It is difficult to think of ways to keep busy when there is nowhere to go. However, our Springdalers have been coming up with lots of great ideas. Many have been busy baking delicious treats and have shared their ideas while we are all apart.
Hopefully we will get the chance to try a few recipes over the coming weeks.
While some people have included recipes and photos, others have included one or the other. I have numbered matching recipes and photos below – enjoy!
1. Lily’s Carrauntoohil Soda Bread
Ingredients:
250g Coarse Wholemeal Flour
200g Plain Flour
1 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 Tsp Salt
350 – 400ml of Buttermilk
Green Good Colouring
Butter for when baked and cooled!
Method:
Sieve the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Add the wholemeal flour and mix the dry ingredients well.
Make a well in the middle of the flour.
Measure out 400mls of Buttermilk and add one teaspoon of green food colouring and mix well.
Add the buttermilk a little at a time and mix quickly making sure your dough is not too wet – you do not have to use all of the buttermilk!
Flour a board and a baking tray.
Turn out your dough onto a board and shape into a round about 1.5 – 2 cms in depth.
Make a cross on your dough to let the Fairies out!
Transfer your dough on to your floured baking tray.
Put in a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 8 for 15 minutes then turn down to Gas Mark 6 for thirty minutes or until your bread sound hollow when tapped underneath.
Cool on a wire rack.
Slice and spread with butter and ENJOY!
2. Apple and Cinnamon American Pancakes by Grace Hayden with thanks to Julien, the Chef
Ingredients:
300g Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
3eggs
400ml Buttermilk
50g Butter
A Pinch of Salt
1tsp Sunflower Oil for Frying
2 Apples Peeled and Sliced
100g Caster Sugar
1 Lemon Juice
Pinch Of Cinnamon
30g Butter
Optional To Serve 250ml Lightly Whipped Cream
Method:
Mix together the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large bowl.
Beat the eggs with the buttermilk and whisk in the buttermilk to make a thick smooth batter.
Beat in the melted butter.
Leave to rest for 30 minutes minimum or keep aside until required.
In the meantime, in a pan, over a medium heat, melt the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice together until it forms a caramel.
Add the apple to the pan and toss to coat the pieces of apple.
Cook on a medium heat for 2-4 minutes.
Add the butter to create a rich toffee sauce and set aside.
Then, heat some sunflower oil or clarified butter in a large non-stick frying pan.
Drop a tablespoon of the batter per pancake into the pan.
Make 3-4 pancakes at a time and cook for about 3 minutes over a medium /low heat until small bubbles appear on the surface of each pancake
Then turn and cook for another 2-3minutes.
Serve warm with the caramelized apple and a dollop of whipped cream
3. Conor C’s Flapjacks
Ingredients:
• 250 g butter
• ½ lemon zest
• 140g light brown sugar
• 85g golden syrup
• Pinch of salt
• 85g self-raising flour
• 340g porridge oats
• Chocolate chips
Method:
• Preheat the oven to 170*.
• Grate the zest of half a lemon.
• Gently melt the butter, sugar, syrup and a pinch of salt in a saucepan.
• Sieve the flour into a bowl and add the porridge oats and lemon zest and chocolate chips.
• Add the melted butter mixture to the bowl and mix well. Spoon the mixture into a lined tin and pres into an even layer.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
4. Cara’s Lemon Biscuits
Ingredients:
• 125 g butter
• 100 g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 200 g plain flour
• 2 lemons , zest of
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch sea salt
• plain flour , for dusting
• 3 tablespoons demerara sugar
5. Banana and Strawberry Bread
Ingredients:
Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl
1 mashed banana
2 eggs
1tablespoon cooking oil
A few drops of vanilla essence
1 cup of milk
Mix dry ingredients in large bowl
4 cups self raising flour
1 cup drinking chocolate
2 teaspoons caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients in the large bowl . Slowly add in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large bowl. Stir in chocolate chips (optional). The mix should be dropping scone consistency. Add more milk if necessary
6. Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients:
Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl
1 mashed banana
2 eggs
1tablespoon cooking oil
A few drops of vanilla essence
1 cup of milk
Mix dry ingredients in large bowl
4 cups self raising flour
1 cup drinking chocolate
2 teaspoons caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Method:
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients in the large bowl . Slowly add in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large bowl.. stir in chocolate chips (optional). The mix should be dropping scone consistency. Add more milk if necessaryPut in a loaf tin
Bake in a preheated oven at 230C /450f/ Gas Mark 8 for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 200 degrees C /400 F Gas Mark 6 for 25 minutes or until cooked
Take out put on wire rack to cool smoother the top with nutella and chocolate bears (optional) and enjoy!
7. American Style Rice Krispies
Ingredients:
50g butter
200g marshmallows
150g crisped rice cereal
Method:
Melt butter and marshmallows in a pan. Once completely melted add to cereal. Mix well. Scoop into buttered dish and press down until firm. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
8. Shortbread Jam Cookies
Ingredients taken from the Irish Independent (21/03/2020)
9. Emilia ‘s Wild Garlic Pesto
Ingredients:
150g wild garlic, washed, dried and chopped
100g pecorino romano or parmesan, grated
about 175g walnuts
125g olive oil
salt, pepper
Method:
• Lightly toast the walnuts in in some oil
• Blend all the ingredients except the salt and the pepper. You can use a food processor, but a hand-held blender works fine too.
• Season to taste. The salt also helps to preserve the pesto.
• Put in sterilised jars and put some oil on top to seal.
• The pesto will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. You can also freeze it.
• When wild garlic season is over, you can use the same recipe with other wild greens, such as nettles (or, of course, basil). In this case, I add some garlic and lemon. You can also experiment with different nuts and oils or use an Irish hard cheese.
10. Mattis’ baguette for garlic bread from scratch
Ingredients:
340g lukewarm water
1tsp sugar
1tsp dried yeast
475g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
handful of ice cubes
Method:
• Mix most of the water, sugar, yeast and about a cup of the flour and leave in a warm place until it gets frothy. (Keep some water back, some flours soak up more water, some less. You can always add it later if the dough is too dry)
• Mix in the test of the flour and the salt and leave to rest for about 20 mins.
• Knead for about 10 mins. Use a kitchen machine with a dough hook if you have one, to save your wrists.
At this point, we covered the bowl and left it in the fridge until the next day. It develops even more flavour that way, but the beauty with this recipe is that you can bake it the same day, so:
• Leave covered at room temperature to double in size (about 45 mins)
• Knock back, shape into a rectangle, fold a third from one end to the middle, fold the other side over, return to the bowl and prove for another hour.
• Put an oven-proof bowl in the bottom of your oven, put a baking rack with a baking stone or an upside-down heavy baking sheet in the middle rack and pre-heat the oven to as high as it will go ( ca 250°C)
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and cut into 3. Shape them into rope so the length fits your baking sheet.
• Place them evenly spaced on baking paper. Lift the paper in between to form pleats and place tightly rolled kitchen cloths to the left and the right of each loaf underneath the baking paper to support their shape. Cover loosely with cling film and let rise for about 50 mins or until doubled in size.
• Uncover, remove kitchen towels and straighten out the baking paper. Slash each loaf with a sharp knife or blade a few times diagonally for the typical baguette look.
• Place the ice cubes in the ovenproof dish in the bottom of the oven to create steam, then put the loaves in. Bake for 10 mins, then take the dish with the water out, turn the oven down to 220 and finish baking for another 20 mins.
• If you want to use it for garlic bread, take the loves out as soon as they are lightly golden and leave until cool enough to handle. Cut in slices but not all the way through. Leave the bottom crust intact. Fill the cuts with garlic butter and return to the oven until the butter is melted and the top nicely golden.
Click the link below to watch Ava’s movie on meringues:
