
• Traditional Irish Scones <-- Recipe
• Irish Breakfast Tea
• Irish Butter
• Red Current Jelly

Yeah, like I said, it is A LOT of food. Really wish our friends from back in Ga had been here this morning. Every time I cook like this it just isn't the same without them. Okay, traveling down memory lane and need to hop back onto the blog post turnpike. lol

Big breakfast and well it was pick at that all day and dive into the numerous left overs we have right now since there has been so much cooking here this week. One of those left over is, of course, Corned Beef and Cabbage. 

Granted there was not a lot of that left over since it is my youngest sons all time favorite meat. (As you can probably tell from the picture. Soon as he saw the platter he tried to take it and run off with it. LOL Poor thing it weighed about as much as he did so we had to set it down and let him pose with it. It was that or he was going to hold it hostage.) 

And THAT brings us to tonight, well doesn't actually but covers enough ground to where I can get on with it. Tonight in the Gibson home was Irish Coffee, 3 different versions, and Irish Whiskey Coffee Cake. (<-- Recipe) The Hubby, over at Cynical Cuisine, took cake of 2 of the coffees and I took care of the 3rd and the cake. All were nummy nummy. If you want to try the cake, the recipe link is provided above and the hubby will be posting about the coffees shortly, so here, Cynical Cuisine, there is the link. You can shot on over there and check it out. 

So, quickly - Cake - Yummy! Hubbies two versions of Irish Coffee and then mine, yummy! (Want to make mine? Simple, standard Baileys Irish Coffee and stir in Mint Chocolate Ganache. OMG! So, having said that, time to get another glass. See you tomorrow! (And yeah, seriously, the Full Gibson Irish Breakfast to battle your hang over tomorrow!)

Irish Coffee and Whiskey Cake

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The Yummy Of The Irish

St. Patties Cupcakes

Top of the mornin' to you! Or evening, as the case is for me currently. It is about 10:30P.M. out here on the west coast and I am just not finishing up another long day of cooking Irish Style. That's right my paddies! Okay, just gonna stop now. I sound like an Irish "Brutha" (thanks Turk) and I should really stop. I make a snow flake look tan. Anywho.....

Potato Champ

So yeah, here it is late at night and my kitchen is in shreds and I doubt it is getting clean anytime soon. Granted the poor hubby has been trying to keep up but it just isn't working. He spent all day cooking some wonderful Irish dishes and well me? I was making cupcakes!

Irish Beef Stew

Yes, nummy, nummy cupcake. Chocolate Boiled cupcakes with mint ganache injected into them. They didn't take long to make, it just took all freaking evening to decorate them. Would have taken longer if the hubby hadn't come to the rescue and started assembling them with me. Dozens of cup cakes with Clouds and grass and rainbows and even a pot of gold at the end for my sons 1st grade class. ^_^

Braised Irish Lamb

Why? Well duh, St. Patrick's Day. For many it is a day of drinking, Boondock Saints and crappy impersonated Irish accents but hey! That's okay! On St. Patrick's Day everyone is Irish!!!!! But things are different in the Gibson Home. Don't get me wrong, there is drinking. This is an Irish home, Catholic Lite. I think if there wasn't someone might run a cat scan on us.

Colcannon

But you see, even though we are an Irish home, we are also a foodie home. I have all my nummies you see constantly and then there is the hubby, a chef. So, what does an Irish Foodie home do for St. Patties Day? We turn it into a Christmasesque Irish Cooking Extravaganza week! Started earlier and will continue to St. Patrick's Day. ^_^

Irish Soda Bread

Yeah, yeah. I know what you are thinking. Irish cuisine? Laughing your balls off right now aren't ya? Well trust me there is more to it than Corned Beef and Cabbage and Whiskey and Beer, granted we don't need more but there is more. ^_~ It started with the Irish Lace Cookies, went onto Irish Soda Bread on Surreal Fare and has kept going!

Irish Lace Cookies

From Irish Beef Stew to Potato Champs to Braised Irish Lamb and Colcannon! And we have not finished yet! So many yummy delights to share with not only our family but yours!

And that beings me to something new! Well not new for me but new for the hubby! He is kicking off his food blog tonight! And sharing a recipe from our kitchen to use in your own. Go see it at his page - Cynical Cuisine!

So to celebrate that I am sharing one more Irish Sweet Treat recipe for you all! Traditional Irish Shortbread! This rich shortbread is beyond amazing. Salty and sweet, it melts in your mouth like butter and it better considering just how much butter is in it.

Now this recipe is NOT mine. It is an adapted recipe from Kerrygold that I found on the net and fell in love with. Yes, I am so for changing up recipes but some recipes are so wonderfully perfect you dare not change a thing and just keep cooking. This is one of those rare moments.

Now, before I begin with the recipe, please take note....USE IRISH BUTTER!!!!! Seriously, it is a whole different animal compared to American Butter. It is a darker yellow butter than is so deviously rich you may have a yummygasm just by tasting it by itself. I recommend Kerrygold and it can usually be found in most grocery stores. I found mine in Safeway. It is very pricey but it well worth it. (Double the price + of American butter.) If you use any other butter I will not be held responsible if the Saints decide you have crossed a line.



Now, onto the recipe!

• 1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup Cornstarch
• 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt, fine grain
• 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 Pound Salted Irish Butter, chilled and cubed
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat the oven to 300 F.
2. Spray down a 9 inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. 
3. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar.
4. In a large mixer add the salt and with a paddle attachment mix on low until the dough becomes "grainy." Kind of like pie dough does.
5. Add in the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
6. Place into the cake pan and take press it out flat. I use another cake pan and press down to flatten it out evenly.
7. Take a fork and poke the dough all over.
8. Bake 1 hour in the oven.
9. Remove from oven and quickly cut into desired number of slices. I do 12.
10. Let cool fully!
11. Carefully flip out, it breaks super easy. Might be easier to take 1 piece out, let that crumble, taste to make sure it is good. >.> lol And then take out the rest a slice at a time.
12. Serve as is or with jam and enjoy!

This is said to keep up to 2 weeks in an air tight container and up to 2 months of frozen....I have no idea. We can't keep the stuff in the house for 24 hours so I honestly cannot comment on the shelf life. 

Traditional Irish Shortbread

Anywho! I will be posting more Irish themed pictures over the next couple of days but I hope you enjoy this! Now, hop on over to the hubbys blog and see what he is up to! Watch him, fav him, like him, pass him around like a cheap woman if you will. Once again - Cynical Cuisine

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all and to all a good drink! 

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Irish Lace Cookies

 Saint Patrick's Day is right around the corner and you know what that means? Every drunken stereotype is going to be out in droves, mostly found in bars all over the world. It is a day of friends, frivolousness and frankly drinking. lol Oh how I love the Irish. More so lately since I am married to an Irishman and he is very keen on his families history and heritage. Which in turn made me want to learn more about mine and yeah,...I found out I am Irish. Mostly! Funny how that works out. LOL

That made me want to do a little something more than the usual St. Patties day themed goodies this year. Don't worry, there will be plenty of the typical as well but I do want to start out on a good note. What better way than what is probably the most delicate cookies around - Irish Lace! Yes, you can see right through them!

They are everything Ireland is sans the whiskey and Guinness, yes there is more to Ireland than that! Made from butter, brown sugar and steel cut oats, these cookies take a very basic base and turn it into something delicate, beautiful and packed with such candy like goodness you would think Willy Wonka had made them. I wonder if he was Irish, lol.

Now, this was the first time I had ever made these cookies. I simply found a recipe online and went with it. Granted I did change a couple of things. >.> It's what I do. These came out wonderful and my husband just kept tearing through them!

What I love most about these is that even though you cannot really shape them into much before or while they are cooking you can after. Let them cool for about a minute and you can roll them up, bend them and shape them! I did everything from rolling them up on the end of a wooden spoon to curving them into bowls, pushing them around to make a heart, covering them in chocolate and even bending one into a butterfly!

So let us get started!

Irish Lace Cookies:

• 1/2 Cup Salted Butter, room temp
• 3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 Tablespoon All Purpose Flour
• 2 Tablespoon Milk
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 3/4 Cup Irish Steel Cut Oats - NO INSTANT!

1. Preheat your oven to 350
2. Place your cookiesheets in the oven now! 
3. In a mixing bowl cream your butter and sugar.
4. Add in everything else minus the oats and mix until well combined.
5. Fold in the oats.
6. Grab a teaspoon measuring spoon, fill and level off.
7. Drop onto a parchment lined HOT cookie sheet. 
8. Keep doing this until the sheet is full - keep them at least 3 inches apart. They spread a lot. I usually only get 8 on my largest cookie sheets!
9. Bake 8-11 Minutes. 
10. Remove from oven but keep on cookie sheet for 1 minute.
11. Then remove to cooling rack to cool fully. If shaping do this now and quickly!
12. Be careful! They break easy!
13. Serve and enjoy! Or wait till they are all the way cool and brush with melted chocolate.

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