John Deere more like expensive

John Deere.....Now Deere as in expensive is very fitting.I had to buy a ball of stuff to make it. I've had an obsession with tractors since... well I can remember... last year ha only messing since I was like able to walk. Bombing it around the footpath at home pretending to pull the handbrake yep that was  me falling off cut knees every few days living life on the edge.  Then there were the good aul years of baling hay in the farm well supplying tea and sandwiches and stooking the bales and of course getting a half day from school:). Then there was the year of picking spuds....now I have never felt pain like that before. All in all tractors are great and I've had a secret fascination about them for years. So I decided why not have a go at making one.Out of cake now not metal! One problem I've no idea where to start hmm. OK so after quite a lot of deliberation I decided to make two sponges one in a loaf tin and one in a square tin. The loaf tin was for the bonnet ya see ah ha it was all going to be just fine. I bought all my dyes and sandwich bags, icing, holy water extra.

Once my sponges were done it was carving time. Now I do not possess a carving knife however I do have a bread knife so I put the bonnet in place. From the square tin using 2 cutters I cut out four wheels. Genius! Then some squares to stack on top of each other to create the cabin. As I began stacking the layers they began to slide...... as John Kenny would say 'twas like they had a half a bottle of whiskey insiden em like'. I used a bit of icing to stick them together. Anyway shur the icing will sort everything I thought to myself . Meanwhile the entire house could have fallen down around me I was in the zone if interrupted god knows what would have happened.

I began by colouring the vast amount of icing green.Don't ya wish icing grew on tree's? I know I do I'd save a small fortune. A tractor has to be green especially my prize John Deere. Thinking man wait till I'm finished this is going to be amazing. As I started to place the icing on the cake I noticed it wasn't exactly straightening the shape out but hey its early stages. I got my grey icing did the wheels,realised they looked flat as in punctured. Popped my grill on few eyebrows etc to add character but as I was adding more it was starting to lean more and more like the leaning tower of pisa.

No miracle was gonna straighten this bad boy lol In the end it looked more like a vintage tractor that I was looking at after consuming a bottle of wine on an empty stomach after not sleeping for a week. On the plus side I got some laugh out of it and practice makes perfect right lol


 

Voyage of self discovery

Did you know you are the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with? Have a think about that one! are you surrounded by driven, motivated people or those that would rather hold you back? Just like a machine our mind and body needs regular maintenance. Some people think reading a book or watching a good film is enough but it's not! When was the last time you sat in silence and listened?Listened to silence? When was the last time you sat on a bench and watched the wind brush through the leaves. For those few seconds your mind, body and spirit rest and it's very important to embark on the voyage of self discovery. Did you ever hear the phrase as happy as a pig in sh#t? Today I am baking a pig in a mud bath that will be entirely edible and symbolize how we should all try and rediscover our inner child.

First off I needed a base. The most obvious base to me seemed to be a square brownie.Solid and sturdy it would be ideal. I melted the unsalted butter and Cadbury's chocolate over a moderate heat watching like a hawk just in case it curdled. Like this one time I tried to save a few euro by getting Cadbury's bubble bar on offer to melt! WOW note to oneself they do not melt well :(. Once all is well and melted. In a bowl whisk the daylights out of the sugar and eggs. Now this is fun, pour the hot mix into the egg one and stir. It makes a kind of marble effect! I may have brownie marble worktops in my dream house yet lol. Mix until nice and chocolatey. Sift in cocoa and flour folding as you go! Pour into a tray and bake for 25 min in a moderate oven.

Once cooled I needed to think about a surround. Timber isn't exactly edible so time to rethink the situation. Cadbury's fingers seemed the perfect choice so I halved them. Now to stick the fingers to the base of brownie I used icing sugar and left it set. Filling the mud bath was a lot quicker than running a normal bath. A bit of melted chocolate poured in and there you have it. Now the bath was in place what about the pig.

Using fondant which I dyed pink and shaped a belly.I then poked a hole to symbolise a belly button. The head was great fun again rolling off pieces of fondant and shaping them. 2 pokes from a fork and we had a nose. 2 ears, and 4 legs later we were ready to position them in the mud.

As you can see from the pictures this pig is chilled to the maximum. Slow down, take time for yourself before it's too late. Cease the moment and enjoy life and just as important enjoy baking.
 

Hundreds and Thousands of thank you's

I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has taken the time to recognise how important bakewithcat.blogspot.ie has become to me. As you all know by now baking is my form of therapy and all of you have made it so much better by being there every step of the way to support me. Despite your busy lives, challenges of your own ye have still taken to time to care which means the world to me. It's easy now days to throw around thank you's but I sincerely mean it thank you for believing in me.

Caitriona

Passion and Temptation Strapple Pie

Apple pie was my favourite delicacy growing up. As well as going through 2 litres of milk a day to myself  I would gladly have consumed the best part of an entire apple pie. Metabolism of a horse I had back then.There was 1 condition though....if I taste cinnamon or cloves that's it for me. A pie can vary depending where its bought. In my opinion the ones from the country pubs are the best.Apple is the fruit of temptation and strawberries are the fruit of passion. Everyone has a passion in their lives whether its a sport, a hobby, a person you still give your heart to it. Temptations well temptations are everywhere good and bad.This passion and temptation gives life a flair and its going to give this pie that little something extra:) I'm not going to claim I hand pick each apple but what I can promise is you won't be disappointed if you taste it. Plus  I doubt an orchard would fit in the back yard in a housing estate.  My plan originally was to try and recreate perfection I've tasted in so many traditional pubs. But as I glanced through what I needed I couldn't help thinking what some passion would add to the flavour. That was it Strapple pie was born.The Adam and Eve of the bakers world. The strawberries would add a lovely kick to the apples tickling the taste buds. 

I started off by sieving the icing sugar and flour together in a bowl giving it a good stir with a large spoon. Then I started to rub in the butter to the dry mix which may I say is the most relaxing thing one could possibly do. The mind drifts millions of miles away and then suddenly were ready to add the eggs. Mix together pop in cling film and place into the fridge for 1 hour . Now its time to stew the apples and the strawberries. I chose to stew them separately adding sugar as I go. Once the 60 minutes were up I removed the dough from the fridge divided it into 2 balls and rolled them out. Now this is not as easy as it seems it will rip, it will tear and you will lose the cool but it's OK take 10 seconds and restart. Grease the pie tray and lay the base layer of dough in .Once in add the two stewed fruits together mix and put into the pie pan. Pop the top layer of pastry on and glaze pinching the sides. Put a few fork pricks . For decorative purposes I halved a strawberry and placed the 2 sides side by side in the middle once it's cooled and out of the oven. 

I hope this blog has awakened your desire for passion and temptation in your life ;) Start baking!

Cinderella High Heel Cupcakes

I set myself a challenge of creating my very own high heel cupcakes. As a Tom Boy far from high heels I was raised and more on my brothers tractors but never the less I felt the urge to create these wonderful fancy shoes. I remember a friend trying to teach me to walk on high heels. Can you imagine a penguin on a set of high heels? Well that's the strut I had. As I prepared the ingredients it made me think why do we even bother with dressing up, high heels make up etc. Is it necessary? As I work my way through creating these heels i'll also give you my opinion. 

OK so I needed a heel....now what could I use as a heel? I sized up everything in my baking cabinet and nothing seemed appropriate. Then as if hit with a slap from Katie Taylor herself  I thought of round wafers the lovely ones with chocolate in the middle yum! The sole would also consist of a regular ice cream wafer and the front of the shoe a cupcake. 

Step 1. Baking the cupcake of your choice. I opted with vanilla. As I mixed all the ingredients together as per previous blogs one couldn't resist thinking. People don't see what's inside the bun case do they . So a lot of people find it easier to go through life under the radar just living a normal life. To be honest that's me.I'd run a mile at the sight of make up, high heels or even the thought of dying my hair. Step 2. To get the shape  needed for the front of the shoe I added a heap of frosting. Frosting piled like a mountain. Not everyone feels able to climb mountains at the best of times. But the frosting signifies plucking up the courage, for every one step back I urge everyone to take 2 forward. Once you reach the summit then all the fancy mod cons, make up etc. seem OK to wear because your inside feels just as glamorous as your outside. Step 3. Adding some jazzle to the cupcake. I chose purple as it's a calming colour and let's face it you need to remain calm on a pair of high heels. Pour some sugar into a sandwich bag add some blue food dye and some red food dye until you get the colour you like. Keep rubbing the sugar and the colour together. Once complete empty into a bowl. Step 4. At this point we need to start sorting the sole of the shoe. I used icing to cover both sides of an ice cream wafer and applied butter-cream around 3 edges. ( how to make butter icing also in my previous blogs). Step 5. Roll the cupcake in the purple sugar and also dip the 3 sides of the sole in it. The concept of the purple sugar could also be seen as people hiding behind make up. Layer upon Layer to make themselves feel better and in order to try and face the world. Step 6. Slice with a bread knife a slit from an angle into the top of the cupcake. Insert the sole here. Also balancing the sole pop a bit of icing on top of the round wafer and put it in position. 

The sole is quite weak and the shoe wouldn't function without the heel.Life is challenging and just like the heel families and close friends are there to support. But its important to know that there is support and help available. 

Even Cinderella's shoe didn't fit the first time, but stay strong and the pair you deserve will come along.

Your mental health is just as important as your physical so don't take it for granted. Ask for help if you need it.Don't suffer in silence. 

Sesame Street Blues

                                          

How many of you remember Sesame Street? My goodness it brings back memories. Almost sitting on top of the television I could never be too close! Big bird, The Garbage monster, Elmo and The cookie monster are to name but a few.Colour overload for my little eyes.  Phrases like ' me eat cookie' and ' me want cookie' make me realise maybe we were separated at birth.

So today I've decided to blog about baking cookie monster cupcakes. I needed to track down some eyes and blue hair not for myself now for the cookies. I just know half of you were thinking I'd look fab with blue hair. I decided to go with blue butter cream icing and marshmallows for the eyes. I used my usual vanilla cupcake recipe. I started by creaming the butter and sugar together to my neighbours dismay :P. Gradually adding 2 eggs with some vanilla careful not to have a heavy hand with the vanilla lol. Fold in the flour add a bit of cow (milk) and spoon into cases. After 15 minutes the magic should have happened. Nice golden cupcakes yet moist on the inside.

Meanwhile in a separate bowl beating the butter until it becomes a wonderful cream. Approx 5 minutes . Dropping in some blue food dye as you go . Now the fun begins blue goes EVERYWHERE when you restart the whisk.Goggles on and away you go until the colour resembles that of the monster himself. Then pipe this mixture onto the top of the cupcake using a fancy fitting for the bag. Now for the eyes get some small marshmallows and push them in as eyes and use chocolate chips as his pupils. A little bit of icing will stick them on lovely. And no cookie monster is complete without a cookie in his mouth so snap a cookie in two and stick one in his mouth. Eat the other yourself well I did.I felt it was well deserved!

Walkers Shortbread (Dedicated To Our World Champion )

I can't think of a more fitting day to speak about two of my life greatest passions Race-walking and Baking. But how can the two be compared? Simple. I compare a race-walking journey to that of baking millionaires shortbread. The base is the most important part of any cake and also of any athletes training. Training throughout the winter months alone covering over 100 miles a week. Travelling abroad for altitude training it takes tremendous strength. The base of my shortbread cake also needs to take the support the cake, it needs to withstand the weight on top. In the cake Flour, Sugar and butter make the base. In walking character, discipline, determination, family, a great support team and endless training hours make the perfect base. Marian just like the butter in the base gelled  everything together in Rob's life too. Been there for Rob regardless of victory or disappointment she has been the rock in Rob's career. 

From the outside what people do not see is the strict dieting, the assigned power nap times, the strict lifestyle that makes an athlete. When others are clubbing on a Saturday night Rob and his wife were resting up for a long mileage session on a Sunday just like all our other walkers and athletes in this country at National level.. Due to limited resources in Ireland a great deal of travel also has to be involved which would put a strain on any relationship but not this golden couple. They saw a dream and went for it with both hands. Marian putting her own fantastic athletic career on hold this year to coach her husband. 

After baking the base for 30 minutes allow to cool. The next layer of Carmel wonder  comprising of syrup, condensed milk and butter is the sticky divine middle piece to the cake.Pour on top of the base and allow to sit and cool. In every athletes career they come across politics and people trying to hold them back.  These people are the sticky carmel layer in my cake. Also it can be an injury. The must crushing part for any athlete is an injury jeopardising their career. It happened to myself and my walking career. It's how a person deals with an injury or problem though that is the difference between winning and just making up the numbers. Rob tackled every injury head on. He got down did the physio and the rehab and didn't complain. It's not only Rob that does this. Other ambassadors in the race walking community include Laura Reynolds, Colin Griffin, Kate Veale, Michael Doyle, Niall & Emma Prendiville, Olive Loughnane, Anne Loughnane, Michael Lane, Gillian O Sullivan, Ray Flynn, Pierce and Bernie O Callaghan, Jamie Costin, David kidd and i'm bound to have left someone out. Through out the year all these people have encouraged each other in a country where at least 5 cars on every long walk beeps and roars pervy abuse as we train on the roads. Behind the scenes these ambassadors fight for funding and selections. Well thanks to all this support and the heffernans determination they have flew through the sticky layer.

The final layer of the cake is a layer of melted chocolate. It's the layer that signifies success. Today is Robert & Marian Heffernan's day. A day that goes down in history as August 14th 2013 the day he won the title of 50km Champion of the World.