Categories
Misc.

Irish Apple Cake

We’ve never really been huge celebrators of St. Patrick’s Day, but with everything closed due to coronavirus and little else to do, I figured it would be fun to bake something. My mom suggested that I make something green, but with our currently limited ingredients I didn’t have many options. Instead, I decided to look for desserts that actually originated from Ireland, and I found this lovely apple cake!

 

 

 

 

 

The original cake recipe made enough for twelve servings–but since it’s only the four of us, I just made half. This turned out to be plenty; we each ate a piece and still have four left.

Making the cake itself was pretty simple. At first, I was a little concerned because the batter was so thick, but I was relieved to find that that’s actually how it’s supposed to be. Irish apple cake is very dense, with a texture quite similar to banana bread. In fact, it has a lot of similarities to banana bread, such as its moistness and subtler taste (as opposed to the more intense sweetness of a regular cake).

 

 

 

 

 

Traditionally, the cake would also be served with a creamy custard sauce drizzled over the top. When making the sauce, you have to combine hot milk with eggs, which is always risky because there’s a chance of accidentally cooking the eggs.

The custard came out a little curdled this time, but it was getting late and I didn’t really want to remake it, so I put it on anyway.  I’m sure that next time, when I’m not faced with a shortage of time and ingredients, it will turn out better. While it wasn’t the smoothest it could be, it still tasted perfectly fine, and served as a nice compliment to the cake.

We all enjoyed this dessert, and agreed that it was a fun and tasty treat to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with! If you’re interested in trying it out, here’s a link to the recipe: https://www.cookingclassy.com/irish-apple-cake-custard-sauce/

Hope you’re all staying safe and healthy!

Categories
Misc.

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

A few months ago, my dad tried a layered mousse cheesecake at a restaurant and asked that I make something like it for his birthday. I found this recipe online and baked it for him yesterday (his birthday was actually the 4th, but we celebrated on Saturday instead). It has a chocolate cookie crust and a layer of cheesecake followed by a layer of chocolate mousse. Then, the whole thing is topped with chocolate ganache. The recipe itself wasn’t too challenging, but it took a while because the cake had to chill in the fridge between layers.

Let me just tell you, this turned out to be absolutely delicious. Not to mention gigantic. All four of us had a piece, and we still have over 3/4 of the cake left! The cake was wonderfully creamy, and the fluffy mousse went perfectly with it. I’ll definitely be making this again sometime.

You can find the recipe for yourself here: http://thefloursack.blogspot.com/2012/09/chocolate-mousse-cheesecake.html?m=1

 

Categories
Artwork Traditional Artwork

Husky Sketch


Semi-realistic husky I drew for my friend