No-Bake Chocolate Biscuit Cake

It’s my sister’s birthday soon and since I won’t be there on the day to celebrate with her I decided to throw a spur of the moment birthday tea party for her. Chocolate biscuit cakes are her favourite  so I was delighted to find this variation of the recipe  in the ICA Book of Home and Family.

The morning coffee biscuits used in the recipe were difficult to find so I substituted Nice biscuits in their place. Other than that the recipe calls for basic ingredients likely to be already in your kitchen.

The cake is fast and simple to assemble. I decided to make the cake the size of a pound tin however the cakes shape and size can be altered very easily to suit larger or smaller gatherings. Having tasted this cake after 2 hours in the fridge and then again after it was left overnight in the fridge, I recommend leaving it to chill overnight. 

This cake is ideal for impromptu celebrations. There is also the option of giving it an extra little kick by adding a drop (or two) of baileys.

For more information contact An Grianán at admin@an-grianan.ie or 041 9822119. ICA at admin@ica.ie or 01 6680002

Tomato & Bean Soup

Ireland has been having some very cold weather of late and I have been craving warm comfort food. For a quick and easy winter meal, soup is always the best choice. My personal favourite is tomato and luckily the ICA Cookbook had just what I needed, Fresh Tomato and Bean soup. Yummy!

The recipe calls for plum tomatoes however as we were “plum” out of tomatoes in the house I had to use tinned plum tomatoes instead and these worked just as well, halving the preparation time.

This soup was just what I needed. I will probably never go back to just plain tomato soup again and not just because of the flavour. The added ingredient of the beans brings this soup’s nutritional value through the roof. This soup makes a perfect pair with Bettys brown bread (mentioned in a previous post) and is a must eat winter snack.

For more information contact An Grianán at admin@an-grianan.ie or 041 9822119. ICA at admin@ica.ie or 01 6680002