A Sweet Welcome: Chocolate Biscuit Cake

The cast of characters.

We have some new neighbors across the street. Emmett and I, as is quickly becoming our mother-son tradition, decided to bake something to welcome them to their new home.  We made a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies and then decided to try something new to add to the basket of goodies we were bringing over.

Kelly, a friend of the stores, sent this recipe to my brother-in-law who forwarded it to me. She spotted this cake in many cafes and bakeries throughout Ireland and noticed that everything needed to make it is available at the Irish Boutique.  It’s really a great idea and one that is so easy and straightforward. Emmett will probably be able to make this all by himself soon enough. Let’s face it, he’ll probably do a better job than I did.

If I’m being honest, this was almost a recipe fail. Isn’t it funny how it can be easier to execute a recipe that involves several components and techniques than one that is basically an assembly-only task? Well, I totally rushed through this one and didn’t trust my instincts but you know what? I think it actually worked out for the best. In fact, since I still have NO IDEA what this was supposed to turn out like, I may have executed it perfectly. The bottom line is that the result was delicious and we had a lot of fun making this.

As you can see from the recipe below, it’s a simple process, a lot like making rice krispie treats. The reason I’m not so sure I did this correctly is because, based on the chocolate biscuit cakes I’ve seen before, including, famously, Prince William’s groom’s cake, the ratio of chocolate to biscuits is usually much higher. This was almost all biscuits held together by a little bit of the syrup-butter-chocolate mixture and definitely had more of a crisp cookie-like texture than that of a cake.

I had my doubts about including all of the crushed cookies when I looked at the amount of syrup-butter-chocolate mixture but went ahead and added them all anyway. Truth be told, I’m glad that I did! I loved the texture of this and the fact that I could taste the biscuits without having them overpowered by chocolate. And, for me, it would have been way too sweet if I changed the ratio of biscuits to chocolate.  It’s still quite sweet and boy, did my middle one Isla enjoy her piece.  So did my co-workers who devoured a tin of them in no time. I would like to try this one again using dark chocolate instead of milk and substituting some of the chocolate called for with unsweetened chocolate (though I’m pretty sure the rest of the family will still prefer this version). I know a couple of little people who would be happy to serve as my cookie smashers.

Thank goodness Isla was napping for this. Otherwise I'm sure there would have been a fight for the crown of No. 1 Biscuit Crusher. 

Chocolate biscuit cake

275g (10 oz; 2 ¼ sticks) Kerrygold Irish butter

150ml (about ⅔ cup) Lyle’s golden syrup

225g (8oz) Good chocolate -  Cadbury works very well*

200g (7oz) Digestive biscuits - broken into small pieces*

200g (7 oz) Rich tea biscuits - broken into small pieces

Packet of Maltesers

You can also add a variety of add ins, like smashed up crunchie bars, raisins,  cherries ,nuts etc.

*If  you want it to be more like Prince William’s reduce the amount of biscuits by ½ (about 7 oz).

Line a 2 pound loaf tin with a double layer of parchment paper.  

He flung the rolling pin aside and got in there with his hands. 

Break biscuits into small pieces.

Melt chocolate in double boiler, add syrup and butter and mix until smooth, being careful not to overheat the chocolate.  

Remove from double boiler and add to your bowl of broken biscuits and stir in maltesers.  Combine until evenly coated.

Scoop mixture into prepared tin.  

Place another piece of parchment on top of cake and press down on loaf to remove any air pockets.  

Cover completely and refrigerate for a few hours.  Once chilled you can remove from pan and slice and serve.  

It is a rich tasting cake so start with small slices to serve.

Irish Comfort Food: Coddle

I first learned about Coddle from a movie. Somehow, no matter how hard I try, I can't remember which movie, all I remember is that the main character was served coddle when he went home to visit his family in Ireland. In the movie, they make it look like the most unappetizing thing in the world. I remember feeling sorry for the main character as he choked it down (and clearly, nothing else about the movie - it's always about food with me). Despite this unfavorable depiction, coddle piqued my interest. When I googled it, I found that it’s an Irish dish made to use up leftovers and therefore, without a specific recipe. Leftovers? No recipe? Yes please. Rummaging around my kitchen I discovered a small piece of bacon leftover from one my father-in-law brought over earlier in the week, some sausages leftover from an Irish breakfast, a few yellow potatoes, some lingering root veggies in the fridge and some homemade chicken stock that I was defrosting for Eve, whose babysitter swears by it and insists I bring her some to feed the baby each week. So everything (and more) required for a good coddle.

The name comes from the verb “coddle” which means to cook food in water below boiling, like coddled eggs. Historically, the dish was often made on Thursdays to use up leftover sausages and bacon because Catholics were not supposed to eat meat on Fridays. Traditional Irish or Dublin Coddle does not contain carrots, garlic or cabbage and is made with water instead of stock. After reading a few different recipes I came up with the version below, which allowed me to use up a bunch of our leftovers. I’m not in a position to make any claims as to its authenticity (since I’ve never had coddle before), but I can tell you that it was comfort food at its best.

Once the coddle was done, I left it covered on the stove top while I put a loaf of brown bread, made from this mix in the oven.  About 35 minutes later, we enjoyed some coddle with warm bread and butter. Perfect for a chilly fall day and even more so, I can imagine, for a snowy winter one.

Emmett was in charge of making the Brown Bread.  The mix is awesome. All you need to do is add milk to this plastic zip-top bag, seal the bag and mix it in with your hands. 

Once the milk is mixed in with the dry ingredients you just squeeze the dough into the little pan that it comes with and bake at 375F for about 35 minutes. 

We put an "E" for Emmett on top of our bread. Baker's signature. 

Dublin Coddle

Serves 6

1lb yellow potatoes, chopped into small pieces

1 lb Irish sausages (Winston’s, I always have them in the freezer)

6-8oz Irish bacon, courtesy of my father-in-law, chopped into small pieces

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

2 carrots

½ small head of cabbage

3-4 cups chicken stock

Chopped parsley to serve

Pre-heat oven to 300F.  Prep vegetables and bacon.  Place a large dutch oven on the stovetop and heat to medium high. Add sausages and cook until browned on all sides (they don't need to be cooked through as they will cook much longer in the oven).

Remove and set aside. Add onion, garlic and bacon and cook until bacon begins to brown. Set aside with sausages.  

Turn heat up to high and add ⅓ cup chicken stock, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Once stock is reduced and there is very little liquid remaining in the pan, turn the heat off and spread the potatoes in a layer on the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper.

Add carrots and cabbage in another layer, followed by the onion, bacon and sausages on top.

Pour remaining chicken stock over the ingredients in the pan and place in the oven for two hours.

Check the liquid level in one hour and add more if the coddle seems dry.  For reference, after the first hour, the liquid in mine reached the level of the cabbage and carrots but not the sausages and bacon. This was a good amount.  After 2 hours the liquid was at the same level as the sausages and bacon (the meat was not submerged but there was plenty of liquid). I thought this was the perfect amount.

After two hours, check to make sure potatoes and carrots are cooked through, garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

Browning the onions and bacon.

After the stock has cooked down, layer the potatoes in the pot. 

Layer cabbage and carrots on top of potatoes and then sausages, bacon, onion and garlic.

Eat, little person putting together a puzzle in the background optional. 

An Irish Italian Meal: Bacon and Pea Risotto

I had just started cooking dinner the other night when Paul suggested that I take some photos and blog about it. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I looked down at the big pile of cubed Irish boiling bacon that I was about to put into the risotto and realized that I use Irish bacon all the time.  So often that I don’t even recognize it as an “Irish” ingredient anymore. Friends who aren't Irish ask me what it is and how it's different from regular bacon. Like brown bread, I had never even heard of Irish bacon until I started dating Paul and celebrating holidays with his family. My father-in-law, Paddy, studs his with cloves and boils it for just the right amount of time.  It puts the turkey to shame every Thanksgiving and I can never decide whether to eat more then and there or to hold off with the hope that there will be some left over. I think Paddy has caught on to my not-so-subtle clamoring for the leftovers so he often sets some aside for me when he makes one. I freeze it for fried rice, pasta, omelettes, sandwiches, pot pies, soup, you name it.

Bacon and pea risotto was actually a first in my household but I will definitely make it again. The kids loved it and Emmett, who had requested “plain noodles” for dinner ended up cleaning his plate. We were joking that we should have been wearing the “Half-Gaelic, Half-Garlic” T-shirts for this meal, but really, who doesn’t like bacon, peas and rice?

Mr. Plain Noodles stealing bites of the good stuff from Dad. 

Bacon and Pea Risotto

1 fist-size slab of cooked Irish boiling bacon, cubed

1 cup frozen peas

1 shallot, thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

¾ cup Arborio rice

⅓ cup white wine (optional)

1 tablespoon butter, divided in half

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups chicken stock or broth (This is more than enough.  I heat up more than I need and use what's left for another purpose)

1 sprig rosemary

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (dried work fine as well)

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup Parmesan cheese plus more to finish

1 lemon for serving

Place chicken stock or broth in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. While stock is coming to a simmer, prepare your shallot, garlic and bacon. Place a heavy bottomed pan on the stove and turn heat to medium high. Add half of the butter and the olive oil.  Once the pan is hot, add the shallot and garlic and turn down the heat as necessary to make sure the shallot and garlic do not burn. Cook about five minutes, until shallot is translucent.  Add the rice, rosemary and thyme and stir until all of the grains of rice are coated in oil/butter and begin (just barely) to toast. Turn the heat back up and add wine, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Once wine is almost completely evaporated, turn the heat down to medium low and start adding the stock. I use a soup ladle and add a couple of ladles of stock at a time, keeping the rice-stock mixture at low boil and seasoning with salt along the way. Once the rice has absorbed most of the stock, I add more. After 10 to 15 minutes I start checking the rice to gauge how much longer I think it will take to cook through. Once it is just a little more al dente (15 minutes or so) than I would like, I remove the sprig of rosemary and add the bacon, peas, and a little more stock.  I continue to cook until the rice is just cooked through. Try not to get distracted at the end because it can go from perfect to mushy quickly. When the rice is ready, I turn off the stove  and remove the pan from the heat.  Then I season the risotto with salt and pepper and stir in the remaining butter and Parmesan cheese. I serve it with lemon wedges, more Parmesan, and ground pepper on top.