Coffee Cake

This is an old family recipe, my Grandmother made this recipe and  it has been passed down. I love this coffee cake and this is one of my and my families favourite recipes.

For the cake:
8oz softened butter
8oz caster sugar
8oz flour
4 eggs
2 tbs coffee essence e.g. camp or irel

For the icing:
10oz icing sugar
5oz softened butter
1 tbs coffee essence

• Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F, Gas mark3.) Grease and line two 20cm round cake tins.
• Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl.
• Add flour and eggs mix until smooth, pour the coffee essence into the mixture.
• Put the mixture into the cake tins and bake for 30 minutes or untill a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• While the cakes are in the oven make the buttercream icing, place the butter in a bowl and mix in th icing sugar and coffee essence.
• Take the cakes out of the oven and leave the cakes to cool completely.
• Spread half of the icing on one cake, sandwich the other cake on top and spread the rest of the icing on top.

Nutella Brownies

 You may remember my fat free brownies from the start of my quest to find the perfect brownie; well this is my next instalment, NUTELLA BROWNIES!!! These are lovely, smooth and nutty brownies that are very yummy.

Ingredients

• 125g (5oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
•  400g (14oz) Nutella
• 125g (5oz) brown sugar
• 125g (5oz) melted unsalted butter
• Icing sugar

• Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F). Grease and line the bottom of a 20-cm (8-inch) square cake tin..
• In a bowl, combine the flour and salt.
• In a different bowl, beat together the eggs, Nutella and brown sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add some of the flour mixture then some of the melted butter repeat until everything is completely incorporated.
• Pour the batter into the cake tin. Bake for 35-40m or until a skewer inserted in to the centre comes out with a couple crumbs still attached, as it will keep baking in the tin.
• Cool in the tin for about 20 minutes. Place on a wire rack tray and leave to cool completely in the fridge. Cut into squares, sift icing sugar over the top and enjoy

Halloween Lime Meringue Pie

It was Halloween yesterday, so I decided to make a Halloween themed bake. I meant to make a key lime pie but my imagination went wandering and mixed things up a bit. This bake is quite like a lemon meringue pie only a little zestier, if when you read this it's not Halloween, I still recommend that you try it just take out the food colouring.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
175g (6oz) Cream flour
25g (1oz) Icing sugar
100g (4oz) Butter, chilled and cubed
1 egg yolk
2 tsp cold water

For the lime filling:
The juice of 4 limes
3 egg yolks
397g (14oz) condensed milk
Drop of green food colouring

For the meringue:
100g (3.5oz) caster sugar
100ml (3.5oz) cold water
3 egg whites
Pinch of cream of tartar
Drop of yellow food colouring
Drop of red food colouring
Drop of black food colouring

1. For the meringue place the sugar and water in a small saucepan over a high heat. Bring to the boil, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until the sugar has completely dissolved.
2. Turn down the heat to medium and brush down sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to stop any sugar crystals forming.
3. Whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar in a bowl until soft peaks form. Bring the sugar mixture to 120°C (248) then increase the mixer's speed to high and pour in the hot syrup in a smooth, steady stream.
4. When the syrup is completely incorporated, change the speed to medium and continue to beat the meringue until it has cooled to room temperature about 15-20 minutes.
5.  Take some of the meringue and put it in a small bowl stir in the black food colouring. Stir in the red and yellow food colouring to the rest of the meringue until it reaches the orange of your choice.

1.  Preheat the oven to 200°C (392°F) Grease a 20cm (8") pastry tin.
2. For the pastry rub the butter and flour together with the tips of your fingers until it looks like bread crumbs.
3. Put the yolk and the water into a small bowl and whisk well with a fork. Stir the egg mixture into the flour until it starts to stick.
4. Squeeze everything together and wrap the dough in cling film. Place the dough in the fridge for 30-35m to make the dough easier to
5. For the pastry sift the flour and icing sugar into a bowl. Place the butter into the bowl.
6. Flour a surface and roll out the pastry until it is slightly bigger than the tin, lift the dough up and place it on the tin.
7. Use your fingers to push the dough into the sides of the tin then apply pressure to the top edges of the tin so that the overflowing pastry comes off.
8. Prick the base of the pastry, place a square piece of tin foil on top of the pastry and pour on baking beans bake for 8 minutes.
9. While the pastry is in the oven whisk the egg yolks in a bowl add the condensed milk, lime juice and green food colouring.
10. Take the pastry out of the oven; take out the tin foil and the baking beans. Place the pastry bake in the oven and bake for 5 more minutes or until it has a light golden colour.
11. Turn down the oven to 180C and pour the green lime mixture into the pastry. Bake for 15 minutes.
12. Take out the pastry and cover the green mixture with the orange meringue, pipe on the black meringue as spiders, bats or whatever you want  place back in the oven for five minutes.
13. Leave to cool, cut into pieces and enjoy.