Irish Whiskey Sauce
Pour this over pound cake or brownies.
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon Irish whiskey
In a 1-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking until well combined. Remove from heat and stir in milk, sugar and whiskey. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Serve immediately.
Makes 1 1/2 cups.
Irish Sherry Trifle
1 (8-inch) sponge cake or 10 ladyfingers
3 ounces raspberry gelatin
1 cup sherry
1 can fruit salad, drained
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
Cherries or strawberries
Blanched almonds
1 1/2 envelopes Birds custard
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 cups milk
Place sponge cake in glass serving dish. Arrange fruit salad on top.
Add 1 cup of boiling water to dissolve gelatin and then add 1 1/2 cups cold water. Pour this liquid over mixture.
Combine custard powder and sugar in small bowl; mix with little milk. Put remainder of milk in saucepan and bring to a boil. Add gradually the pudding mixture to milk and bring to a full boil, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over sponge cake and fruit; chill.
Shortly before serving, pile whipped cream on pudding. Arrange cherries (or strawberries) and blanched almonds on top of whipped cream.
Blarney Stone Cookie Mix in a Jar
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup golden raisins
1 1/2 cups salted peanuts
1 3/4 cups flour mixed with 1 teaspoon baking
soda and 1 teaspoon allspice
Layer ingredients in order given in a 1 quart wide mouth canning jar. Press each layer firmly in place before adding the next ingredient. (makes 5 cups of mix)
Attach these instructions to the jar:
Empty jar into large mixing bowl; use you hands to thoroughly mix. Add 1/2 sticks soft butter, 2 eggs slightly beaten and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Mix until completely blended - you will need to finish mixing with your hands. Shape into balls the size of walnuts. Place 2 inches apart on sprayed cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 9 to 11 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet and remove cookies to racks to cool completely.
Makes 3 1/2 dozen.
Irish Cream Bread Pudding with Caramel Irish Cream Sauce
Yield: 8 servings
Pudding
1 loaf stale French bread
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
Caramel Irish Cream Sauce
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup freshly brewed coffee
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur
Pudding: Crumble the bread, with the crust, into a bowl. Cover with combined milk, cream and liqueur and let stand an hour or until the bread has absorbed most of the liquid.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 13 x 9-inch baking dish and set aside.
Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla extract until well blended. Mix gently with bread and raisins. Spoon into pan, smooth top. Bake until light brown and the custard is set, about an hour.
Caramel Irish Cream Sauce: Pour sugar into water in saucepan and let stand until sugar is wet. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the mixture turns nut brown. Remove from heat. Immediately and CAREFULLY, to avoid splatters, pour in coffee and cream into the saucepan. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until caramel melts. Remove from heat and cool. Stir in lemon juice and liqueur just before serving.
Irish Coffee Sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
7 tablespoons water
1 cup freshly-made strong coffee
2 tablespoons Irish whiskey or bourbon
Put sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer, stirring until the mixture begins to turn a caramel color, about 10 minutes. Toward the end of the cooking, the mixture will become very foamy as it starts to darken. Stir constantly at this point and, just as it becomes a medium caramel color, turn off the heat but continue to stir. It will become darker off the heat. Add coffee, being careful since the mixture tends to spatter when the coffee first makes contact. Mix well and let cool. Stir in the whiskey and refrigerate.
Makes about 2 1/4 cups.
Irish Coffee Pudding
6 eggs
8 ounces granulated sugar
1 cup very strong coffee
1 1/2 ounces powdered gelatine
1/3 cup Irish whiskey or Irish Mist
10 ounces whipping cream
3 ounces crushed walnuts
Separate the yolks from the whites of eggs. In a bowl, cream with yolks with the sugar.
Heat the coffee until hot but not boiling: add the gelatine and dissolve it in the coffee. Add this mixture to the yolks and sugar. Beat well and put the bowl over a pot of boiling water. Continue beating until mixture begins to thicken. remove from heat, and when the bowl has cooled a little, place it over cracked ice and continue stirring. When the mixture is on the point of setting, whip the cream and fold it in. Add the whiskey or Irish Mist.
Lastly, fold in the well-beaten egg whites. Pour into a souffle dish that has a double thickness of parchment paper tied around it: the paper should come up 3 inches above the top of the souffle dish.
Oil a jam jar or bottle and press it down into the center of the pudding. Leave to set. Remove the paper collar by easing around the circumference with a knife dipped in hot water. Remove the jar or bottle, and fill the center with 1 cup heavy cream, whipped, sweetened with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. You can also decorate the exposed sides of the pudding with crushed walnuts, pressed on with the palm of your hand.
4 servings
Blarney Bars
Makes about 3 dozen bars.
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup toffee pieces
1/3 cup pecans, chopped
Blarney Bar Icing
About 4 drops green food coloring
3/4 can (or 3/4 cup) vanilla frosting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the brown sugar. Blend in the eggs, one at a time. Add the milk and vanilla extract, then blend the wet ingredients again.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the quick-cooking oats and fold in the toffee bits. Add the pecans, and blend the mixture well with a wooden spoon.
Spread the mixture in the prepared baking pan. Press the mixture firmly into the pan, making sure to form an even surface for your bars.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick may be cleanly removed from the center of the bars. Cool in the baking pan on a wire rack.
While the bars are cooling, prepare the frosting by blending together the green food coloring and prepared vanilla frosting. Spread an even layer of the frosting over the bars, then cut in a diamond shape to serve.
Irish Cherries Jubilee
4 servings
1 (20 ounce) can sweet cherries
1/2 teaspoon arrowroot
1 medium cinnamon stick
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 ounces Irish whiskey, heated
2 ounces kirsch, heated
16 ounces vanilla ice cream
Drain the cherries, reserving the juice. Combine the reserved juice and arrowroot, blending well. Pour into a preheated flat shallow chafing dish, and stir and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the cinnamon stick and lemon juice, and then add the cherries and heat to boiling. Remove the cinnamon stick and pour on the preheated liquors and ignite.
Ladle the flamed cherries over ice cream or other dessert.