Irish Soda Bread Muffins

I think that everything should be in individual containers. So I decided to make Irish Soda Bread the same way. It was pretty good.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup or half a stick) melted butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup raisins (I omitted.)

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In another large bowl, beat together the egg, buttermilk, melted butter, and oil. Gradually beat in the flour mixture until just moistened. Fold in the raisins.
4. Fill each muffin cup about three-fourths full. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm or cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container.

Baileys Irish Trifle

This was fun for St. Patrick's Day. I had to take out a lot of alcohol to make it everyone friendly. I thought this was VERY SWEET, but everyone else seemed to like it. 

Ingredients

• 1 box of Devil's Food Cake (I used Pillsbury)
• ingredients as per box instructions (except the water)
• 2 8 oz. bars of cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 c. Bailey's Irish Coffee Creamer
• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 2 c. cool whip
• 1 bag (27-29 pieces) of baking caramels (I used Werthers but Kraft would work fine as well)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray it with cooking spray.
2. Prepare cake according to package directions. Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool.
3. Prepare the cream filling by placing the cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl and mixing until soft and creamy. Add the Bailey's creamer and the powdered sugar and mix until blended. Carefully fold in the cool whip by hand. Set aside.
4. Make the caramel drizzle by placing the caramels unwrapped in a medium pan with 3 TBLSP of cream. Over low heat, whisk together until smooth. Add 2-3 more TBLSP of cream and whisk together until desired consistency and taste is achieved. Set aside.

Cut up the cooled cake into pieces. Assemble the trifle by using a medium trifle dish and covering the bottom with cake pieces. Next, add a layer of the cream filling and then drizzle with caramel sauce making particular attention to the sides of the dish so the layers all show. Continue the layers again and finish off with a cake layer on top and covering it with the remaining cool whip from the container. Save one piece of chocolate cake to crumble on the very top and finish it off with a caramel drizzle.

1. ·  Alternatively, you could layer individual clear plastic cups for a different type of presentation.

Cannoli Cream

I found a blog post for cannoli cream. It worked really well. She recommended buying the cannoli shells and that was perfect! We did this for Easter.

• ½ cup whipping cream
• 1 15-ounce container whole milk ricotta cheese, strained
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ⅓ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Place the cream into a small bowl and set aside.
2. In the same mixing bowl, add the ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mix on medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute. Fold in the whipped cream and chocolate chips.
3. Chill the cream for at least 2 hours before filling the cannoli shells.

Individual Blueberry Crumbles

These were very tasty served with ice cream.

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup oats
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
4 cups mixed berries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Equipment: 6 (6-ounce) ramekins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, salt and oats. Using a pastry blender, a fork or your hands cut in butter. Keep cold until ready to use.

In a large bowl combine berries, 1/2 cup sugar, and cornstarch; toss to coat. Evenly divide the fruit mixture between the 6 ramekins. Top with crumble topping. Bake until top is golden and fruit is bubbly, about 35 minutes. Serve warm.