Self defence cupcakes

   

There was once a time when training on the countries roads was as safe as could be. However times have changed and this is something I know all too well. Years ago the only people that would stop are those looking for directions now its an entirely different story. For this reason I believe everyone should know self defence or become a Kung Fu Panda.

 With this in mind I have made panda cupcakes. As I whisked 4 oz of  butter and sugar together I couldn't help but remember the near misses I encountered doing 80 miles a week. 2 to be exact. The first occurred as I trained with 3 others in a park area. Doing laps of a Saturday morning was our routine. As we circled the seated area for the 3rd time an elderly man advised us there was a person in camouflage hopping from tree to tree watching myself and the other girl running. We bolted and never trained there again. It's very important to have your wits about you when training or even going for a leisurely walk. Vary your route and also the time at which you go if alone. Now the butter and sugar are creamed so add 2 beaten eggs and whisk followed by a splash of vanilla essence and 1-2 tablespoons of milk. Spoon into cases and bake at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.

Once cooled the decorating can begin. For the panda face I used white icing and coconut to give the furry illusion. Mixing a few drops of water with icing sugar to form  a paste spread it on top of the cupcake then turn the cake upside down and dip it in a bowl of coconut. The 2nd encounter I had was running through Askeaton at night. It was after work approx 10 pm headphones in I trotted along not a care in the world. My biggest worry was what song came next. I noticed a car pass me a few times and slow down but i took no notice as that was a regular occurrence. However on my way back it passed me at speed and suddenly braked. With that all 4 doors swung open with force. At that point i turned and started to sprint towards the nearby pub. Thankfully a car passing noticed and drove at them. Completely shaken i rang my father who retrieved me. The car was found burnt out in Kilcornan that night. Had I not been told what to do in an emergency I may not have been so lucky!

Now for the eyes. I chose mini milk chocolate buttons for the eyes sticking two of them on with icing and adding 2 chocolate drops for pupils. Halving the button I then pushed 1 half into the cupcake in the shape of a nose and similar for the mouth and ears.
                                       

Top tips

• Always tell someone at home your training route.
• Vary your route.
• Dress unisex. Hat and baggy jacket.
• Keep headphone volume down.
• If possible carry a personal alarm or pepper spray.
• Vary your training time.

Reach for the stars

Hello and welcome to all my new followers! I hope I haven't scared you off just yet! Although Halloween is just around the corner muhahaha! How do Coconut and mint cookies covered with white and milk chocolate sound for today's article? I love bounty bars so much so at one stage I was like Dog the bounty hunter rummaging through all the shops! Of course these were times when I had the metabolism of a cheetah.Now the story would be a little different. As if these cookies couldn't get any better I will be cutting them into star shapes symbolizing reaching for the stars. If there's one thing depression teaches you its staying positive and reaching for the stars and your goals or the neck of  a bully!

Now to start with, place some butter and sugar in a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. Does anyone else get pins and needles from a whisk? or is that just me? Quite dangerous after awhile I'd imagine thankfully no accidents just yet!I'm staying positive. Then beat in an egg yoke ( remember we are pro's at separating eggs now don't let the side down) and 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract. Go easy with the extract as too much could be fatal. Then sift in together plain flour and pinch of salt. The mixture is quite stiff at this stage but there is light at the end of the tunnel here comes the coconut. Add 100g of desiccated coconut and stir until all is as one. When I first saw desiccated coconut on the ingredients I had images of a CSI agent doing an autopsy on a coconut but thankfully one day as I passed the Lidl baking section there it was calling to me saying Dog take me and now here we are mixture combined. Half the mixture and wrap in cling film. Roughly will do it's not a Christmas present just pop in the fridge to chill for 30 - 60 minutes or as last week proved for me until your blood suddenly pools at your feet and you remember it's in the fridge. 

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and unwrap the dough. Spread some flour on your work surface trust me it's worth the mess. Roll out the two pieces of dough cutting out star shapes. Leave them a little thick as you don't want light cookies.Bake for 10 - 12 minutes any longer and you'll be having their funerals. Allow to cool.

Melt milk chocolate over water and also melt white chocolate about 150g or 1 bar of each. Then with a spoon drizzle one type at the time over the cookies. Leave to set and enjoy!

Each day I set myself a goal and go for it whether its baking or painting the principal remains the same. Reach for the stars! We don't deserve any less!

O Neill's Swimming Pool

Combining art and cake is one of my favourite things to do.Oil Paintings of landscapes and buildings mostly take my fancy to paint and every now and then a garden or two.To the left you can see one off my landscape oil paintings which took 6 weeks to complete.
 Now and then I get a craving to make something fun out of cakes. Some people crave cigarettes but I  crave fun cakes. This particular instance I decided I was going to make a swimming pool from cake. I love letting my imagination run wild and thinking of ways to make it was just SO exciting. The pool I'm going to make from a Madeira mixture as it can withstand the load of any additional add ons. Swimming pools have been a massive part of my life and water safety also. Water should be respected and not taken advantage of just like people. But so often this is not the case and accidents happen. I think at this stage I know swimming pools inside out so this was an especially fun exercise for me.

To make the Madeira base whisk butter and sugar in a bowl until creamed and fluffy. At this stage alternatively add eggs and flour with baking powder. Once the mixture is completed pour into a flat rectangle baking tin. Allow to bake for 30 - 40 Min. Keep checking it with a knife. If the knife comes out clean were ready to go. Allow to cool. The water is made from blue butter icing. I figured it would represent the disturbed water well. To make it whisk butter in a bowl for 3 minutes or until your hands are numb lol. Add a little blue food colouring to get that water colour and continue to whisk for another 3 minutes. With the back of a spoon or a knife put the mixture on top of Madeira base to create the swimming pool effect. Every pool needs to have surrounding walls or a boarder. Mine must be edible so I took strips of baking paper and laced melted white chocolate onto them and waited for them to set. Low and behold as if Paul Daniels himself did a magic spell my swimming pool had walls stuck to the cake with icing sugar and a drop of water.

Now for the lane ropes..... what better than candy necklaces and watches I had as a kid and the flat piece I can use as a diving block I thought to myself. So I took the candy off the elastic string and placed the pieces sideways into the butter icing as if the rope was under the water. How easily things can be made deceiving. I did lane rope after lane rope until finally complete.Patience is key when working with cakes and water. You have to be patient and learn how to swim properly not come up with your own version and run with that as sooooo many do.  For the diving blocks I've used a small piece of Madeira that was left and placed the candy watch face ontop of it again stuck with icing. It looked very convincing to be honest! Every swimming pool provides flags too for its competitive swimmers. After careful thought I came up with the idea of dying edible fun paper money with food colouring and cutting them into triangles to hang like flags over the pool. I used a long kebab stick as pole as either side and the strings from the necklaces to hang them.

Now for swimmers. Of course the perfectionist I am I wanted to make sure they were as convincing as possible.Phelps maybe with size 13 feet. So I used fruit pastilles for the head halving them so they looked like swimming caps and sesame sticks for the hands and legs. Positioning the arms so they looked as though the swimmer was rolling his head to the side breathing. Do you know most people in my experience are unaware you need to breath out under water.They all hold their breath which is so dangerous.

That's it swimming pool complete. I have dedicated this cake to Lauren and Shannon my little amazing cousins that teach me a thing or two!

Recipe for friendship

There are so many cook books on the market now & so many on-line recipes it's very difficult to know which are genuine. Similarly the same could be said about friendships. A word flung around like its on a merry go round FRIENDSHIP.  What does it mean? On line friendships are they genuine? Catfish I'm sure your all familiar with the MTV hit, a documentary made about on line friendships.So how do we know which friendships or ingredients will work for us? 

One of the most common ingredients used is flour. A powder obtained by grinding grain and used in many of our base foods.Flour is a reliable powder. Reliable friends are hard to come by.Their the ones that you can fall back on, the ones that after everyone has left they are still around. Have you flour in your life? I'm lucky enough to have it in mine and I wouldn't change it for the world. 

Sugar?...without sugar our foods would be plain with little sweetness. Without friends, our lives would be predictable and boring. You judge the amount of sugar in a recipe so it's not too sweet and we pick friends with similar interests so we have a balance in our lives as well as our baking. A lot of people act sweet, and with social media now readily available at our fingertips its too easy to put on a false personality. Too much sweet can very easily turn your finished product sour.In most of the Catfish series this is exactly what happens! Those behind the keyboard turn out to be extremely different in real life leaving a bad after taste in someone's mouth!

Yeast otherwise known as a raising agent, raising you up when you are down. When the going gets tough the tough get going... we all know that song  but my god is it true.... when the going gets tough too many get going and never come back but those that stay you know are there for life. Feeding you comfort food, watching chick flicks, having a bitch with a cup of tea, patting your back as you puke in the toilet or even when things are so bad that you realise you would rather be a sea creature so at least when you cry no one can see your tears only your best friend who's holding your tissues.

When heat is applied to any mixture its fascinating to watch it grow and take shape. When heat is applied to friendship its sink or swim. I have been very fortunate to be blessed with friends that are the bread and butter of my life.Friends that are as cracked as half the eggs used in baking and that's what I love about them. No two days the same no too cakes the same.

So once you find a reliable recipe stick with it!

Athletes Blueberry Strippers

I'm not used to talking about strippers in my blogs and I hope none of my followers deem it inappropriate but these Blueberry Strippers are made purely for the Athlete in us. As a Gym Instructor and retired World Class athlete at Junior Level I appreciate the importance of nutrition in any fitness regime. However a sneaky treat every now and then does cross the mind and what better way to spoil yourself than with your very own strippers. Diets differ based on the chosen sport for instance I was an endurance athlete walking my little legs off each pair of trainers wearing away like a cheap eraser on the N69! Have you ever noticed the tilt on the road the way it slants? Well notice it the next time you drive past I'm sure it's for drainage purposes but the only thing it was draining was my patience.If not aware a muscle imbalance would have been inevitable. Weightlifters and those trying to achieve that slim body however need high protein low carbohydrate diet which these particular strippers are designed for.

I decided to make Chocolate flavour as I had some Whey protein powder in that particular flavour and it was needed in the recipe. Grab a large mixing bowl the first step is to blend 1 cup of oatmeal. Yes blend oatmeal I know I never heard of the likes either but it actually works after a little tilting.Put the blended mixture and 2 scoops of your whey protein into the bowl. Now only to separate 4 eggs I think its quite similar to juggling then again I have my own very unique ways!Once separated collect the whites and add them to the mixture. A little water, blueberries and 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence and mix thoroughly. Spoon into muffin cases and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  

Protein bars and shakes can work out expensive so this offers an alternative to save a little money. You can vary the fruit depending on your taste!

Mint Volcano For You

Since publishing my last blog words cannot explain how positive everyone has been towards Bake With Cat. Did you ever hear the phrase' Things happen for a reason' ? Well Bake With Cat couldn't have happened for a better reason. At a time when all  I needed was support I was overwhelmed by kind words, well wishes, compliments from people near and far. It opened a volcano of emotions for me. So I dedicate this Mint Volcano blog to you.

One of my favourite things to bake are Chocolate brownies. So chocolatey and just generally amazing. I'm a devil for anything mint too...a mint cornetto, mint aero's, after eight's you name it I'm on it like a car bonnet. So I've combined mint and brownies for to create the perfect appreciation blog.

Starting off I checked out the ingredients list!It was looking very positive I knew what everything was on the list except for 1 mystery item. Softened cream cheese! No problem I'll nip to the shop and just pick it up I'm sure its labelled anyway I thought to myself. Now searching the dairy section of any supermarket is not to be laughed at.... it's like 7 miles long and has not just English labels but French. Now French was never my strong point dropping it at leaving cert level who knows what I would arrive home with. I failed to find it for 2 days and 5 supermarkets. Then I decided pride aside it was time to ask. Lads no joke but Cream cheese is Philabloodydelphia. Yes Philadelphia the one internationally advertised as cream cheese. If i could have kicked myself in the forehead with my size 7's I would have. I returned home feeling very silly indeed but never the less the show must go on!I melted the butter and chocolate and allowed it to cool. The smell as it melts is just divine. I then poured  the devine mix into a mixing bowl and added in a cup of sugar. Stirring like a trooper I gradually added the eggs bit by bit.....there was zero room for error now I was on my volcano mission

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The drill was on ( whisk) and I was like bob the builder giving it welly then added a little vanilla essence. Folded in the flour and salt like any good housewife and just like magic my impressive batter was ready.

So the plan was to pour 3/4 of the batter onto the bottom of my baking tray holding back the rest. Now for Mintfest....well there seems to be every other sort of a Fest happening at the moment so I'm starting Mintfest.
I put my Philabloodydelphia in a bowl with sugar 1 egg yolk tiny bit of peppermint and green colouring. Drill until smooth. Go handy with the peppermint or just like a volcano it could very well blow the head off you. Eucalyptus eat your heart out! Dollop the mint mixture on top of the batter and use the remaining 1/4 of batter to form the top layer. Slit the top  batter with a knife so the lava aka mint is visible. Bake for 30 min and watch the volcano erupt.