Boozy Brownies

 

These chocolate brownies are definitely not suitable for children! They're great for an adults-only party or barbecue, though I made them as a gift for a friend who had been through a tough time lately. He seemed pretty pleased with them when I described what was in the brownies!

The recipe comes from Bake in Black - Music-Inspired Baking by Eve and David O'Sullivan which I reviewed when it came out. I hadn't made anything from this book in a while so when I decided to bake something for my friend, had a flick through until I came to a recipe I could make fairly quickly and easily and that I could package up to give to him. Chocolate brownies it was!

The recipe is actually called Whiskey in the Bar- all the recipes in the book are inspired by music and this one is apparently Thin Lizzy. They are raisin and whiskey brownies with an Irish cream liqueur glaze - they came out gooey even though I extended the cooking time, and they taste amazing!

 

Makes 12
150g raisins
4 tbsp. Irish whiskey - though I didn't have any and used Jack Daniels
250g milk chocolate
200g butter
250g caster sugar
3 eggs
60g plain flour
60g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

for the glaze:
50ml Irish cream liqueur
75g milk chocolate

Soak the raisins in the whiskey for at least half an hour.

When you are ready to begin baking, preheat the oven to 180C and grease a 20x20cm square cake tin.

Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or a bain-marie. Meanwhile in a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar and beat in the eggs. Pour in the melted chocolate and mix gently so it is all combined.

Add the raisins and the whiskey and fold in the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Pour into the baking tin and level the top; bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes [mine took more like 45, after I checked it a couple of times] until still squidgy but not raw in the middle when you test with a skewer. The skewer should emerge a bit sticky but not with raw brownie mixture on it.

Allow the brownies to cool in the tin. Make the drizzle when the brownies have cooled; heat the cream liqueur in a pan or a bowl in the microwave until just bubbling. Add the broken up chocolate and stir until smooth. Spread over the top of the brownies; the glaze will harden and you can then cut the brownies into squares.

I love Baileys but didn't have any and drinks like this don't actually keep that long - so if you have a bottle on the go that's great but I would advise against opening a new bottle for this recipe if you then aren't going to drink the rest (not on your own obviously!). Instead I found something really handy in Lidl a few months ago - a box of cream liqueur pots, like the milk you get in hotel rooms; you can open one or two as you want them and the rest will keep. Great if you just want the occasional drink or want to use in a recipe (or pour over ice cream perhaps?).

 

I'm sharing these with We Should Cocoa over at Tin and Thyme  and Treat Petite hosted by Kat the Baking Explorer.

Mini Sticky Toffee Pudding with Irish Whiskey Sauce

These mini sticky toffee puddings are delicious though the sauce is very sweet!

I got the recipe from the Good Food Channel; I was looking for Irish recipes for a blog challenge as it was St Patrick's day this month. I made half the quantity of the recipe which made three - obviously I was a bit more generous with my portions as the whole recipe is supposed to serve 8, but mine really weren't that big.

To make three, you need:

75g butter

extra for greasing or Cake Release or similar

85g ready-to-eat dates (without stones)

150ml water

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

85g brown sugar

85g self-raising flour

1 egg

For the sauce:

150g caster sugar

150ml water

125ml cream

40g butter

2 tbsp Irish whiskey

Preheat oven to 180C and grease three ramekins or similar small dishes. Put the dates in a pan with 150ml water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes until softened then stir in the bicarb of soda; the mixture will foam up. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes, then blend in a liquidiser so you have a thick puree.

 In a bowl, cream the marg and sugar and add the egg. Fold in the flour.

Finally stir in the date puree.

 Spoon the mixture into the ramekins and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. You can either turn these out onto a wire rack then serve them in a bowl, or serve them as they come in the ramekins.

I found making the sauce quite tricky and I'm not sure what I did wrong. I took my eye off the first batch for just a minute and it burnt - and when I made it again, I couldn't get the sugar to caramelise. But these are the instructions in the recipe: put the sugar and water in a pan, bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in the cream, butter and whiskey and cook gently for another 8-10 minutes until thick. I used Bushmills Irish whiskey.

The sauce did turn lightly golden and thicken but it had the consistency of sugar rather than a creamy sauce, I'm not sure what I did wrong!

Pour the sauce over the puddings and serve. These were very good though extremely sweet - but my boyfriend liked them enough to have two!

I'm sending this to Baking with Spirit, hosted by Janine at Cake of the Week, as this month she has chosen dark spirits including whisky.

These puddings are also ideal for Treat Petite, hosted by Stuart at Cakeyboi and guest hosted this month by the Baking Explorer; the theme this time is Ireland.