Chocolate-Orange-Guiness Cake

Cake Ingredients:

8 ounces butter, room temperature
8 ounces dark brown sugar
10 ounces self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
2 rounded Tablespoons Cocoa
Grated rind of 1 orange
4 Eggs
1/2 cup Guinness


Icing Ingredients:

4 ounces butter
8 ounces powdered sugar
Orange juice


Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375F.
Grease two 8 or 9-inch cake pans.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa into a bowl.
Add the orange rind to the creamed butter and beat in the eggs, one at a time, including a spoonful of the measured flour mixture with each one, and beating well between additions. Gently mix in the Guinness, a tablespoonful at a time, including another spoonful of flour with each addition.
If there's any flour left over, fold it in gently to mix;
Blend thoroughly without over-beating.
Divide the mixture between the tins, smooth down, and put the cakes into the center of the pre-heated oven.
Reduce the heat to moderate (350F) and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the cakes are springy to the touch and pulling slightly away from the sides of the pans.
Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, make the icing:
Cream the softened butter and powdered sugar together
Blend in enough orange juice to make an icing that is soft enough to spread.
Frost between layers and on top of the cakes once cooled.

Option - drizzle some Guiness on top of each cake layer, let it soak in a little bit, and then apply the frosting.

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Pistachio-Lime Shamrock Cookies, Nice and Green for St. Patrick's Day

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Ingredients:

Cookie Dough:
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon grated lime peel or half tsp lemon juice
1 cup finely chopped pistachios

Lime Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon grated lime peel or juice

Directions:

Cookies:
Cream butter and sugar;
Beat in egg.
Stir in flour and lime.
Mix in pistachios.
Refrigerate dough at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Roll out dough 1/4-inch thick;
Cut shapes with shamrock-shaped cookie cutter but circles are just fine.
Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Less for soft cookies, longer for harder cookies.
Cool completely before putting on the frosting - do outlines or cover entire top.
Option - sprinkle a little Jello powder on tops just before serving for an extra kick of citrus.

Lime Frosting:
Combine butter, powdered sugar, milk and lime in a medium bowl.
Mix until smooth.
Makes about 1/2 cup.
Option - Use green food coloring if you would like the icing to be deeper green.
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Delicious Brownies with Irish Creme Frosting

Ingredients:

Brownies:
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1 cup flour

Frosting:
1/3 cup Irish Cream liqueur (such as Bailey's)
8 oz. white chocolate, chopped

Instructions:

Brownies-

Pre-heat oven to 325 F.
Line a 8" x 8" baking pan with aluminum foil , leaving at least 2 inches of foil overhanging on all sides (this will help you lift the finished brownies out of the pan).
Set aside.
Melt chocolate and butter together in a saucepan over low/medium heat, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Whisk sugar, vanilla and salt into chocolate mixture.
Whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
Continue whisking mixture until it is shiny and smooth.
Add flour and whisk just until blended.
Pour batter into pan and level top with a spatula.
Bake for about 35 minutes, or until cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool completely in pan.

Option - buy a box of brownie mix!

Topping-

Gently heat liqueur to a boil, remove from heat.
Whisk in white chocolate until it is completely melted and mixture is smooth.
Refrigerate until mixture becomes thick enough to spread, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
Spread topping over brownies and refrigerate until cold.
Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Lift foil to remove it and brownies out of pan,
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Irish Potatos - A Sweet, Delicious Confection for St. Patrick's Day

INGREDIENTS-
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 TBSP ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS-
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
Add the vanilla and powdered sugar; beat until smooth.
Using your hands if necessary, mix in the coconut.
Roll into 3 inch long potato shapes, and then roll in the cinnamon.
Place onto a cookie sheet and chill to set.
If desired, roll potatoes in cinnamon again for darker color
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Green Cupcakes / Cake for St. Patrick's Day

This recipe adds a touch of flavor, extra moisture and a pastel green color. Of course, you can use any color of Jello you want to match your occasion. For my daughter's birthday cake, I swirled two different colors of jello just before pouring into the pans to make a very brightly marbled cake. This recipe makes 25 to 30 cupcakes, depending upon how much you fill each cup.

Ingredients for cake
1 (18 ounce) white cake mix
Any other ingredients required on the box's instructions
1 large box lime or other green Jello

Ingredients for frosting
1/4 cup boiling water
6 tablespoons butter
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions for baking cupcakes / cake
Preheat oven per box instructions
Prepare cake mix per the box recipe and instructions adding 3/4ths of the jello powder to the dry ingredients. Mix jello powder in well before adding wet ingredients for an even color.
Pour into 2 cake pans or cupcake liners
Bake as directed on box.
Cool in pans
Remove from pans once pans are only slightly warm
Finish cooling on racks and then put into refridgerator.
Option - use 2 or more colors of Jello powder (keep total used at 4 TBSP) and do not mix entirely. You'll have a pretty swirl effect of differing colors.

Directions for making buttercreme frosting
Cream butter and water
Add sugar gradually, scraping the bowl after each addition.
Add the remaining jello powder and mix color in well
Beat until smooth.
Frost cake or cupcakes
Option - sprinkle some green Jello powder on top just before serving. Use just a little bit.

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Chocolate Irish Creme Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs, confectioners' sugar and 1/3 cup cocoa.
Add melted butter and stir until well mixed.
Pat into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes; set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, white sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa and flour.
Beat at medium speed until well blended and smooth.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Blend in the sour cream and Irish cream liqueur; mixing on low speed.
Pour filling over baked crust.

Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 10 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C), and continue baking for 60 minutes.
With a knife, loosen cake from rim of pan.
Let cool, then remove the rim of pan.
Chill before serving.
If your cake cracks, a helpful tip is to dampen a spatula and smooth the top, then sprinkle with some chocolate wafer crumbs

Irish Coffee Cheesecake Recipe for St. Patrick's Day

Ingredients

For the Crust:
16 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ cup of granulated sugar
1 ¼ cup of all-purpose flour.
¼ cup of rice flour.
½ cup of cocoa powder.
pinch of salt.

For the Cheesecake Filling:
1 ½ lb (three 8oz. packages) cream cheese, at room temperature.
1 cup of granulated sugar.
4 eggs.
1 lb sour cream.
1/3 cup of Baileys Irish Cream.
2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder.

Instructions to make the crust:
With an electric mixer, combine the butter, flour, sugar, rice flour, cocoa powder and salt.
Mix on low until the dough comes together.
Roll the dough into a 9-inch round.
Pat into the bottom of a 9-inch springform tin.
Refrigerate at least 2 hours, overnight is better. Dough needs to be nice and cold.
Once the dough is cold, preheat oven to 300 F
Bake the crust for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool completely.

Instructions to make the cheesecake filling:
Do this while the oven is preheating-
Beat the cream cheese with a mixer on medium until smooth.
Slowly add the sugar, beat until smooth.
Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in the sour cream, the Bailey's Irish Cream, the espresso powder, and mix until smooth.

To make the final cheesecake:
Spread the topping evenly over the crust.
Place the springform tin inside a larger baking pan, then place into oven.
Carefully fill the larger pan halfway with hot water.
Bake for 1 hour 15 mins.
Test if is cooked by gently shaking the pan. The cheesecake should be set but not dry.
Transfer the tin to a wire rack and cool for 30 minutes.
Refrigerate until chilled throughout.
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