Banana and Chocolate Cupcakes

Having attended a Tasty Tart cooking demonstration in An Grianán and to satisfy my sweet tooth I often make the banana and chocolate cupcake recipe at home.

Here’s how I got on with the latest batch…

This is a fairly run of the mill cupcake recipe with the added bonus of chocolate and banana. It is very quick to prepare and cook, so perfect for last minute celebrations or even for something a little extra at tea time. Depending on your chocaholic preference, different chocolate varieties can be used. I used dark chocolate as the recipe recommended and I love the taste.

The recipe calls for butter icing but I decided to try something a little different this time. I made 12 cupcakes in total - I topped 4 with melted toffee and banana, 4 with dark chocolate and banana and left 4 plain for the more health conscious.

Suffice to say the twelve cupcakes didn’t last past the family tea time! Cupcakes are a tasty and versatile treat, here’s some I made for a birthday with the same recipe and rainbow butter cream icing.

For more information on cooking demonstration magazine contact with the ICA at admin@ica.ie, 01 668000 or An Grianán at admin@an-grianan.ie, 041 982 2119

Easter Nests

With Easter preparations in full swing it was time to make the Easter nests for the string eggs. All you need is some cooking chocolate, shredded wheat and a bowl or bun cases.

Here’s how I got on…

I used six shredded wheat pieces and two bars of cooking chocolate to make one large nest and three smaller nests. To make the larger nest I covered a cereal bowl in Clingfilm for the three smaller nests I used 3 different sizes of bun cases.

 

To add a little something extra to the Easter nests I sprinkled them with popping candy while they were still hardening.

Once the nests were hard I removed them from their cases and added chocolate eggs, candied eggs and the string eggs to decorate.

The perfect decoration for your Easter celebrations.

For more information on eater crafts contact the ICA admin@ica.ie or 01 6680002

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