christmas decorations

look out for our christmas decorations in harvey nichols, shops throughout ireland and online. harvey nichols have uk exclusivity of the bauble in milk, dark and white chocolate tied with a rich, red ribbon. in ireland you can also find the christmas tree and star tied with christmas colours.

these look fabulous on a tree with white lights. they are also perfect for giving to teachersor a thank you to a friend. They each come with a gift tag which means you can have a few in for a last minute present which you don't need to wrap!

beautiful butterscotch

this is a lovely, simple sauce for icecream, poached fruit ,baked apples or sarah's pancake recipe from last month. i served it with a very spiced apple tart for our bonfire party at the weekend and it was wickedly finished up for breakfast the next morning. delicious warm or delightfully gloopy and thick cooled down.

i'm not one for boiled sugar products, the turkish delight we made for limerick market wore my spirits for such things thin - however delicious it turned out my friday evenings became a battle between me and a sugar thermometer and my friday nights disturbed by feverish panics as to whether it would set overnight.

the great thing about this recipe is it is seemingly foolproof. originally from the waitrose website i have added golden syrup because, well because why wouldn't you? I will be trying this with the addition of chocolate as soon as the guilt of finishing the first batch has worn off.

ingredients

175g soft brown sugar

125g butter

150ml double cream

2 tbsp golden syrup

method

1.place everything in a saucepan and heat until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved (you shouldn't be able to see any gritty bits on the back of a wooden spoon).

2. remove from the heat and stir well.

3. leave to cool

be careful the sugar gets incredibly hot so take care.

beautiful butterslip

it's worth going to kilkenny to visit anne's fabulous shop alone. this designer boutique shop has truly original gifts from unusual tea (and cocoa bean chocolate bars of course!) to pieces from designers like Johnny Loves Rosie and Nica Zedzz. just being in the shop is inspiring and reinvigorates the good side of shopping - the excitement of getting a gift for someone that truly thrills them!

dark chocolate sauce

i meant to include this in the last entry so here it is! this is my favourite chocolate sauce but you can experiment with the strength of chocolate or add flavours. a drop of brandy or liquer works well for a grown up taste or a pinch of chilli or drop of rosewater for a real cocoa bean experience!

ingredients

175g of dark chocolate broken into small pieces (skelligs dark bar 54% or bitter bar both 71% work well)

115ml water

30g unsalted butter cut into small chunks

6 tablespoons of single cream

3 tablespoons of caster sugar

vanilla seeds from pod or 1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract

method

in a medium sized pot, heat the water and sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved

add the dissolved syrup to the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl over a pot of gently simmering water

keep stirring until they are all melted together

mix in the cream and vanilla

serve while still warm over waffles, icecream, strawberries, banana split, chocolate cake ....

waffles with chocolate sauce

i'm writing this blog on what is now a freezing, grey and drizzly day and can't believe that so recently we were lounging about in sleeveless tops and sunglasses!

we went out for waffles without children which was splendidly indulgent. mary chose vanilla icecream and chocolate sauce and i went for greek yoghurt and strawberries to prove i am capable of choosing something without chocolate, if ony very occasionally!

on saturday, i fancied a try at recreating the waffle experience but don't own a waffle iron so i made drop scones instead. they were very easy to make and though they weren't as crispy as waffles, they did a pretty good job at satisfying the craving!

drop scones or scotch pancakes

125g self raising flour

2 level tbsp sugar

1 egg

150ml milk

i used a heavy frying pan but you can use a solid hot-plate if you are lucky enough to have one. rub the cooking surface with salt to season it. wipe clean and grease the surface lightly.

in a bowl, put the flour and sugar. add an egg and half the milk and beat until smooth. add the rest of the milk and beat the mixture until little bubbles rise up to the surface.

heat the frying pan or hot-plate until the fat is hazing. wipe with kitchen paper and spoon the batter onto the surface. coook on one side.

when bubbles appear on the surace of the scone, turn it over with a palette knife and cook on the other side for 30 seconds to a minute until golden brown.

remove and place on a wire rack. cover with a clean teacloth until the rest are ready or hand straight to eager family and friends but be sure to save some for yourself!

i put all the topping options out on the table so that the girls could have fun experimenting with their own creations: chocolate sauce, icecream, whipped cream, strawberries, hedgerow blackberries, honey and bananas.

the blackberries were a very popular topping with the girls but left them looking like extras from some low budget halloween horror film! esme embraced the role with disturbing enthusiasm...

how can you resist?

fancy a trip to kerry, the deep blue sea, colm healy proffering the best of our chocoholic offerings? ryanair flies from dublin and stansted to kerry international airport. there are so many fabulous things to do and see near our chocolate factory including a trip to valencia, the lighthouse cafe, a boat trip to the skelligs, dinner at qc's in caherciveen, killarney national park, murphy's icecream or just smelling the turf and salty fresh sea air and then warming up with a pint of guiness or hot port in the moorings at portmagee.

mastering muffins

sarah is the family expert on muffins, able to whip them up in seconds using anything she has about and they always taste delicious. i, on the otherhand, seem to be able to mess them up even if i'm following a recipe to the letter. i think this is quite an achievement...

i finally managed to produce a batch with the right texture, good distribution of exciting bits and they managed to rise and look good too so i feel i am on the right track towards mastering muffins. the recipe is sort of based on one from the times newspaper but with a few alterations.

blueberry, raspberry and white chocolate muffins.

makes 12

ingredients

100g raspberries

60g blueberries

40g white chocolate drops

200g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

125g caster sugar

175ml milk

2 free range eggs

125ml vegetable oil

method

1. heat the oven to 180c. fill a muffin tin with muffin cases.

2.in a bowl sift the flour and baking powder into the sugar. in a jug mix the eggs, milk and oil unil smooth.

3. make a well in the centre of the dry mix and lightly stir in the wet ingredients. don't overmix it, it is meant to remain a bit lumpy. stir through the fruit and chocolate. divide the mixture between the muffin cases.

4. bake for 25 minutes until risen and golden. cool on a wire rack and ideally eat the same day.

you can use fresh or frozen fruit. I was using up leftover frozen bits and pieces from our summer pick your own sessions, as far as i can tell you can sort of make up the 200g of extra ingredients from any combo of other delicious ingredients that you have around or take your fancy.

the other big advantage of muffin mix is that until it is cooked it tastes oily and rank unlike cake mixture. as a pregnant woman with a weakness for cake mix despite the uncooked eggs muffins may well be the way forward.