Memories of childhood Saturdays and a recipe for dairy-free ice cream

What were your Saturdays like when you were a child? Mine would always begin with my sisters and I huddled under duvets on the sofa, chomping on bowls of Rice Crispies with milk and giggling at Saturday morning cartoons.

They would end with mass. It never mattered how much we resisted that weekly trip to church, we’d be washed, scrubbed and dressed in our Sunday (or in this case, Saturday) best before being dragged reluctantly along to the service.

Our parents did try to sweeten the deal though. In an attempt to ensure that we didn’t fidget or fight during what often seemed like a never-ending service, our parents would promise us the ice cream of our choice from the shop across the road from the church once mass was over.

Peering into a freezer full of ice cream, trying to decide between a Feast, Cornetto, Freaky Foot or Tangle Twister became the Saturday night ritual of my childhood and I still associate ice cream with a treat.

It’s a treat that I’ve been unable to indulge in since I started to follow the OMS diet. And boy have I missed it!

Despite the fact that there has been a huge growth in free-from foods, I haven’t been able to find many ice creams I can eat.  A lot of dairy-free ices are made with coconut milk and because of its high saturated fat content, that’s not an ingredient for me.

Lately though, I have been hearing good things about ice creams made with frozen bananas. So last week I decided to experiment.

I must admit that my hopes weren’t high. Bananas may be sweet but I couldn’t see how they could also be creamy…

However, there’s magic in these ingredients. Combined, they create a flavour, a texture and a melt-in-the-mouth deliciousness that's just like ice cream. 

And you don’t just have to take my word for it. My partner Richard (who hasn’t had to abstain from regular ice cream like I have) likes this ice cream too. In fact, he said it might just be the best thing I’ve ever made.

So there you have it: it’s possible to combine five simple dairy-free ingredients to create a truly decadent treat – one that I think even my childhood self would have liked!

Sharon's mint-choc dairy-free ice cream

This makes two moderately-sized ice cream portions. If it's the sort of evening where you want to sit on the sofa, watch TV and gorge on ice cream, you're going to need a lot more!

3 frozen bananas

3 tablespoons cocoa powder 

2 tablespoons almond milk

1 tablespoon date syrup or sweetener of your choice 

4 mint leaves

• Peel and chop the frozen bananas. I find this easier to do if I chop the bananas into two-centimetre/one inch thick slices first. Your fingers will get cold though so it might be a good idea to wear a pair of rubber gloves to avoid the chill factor!*
• Add the chopped banana slices and the other ingredients to a food processor or liquidiser. 
• Blitz until smooth and enjoy. 

I'm planning to experiment with more flavour combinations in the next few weeks. I'm thinking chocolate and raspberry and rum and raisin. Do you have any other suggestions? What's your favourite ice cream flavour? Or what was your favourite ice cream when you were a child?

* In response to this post, smarter people than me have said that they peel, slice and bag their bananas before they go in the freezer. I'll be doing this from now on to avoid frozen fingers!

Honesty and emotion on Lena Dunham's Girls and the much-needed comfort of cookies

I've been a fan of the TV series Girls from the very beginning. There have been many moments when Lena Dunham's (sometimes brutally) honest depiction of just how self-absorbed and unaware young women can be struck a chord and made me realise how much I've grown up since my early twenties.

I haven't enjoyed this latest series as much. Or at least I wasn't enjoying it until I watched episode 5.

{SPOILER ALERT}
This is the episode when Hannah returns to New York to find that her boyfriend Adam has moved in with another girl, that she has been replaced in his heart and that his life has moved on without her in it. She reacts in typically over-dramatic Hannah fashion (although, to be fair, I think we'd all be just as dramatic if we discovered that our boyfriend was living with someone else and hadn't bothered to tell us that our relationship was over).

This episode culminates with Hannah and Adam having a heartfelt conversation where they discuss their past relationship and where they now stand with each other in a very open and rational way. They talk about what they had and how it's gone and how they both need to leave it behind and move on to something new - although Adam is obviously more ready to do this than Hannah is.
This entire conversation felt so real to me (though it must be acknowledged that life rarely affords us the opportunity to say exactly what we feel and think at exactly the right time as it does on TV). It touched upon the sadness we all feel when letting go of something that was special; how difficult it is to recognise when the moment is right for us to do this; the loss and heartbreak we feel when someone is no longer a part of our lives; and yet how vital it is that we make that break and move on to better and happier times.

These feelings lived on in me long after I finished watching the show and I needed the comfort of cookies. So I made these almond and ginger cookies.

They're adapted from a Lilly Higgins recipe. (She's a Cork lady and a great baker.)

Makes 10 regular sized cookies
50g olive oil
60g light muscovado sugar
75g almond butter
100g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bread soda
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
40g ginger nuts (stem ginger)*, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons of the syrup from the stem ginger
40g almonds, roughly chopped
30g sesame seeds 

• Preheat the oven to 180 C/350F.
• Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
• Mix the olive oil, sugar, almond butter, flour, soda and ginger in a bowl until well combined.
• Add the chopped ginger nuts, syrup and chopped almonds and mix again.
• Roll teaspoons of the dough into balls and then roll the balls in the sesame seeds until they are coated.  
• Place on the baking tray and flatten slightly. (These cookies don't spread out much while baking.)
• Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to cool on the tray and then dig in.

Episode six of Girls shows in Ireland tonight and I've only got one cookie left. Perhaps I need to get baking?

*Some of you have expressed confusion about ginger nuts/stem ginger. They are pictured on the spoon in the photo above and are essentially preserved, candied ginger bottled in a sweet syrup. You'll find them for sale in an increasing number of supermarkets but I often find mine in Middle Eastern stores (where they are cheaper too). 

A good movie, a bad memory and a great cake

I went to the cinema to see The Theory of Everything last weekend. It’s the story of a young woman who falls in love with a young Stephen Hawking and the struggles she faces as they build a relationship, a family and a life together as his body deteriorates and eventually gives way to severe disability.

The two central performances are wonderful and this film is enormously affecting on a personal level. So, I’d recommend that you see it. But I’m not really here to give a film review. I’m here to write about a scene in the film that brought back memories of one of the worst times in my life with MS.

Most of you will know that Stephen Hawking has motor neuron disease, a disease of the central nervous system that leads to progressive disability and ultimately to death. Early in the movie, when he is being tested prior to his diagnosis, he is asked to do a simple task – to touch the thumb of his right hand to each of the fingers on that same hand.

Eddie Redmayne (who plays Hawking) is so convincing at portraying the confusion he feels when he realises he can’t do this.  Later, there’s a look of sheer anguish on his face as he tries to do it again at home. He suddenly understands he can no longer bid his body to do as he wishes. He’s losing control of his physical self.

My stomach churned as I watched this scene and I can feel it churning still. It could have been a scene from my life because my neurologist asked me to complete that same task before I was diagnosed with MS (I suppose it’s a standard diagnostic tool) and I remember the sense of shock I felt when I wasn’t able to do it. Although my brain was thinking the thoughts that had always previously resulted in moving my fingers, I couldn’t make them meet my thumb. My disbelieving eyes saw them miss every time. Despite trying over and over and over again, I couldn’t get them to do what I wanted.

This persisted for the six weeks that the attack lasted. At random moments of every day, I would try to complete the task again only to have my heart sink when I saw that I still wasn’t able to do it.

However, I did eventually recover and was once again able to make my fingers and thumbs do exactly what I asked of them. But I have never forgotten how frightened I felt when I lost control of my body. Sometimes, when I’m sitting at the dinner table or watching TV or being driven in a car, I absentmindedly find myself touching my fingers to my thumb, as if subconsciously reassuring myself that all is still well – that I am still well.

And so far, I have been.

I attribute my continued good health to my diet. And whenever I feel tempted to eat butter, cream and chocolate, I remind myself what it felt like not to be able to use my right hand properly.
I used to have to remind myself of this quite often, especially when I would think of Mary Berry's banana bread - which was once my go-to banana bread in the café and at home. 

But I don't have to control myself with such mind games anymore - at least not when it comes to banana bread. I've come up with a recipe that is not the same as Mary Berry's but it's just as delicious and it packs a much bigger nutritional punch.

I thought I'd share it with you today.
200g mashed ripe bananas* (this will require two to three bananas, depending on their size)
1 tablespoon almond milk
50g olive oil (choose one with a mild flavour)
25g cocoa powder
50g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
75g sugar
60g walnuts, chopped 
20g banana chips, chopped (optional)
3 tablespoons cocoa nibs (optional - especially if you are strict about OMS)
1 egg

• Preheat your oven to 170 C/340 F.
• Line a small loaf tin with some baking parchment. I find that the easiest way of doing this is rubbing a left-over butter wrapper over the inside of the tin, scrunching the parchment into a ball with my hands and then using my fingers to shape the parchment to the bottom and sides of the tin. The scrunched-up nature of the paper makes it much more pliable.
• Combine all of your ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
• Pour into the lined tin and place in the centre of your oven.
• Cook for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Enjoy the cake with a cup of tea (and if you can, go to see the movie!)

* There's no such thing as over-ripe bananas. The blacker they are, the better they will be for baking, producing super-moist cakes.

The big FAT misunderstanding and a recipe for figgy flapjacks

Fat and the role it plays in our diet and in our bodies has been in the news a lot lately. From the way it's been reported in the media, the current prevailing wisdom is that fat is no longer a culprit in the fight against obesity. We've been getting it wrong all along. The new villains are sugar and refined carbohydrates.

Sigh of exasperation.

There is some truth to this but, as per usual with the way the media pounces on any stories relating to food, it's over-simplified. For years we were told to replace butter with margarine spreads (yuck!) and now we're being told to eat butter to our heart's content. The true nutritional understanding lies somewhere between the two. 

I don't claim to be an expert but because my Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis diet is all about fat, I've done a lot of research into this issue. Based on what I've learned, here's what the general population should know about fat:

1: Saturated fat (the fat found in foods such as meat, cheese, butter, cream, milk and coconuts) is not bad. In fact, a little of it is actually very good for you. But there's the rub: I do mean a little. As always, it's a case of everything in moderation.
(If you've got MS, the advice regarding saturated fat is VERY different but that's another blog post entirely.)

2: Very few of us get enough omega 3 fats from the food we eat. These fats are vital to our body's overall health, especially the strength of our immune system. Most of us know we can get omega 3 by eating oily fish such as mackerel, sardines, salmon and herrings. But with the world's fish stocks under severe pressure and the health and environmental risks associated with eating farmed fish, it may not be possible (or even desirable) for everyone to get their omega 3 by eating fish.
There are other options. Flaxseed and flaxseed oil are both high in omega 3. Flax is grown here in Ireland and it's a sustainable healthy product. Chia seeds and walnuts are good sources too.

3: Sunflower oil, vegetable oil and oils that come in clear plastic containers are generally to be avoided. Although they have been sold as healthy alternatives for years, this is not the case.
In pre-industrial times, oil was perishable. It deteriorated quickly because it reacted to light, heat and air so traders would sell small quantities of oil which would be stored in ceramic sealed containers in the home. 
(You know those pretty ceramic oil dispensers you see for sale in gift shops in the south of France? Well, they had a practical purpose as well as an aesthetic one. The opaque container meant the oil wasn't exposed to light. The seal prevented it from being exposed to air. And the heavy insulation of the ceramic material meant it never got too hot either. It wouldn't go rancid before it could be used. The same thinking is behind the reason why all good brands of olive oil - and other oils - are sold in dark bottles of thick glass.)

So, how come oils can be sold in clear plastic containers, exposing them to light for months on end while they sit on supermarket shelves and kitchen counters? It's because they have been chemically treated so that they are no longer perishable. This is good for the companies who sell these oils but not for the people who consume them. The chemical treatments destroy any health-giving nutrients originally contained in these oils and, in many cases, create dangerous toxins instead.
There's a huge amount of reading you can do on this topic. If you're interested, I'd recommend starting with Fats that Heal: Fats that Kill.

I don't want to turn into a ranting evangelist so I'll leave it at this.
- Saturated fat is good for you IN MODERATION.
- Most of us need more omega 3 in our diet.
- Be careful what oils you use when cooking. Oils that come in clear plastic containers and are able to sit in your kitchen for months without spoiling are not beneficial to good health. 

Now as a thank you for putting up with my lecture, here's a delicious recipe for fig-filled flapjacks. It's packed with good fats and naturally unrefined sugars.

The ingredients are simple:
225g oats
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
60g chopped dried figs
60g chopped almonds
100g walnut oil
75g maple syrup

You will also need a rectangular baking tin measuring 23cm by 28cm (or 9 inches by 11 inches)

• Pre-heat your oven to 160 C/320 F
• Chop the figs and almonds.
• Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.
• Pour in the oil and the maple syrup and combine all of the ingredients thoroughly using a wooden spoon.
• Tip the mixture into the baking tin and flatten it with the palm of your hand.

• Cook in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden on top.
• Leave to cool in the tin and then cut into 9 squares.
• Enjoy with a cup of tea or eat as a snack on the go.

An immodestly good cake

I was always good at school and did well in exams. Growing up in the 1980s, the Dingle Peninsula was a much more tightly-knit place than it is today. So tightly-knit that a lot of people were curious as to how well I would do in my Leaving Certificate (the final exam we sit at secondary school and the one that determines our place at university here in Ireland).

I was delighted with my results when I received them. Years of hard work and study had paid off. Yet I was a little confused when various neighbours commiserated with me in the following days.

Where were the congratulations? Why did they think I needed consoling?

My mother was getting the same reaction and was confused too. However, she eventually figured out that it was all my father's fault...

My father is the most modest man I have ever met. Nothing in his being will ever allow him to boast about anything. When people asked him about my exam results, his response was to say that I had done 'alright'. Understandably, they interpreted this to mean that he (and therefore I) was disappointed. After all, proud parents shout about their children's achievements from all available rooftops, don't they? 
That's definitely not the case with my almost-pathologically modest father...

You're probably wondering what this has to do with cake. Well, I'm about to commit a cardinal sin in my dad's book by saying that this is one of the best cakes you'll ever make.

It's inspired by a trip I took to Brother Hubbard Café on Capel Street in Dublin at some stage last year (a café that is well worth checking out if you want lunch or a snack made from quality, Irish and seasonal ingredients the next time you're in town).
When I visited, I tried their almond and orange buns topped with dark chocolate. These burst with citrus flavour and the chocolate added a touch of luxury. They were moist and gluten free and I immediately set about making my own version as soon as I got home.

After some experimentation, I came up with a cake instead of buns and put it on the menu in my café. It was a hit with customers and (whisper it) I think it's just as good as the buns in Brother Hubbard's. (Sorry for the immodesty, Dad!)

Don't worry: there's a reason why it's only decorated on one side!

Here's what you need to make it:
2 oranges,
5 eggs,
300 grams caster sugar 
250 grams ground almonds 
1 teaspoon baking powder

• Place the two oranges in a saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for one hour.
• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350F/Gas mark 4.
• Butter the base of a 26-cm round tin and line with parchment paper.
• Chop your cooked oranges. I prefer to do this in the food processor but if you'd like chunkier pieces of orange in your cake, it's best to use a knife. Just be careful you don't lose too much of that precious juice!
• Beat the eggs and the sugar for approximately two minutes, until well combined and frothy.
• Add the chopped oranges and beat again.
• Then add the ground almonds and baking powder and combine thoroughly.
• Pour your mixture into your prepared tin and cook for 30 to 40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes as some ovens will bake this cake more quickly than others. The cake should be golden brown in colour and set in the middle. An inserted skewer should come out damp, not sticky.
• Allow the cake to cool in its tin while you prepare the topping.

To decorate:
100 grams chocolate (I find 50 to 60% cocoa best )
60ml cream
Zest of half an orange
Flaked almonds

• Break the chocolate into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and add the cream.
• Place over a low heat and stir with a spatula. Don't be tempted to leave the stove while this is cooking. It could burn before you know it.
• Once the chocolate has melted and combined with the cream into a glossy ganache, remove the cake from its tin and take off the parchment paper. Place on a cake plate and spread the ganache over the top. 
• Sprinkle the flaked almonds and the orange zest over the ganache and leave to set before digging in.

Some people prefer this cake without any icing at all. They do so for several reasons. The absence of chocolate and cream makes it dairy free. And those who like pure clean flavours enjoy the strong orange taste without the distraction of chocolate.

Because I don't eat dairy and because I was bringing this cake to my sister's house where her daughter also avoids dairy, I only decorated one half of it.

A cake to suit all tastes

However, when we got there, my niece was much more interested in playing with our dog Jimmy than she was in eating cake.

Jimmy and Hannah: besties - at least some of the time!

Meanwhile, the adults got momentarily sidetracked by the prospect of meeting the newest addition to the family, my one-week-old nephew Conor.

Can you believe anyone's hand could be so small?

The lure of the cake did eventually drag us back though. It's that good! 
(Sorry, Dad!)

All the goodness and none of the guilt

Anyone familiar with my eating habits will know how much I enjoy my sweet treats. Made with butter, sugar, chocolate and lots of billowing whipped cream; they used to be my reward of choice at the end of a long day or hard-working week. So how have I managed to cope now that I can no longer eat such foods?

At first I must admit that I sulked and simply avoided sweets altogether. I went from being someone who baked every day in the café to being someone who when my boyfriend asked me to bake a cake a few weeks ago couldn't remember where I had stashed my cake tins and baking ware!

I just couldn't get enthusiastic about baking without what I thought were the absolutely vital ingredients of butter, chocolate and cream. Nor could I muster excitement about what I saw as the 'fake' ingredients many people use as substitutes. Margarine instead of butter? Yuck.

But slowly I began to realise that there were other options and that's when I came across this recipe by Deliciously Ella. It seemed quick. It looked easy. It only had four ingredients, all of which are real and natural. It was surely worth a try.

And do you know what? It was good! But seeing as I'm a recovering chocolate addict, I was bound to find it not chocolate-y enough. So I added more cocoa and some cocoa nibs*.   

And do you know what? It was better!

My boyfriend liked it too and suggested adding some fruit. So I added some raspberries to the mix. 

And do you know what? It was best of all.

Try this. It's healthy. It's sweet. And most importantly, it's delicious.

Raw brownies (adapted from a recipe by Deliciously Ella) 

2 cups (160g) dates

1 cup (90g) pecan nuts or walnuts 

5 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp cocoa nibs

2.5 tbsp maple syrup

20 raspberries

• Remove the pits from the dates.
• Place the nuts and cocoa nibs in a food processor and grind until they resemble breadcrumbs.
• Add the dates and blend.
• Add the cocoa powder, maple syrup and raspberries and blend again.
• Press the mixture into a lined baking tin and place in the fridge for three hours or until set.
• Cut into squares and enjoy. These will keep in the fridge for four or five days (but that's presuming you don't devour them all at once!).

*Cocoa nibs are cocoa beans that have been roasted then separated from their husks and broken into small pieces. They do contain some saturated fat – which is what I have to minimise as part of my OMS diet – but it is much lower than that of finished chocolate and because cocoa nibs are unprocessed, the fat is safer for me too. Others following the diet may prefer to avoid cocoa nibs altogether but I need my occasional chocolate fix – even if it does come with a little guilt! Those of you following a less restrictive diet than I do can eat this with no guilt at all!

Addendum 09 June 2014: I made these last week and because I knew I wasn't going to eat them all in one go (not even a chocolate fiend like me could do that!), I put the cut-up squares in the freezer. Going back for a chocolate fix this weekend, I discovered that this made them even more delicious. They don't really freeze; they just become a lot firmer. And if you give them a minute or two to warm up (really, you don't need to wait longer than that), they become melt-in-the-mouth delicious! 

Comfort eating on a Sunday afternoon: chocolate, cheesecake and raspberry brownies

I'm finding it hard to stay positive these days. Everywhere I look and listen, it seems as though the cost of living is creeping ever higher while people are struggling to make do with falling incomes. It worries me that I'm about to open the café for a second season at a time when people's discretionary spending has never been so limited.

When I feel anxious or pessimistic, I often turn to food for comfort. Food is great like that, isn't it?  Sometimes, all you need when you're feeling under the weather is a bowl of broth that is brimful of vegetables while (on the - ahem! - completely other end of the healthy spectrum) a serving of this decadent treat can make you believe that all is indeed well with the world.


Chocolate, cheesecake and raspberry brownies - an edible way of putting the world to rights!

At first glance, this recipe may scare you. I'll admit that there's a lot of sugar in it but this brownie is so rich that you'll only eat a little of it at any one time so you needn't feel too guilty (and I needn't worry about giving you all diabetes!)

Brownie recipe:
225g unsalted butter
100g chocolate (I use 75g of 70% chocolate and 25g good milk chocolate)
75g cocoa powder
450g caster sugar
4 eggs
A pinch of salt
100g self raising flour

Cheesecake recipe:
225g cream cheese
100g caster sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons of flour

100g raspberries

• Line a brownie tin with parchment paper and set the oven to 180 C/350F.
• Melt the butter, chocolate and cocoa powder in a pan over a medium heat, stirring well to combine.
• Beat the sugar and the eggs along with a pinch of salt until light and airy.
• Add the chocolate mixture and beat to combine.
• Fold in the flour.
• Make the cheesecake by mixing all of the ingredients together until well combined.
• Pour 3/4 of the brownie mixture into your brownie tin. 
• Pour the cheesecake mixture over that.
• Add the remaining brownie mixture.
• Using a skewer, swirl both mixtures together to create a pretty marbled effect.
• Scatter the raspberries on top, pressing them down into the mixture a little so that they don't dry out too much or burn while cooking.
• Bake in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes.  The mixture should look something like this and an inserted skewer should come out wet but not sticky.

• Allow to cool and cut into small slices. I cut mine into 24 slices. 

Make yourself a cup of tea and give yourself time to savour this special treat. Chocolate, cheesecake and raspberries; there could surely be no better comfort in these financially tough times.

It's Sunday. Have a scone.

It's January and it's been dark and dreary here in Dingle, (except for a few days last week which dawned bright and beautiful). 

Look closely and you'll see that my dog really enjoyed those days.

Many of you will be on restrictive diets following the excess of Christmas (for my part, I have resolved not to eat any more chocolate - or at least to eat far, far less than the masses of chocolate bars, chocolate truffles, chocolate cake and biscuits I was eating over the festive season).

But it's dark outside and January is depressing enough without adding to its list of woes by depriving ourselves of all that is indulgent and good. This is why I decided to cheer myself up with some scones - which are sweet and comforting without being too heavy or rich.

On top of that, these scones are quick to make and use ingredients that most of us have in our cupboards, just waiting to be turned into something as delicious as this. 

These scones are made to a recipe we honed in the café last year. Our customers really like them, particularly the blueberry ones. The ones I've made here are plain but you can transform them into blueberry ones (or sultana, raisin, currant or any other variety) by throwing a handful of what you fancy into the mix. What I usually do is make the basic mixture, add any extras and knead them all gently together at the kneading stage.

Recipe (makes six)
225g self raising flour
60g butter
30g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
One and a half teaspoons of baking powder
1 egg
125ml milk (plus a little extra for glazing the top)

• Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6.
• Weigh your ingredients.
• Combine the flour and the butter in a mixing bowl, rubbing the butter into the flour using your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. 
• Add the salt, caster sugar and baking power and stir using a wooden spoon.
• Stir in the egg and milk until both are fully incorporated.
• By this stage, your dough should be ready to handle. If it's still too sticky, add some more flour until you feel comfortable using it.
• Flour your surface and place the dough on it. Knead it for a minute or two (adding any fruit or berries at this stage) and then roll or pat it out to a thickness of approximately two centimetres.
• Use a scone cutter or glass to cut the scones to your chosen size.
• Flour a baking tray and place your scones on it. Brush them with some milk.
• Place in your pre-heated oven and cook for approximately 15 minutes. I made six scones with this dough and they had risen and turned a golden yellow colour within 16 minutes. If you've made more or less, you'll have to adjust your cooking time accordingly. Your oven temperature may also be slightly different so I'd recommend checking the scones from 14 minutes onwards.

Once your scones have cooked, allow them to cool on a wire tray before you make yourself a cup of tea and whip some cream. Make sure you've got a jar of good jam on standby too. In the café, we use Folláin Jams and I'd also recommend Bonne Maman Jams.

It's January. It's Sunday. What better time to have a scone?

If you were to start baking now, you'd  be tucking into a freshly made scone an hour from now. What are you waiting for? It's just the thing to cheer anyone up this Sunday.

Proof once again that chocolate will always make things better

Last week was a tough week. Things went wrong. Things fell through. And at one stage, a chimney almost fell off - but I don't even want to go there and, believe me, neither do you!

Some of you may think I'm mad but I've been trying to coordinate setting up a café with my other full-time work. This means that the past few weeks have consisted of me constantly switching from journalist mode to teacher mode to hassled-person-trying-to-set-up-a-café mode. Mostly, I've been doing fine, though there have been times when I've forgotten just who I'm supposed to be...

That was until last Thursday. I'd been in Tralee on Wednesday, where I'd found tablecloths I liked. This was a huge step forward as I'd spent ages searching in Dublin, Limerick and Dingle. But when I called the shop early on Thursday morning to finalise the order, they hit me with a bombshell. They didn't have enough fabric and the pattern had been discontinued so they couldn't order in any more. Back to the drawing board went a VERY disheartened Sharon.

Barely a second after that phone call, there was the chimney incident (the less said about that, the better) and another phone call from my landlord with more bad news.

Feeling really discouraged by now, I then had to go and teach a computer literacy class to a group of pensioners. The computers were playing up and it took at least 40 minutes to get started, by which time my normally lovely pensioners were very crotchety.

Things got even worse after that but I can feel my blood pressure rising as I write so perhaps it's just best for me to say that by Friday, I had made little or no progress with the café and expected little from the weekend.

Needing some serious cheering up, I found myself browsing through Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard, one of the cookbooks I got this Christmas and a treasure trove of baking treats. I found a recipe for chocolate custard muffins and by their very name alone, I knew they were what I needed.

Note to readers: before you get too excited, the name refers to the cooking method. There is no chocolate custard inside. But this doesn't make them any less delicious. These muffins are moist, chocolately and more-ish. One will most definitely not be enough.
Note to self: must make chocolate muffins with chocolate custard inside.

You'll find Dan's recipe for the muffins on the Guardian website here. He's a regular contributor of theirs and I warn you that if you browse his recipes, you'll definitely end up wanting his book! 
While the muffins were baking in the oven and cooling afterwards, I made Dan's treacle chocolate fudge icing to go on top. 

Halve the measurements he uses and you'll have enough to swirl on top of 12 muffins as well as some left over to use as chocolate spread afterwards. It keeps very well in the fridge.

I felt so much better after baking and eating these that my weekend seemed to flow from there. My boyfriend, two of my sisters and one of their boyfriends came to help me get started with painting on Saturday. One of them even had lots of tablecloth samples for me and I found one that was better than my original choice. (Hooray!)

We made much more progress than I ever thought we would and I am so thankful to them all for helping me and lifting me out of what was becoming a dark and pessimistic mood.

I feel I should thank these muffins too. The very act of baking them and the pleasure of eating them made me remember just what I'm trying to do with this café. There will be obstacles to overcome along the way but if delicious food like this is the result, I feel that it will be worth it.

My helpers enjoyed eating the muffins too!

I'll definitely be making these again. They may even feature on the menu of my café. If they made me feel better and made a success of a weekend that I thought would be a total failure, they must be good.

The Great British Bake Off: how does Sharon measure up?

Some of you will already know that I have a stall at Dingle Farmers' Market where I sell cupcakes and other baked sweet treats. You'll know that I bake regularly and enjoy it. However, I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm a baker. I've never taken a single class in baking (apart from the classes in home economics we had at school, where I am embarrassed to say that I never showed much promise - sorry teach!). Everything I know about baking, I've learned from books and from simple trial and (lots of) error.

This means that I empathise with the contestants on The Great British Bake Off (for those of you who haven't seen the show, it's a baking competition that sees baking experts Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry set tasks for enthusiastic baking amateurs such as me). I particularly empathised with the celebrities who took part in last week's Sports Relief Bake Off. I was once like them, an absolute novice who knew little or nothing about baking - except that I liked eating the end result!

I do think I've improved since then and one of last week's challenges presented me with the perfect chance to see how I measured up. The second programme saw each of the four contestants fail quite spectacularly in their attempts to make Mary Berry's banana and chocolate chip loaf cake

Despite their dismal efforts, I didn't think it looked too difficult. I also thought it sounded delicious. So, I decided to try it for myself.

Here's my result:

A simply scrumptious cake that is perfect for weekend baking - moist as a result of the mashed banana and with the ideal amount of chocolate, enough to give you your chocolate hit without being too decadent for a January afternoon. 
And - I don't know what went wrong with those bakers on the Bake Off - it couldn't be easier to make.

I made double the amount in Mary's recipe as my loaf tin is twice as large as the one she uses. This meant that I had to adjust the cooking time but it also meant that I had enough cake to last two people (and several visitors) for the entire weekend - which is surely what a weekend cake is supposed to do.

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas (peeled weight 200g/8oz)
2 tablespoons milk
100g/4oz soft butter
150g/6oz plain flour
150g/6oz caster sugar 
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
100g dark chocolate chips (I bought a bar of chocolate and cut it into chunks)

To decorate:
40g dark chocolate chips

1 loaf tin measuring 28.5cm by 13cm by 6cm.

• Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3.
  
• Grease and line your loaf tin with baking parchment.
• Mash the peeled bananas with a fork and add to the milk, butter, flour, sugar, soda, baking powder and eggs.
• Beat the ingredients with an electric hand-held whisk until they have combined and are smooth.
• Stir in the chocolate chips and spoon the mixture into the loaf tin.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the cake is well risen, has begun to shrink away from the sides of the tin and has turned a golden-brown colour.
• Set aside to cool for ten minutes then remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
• To decorate, melt the remaining chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
• Mary recommends spooning the chocolate into a piping  bag and piping zig-zags across the top of the loaf. This is a little too prim for my style so I decided to drizzle it haphazardly instead. 
• Now, all you have to do is slice and serve.

This is a cake I would urge everyone to try. It's sweet but not too indulgent, making it perfect for a cold January afternoon. Go on. Have a slice!

I think Mary Berry would be proud of my cake. What do you reckon?

So, you don't like plum pudding? Never fear for Sharon is here...

There are only six days to Christmas and most of you will already be licking your lips at the thoughts of dinner. But what of those of you who don't find the prospect of a turkey dinner followed by plum pudding so appetising? What are you going to do?

This is where I come to the rescue. Because I am one of your tribe, particularly when it comes to the sweet treats of the festive season.

I don't like dried fruits. I find them overwhelmingly sweet and as a result, Christmas cake, plum pudding, mince pies and all sorts of other specialities of the Christmas season are off the menu for me (although I must admit I enjoyed these when I made them for my boyfriend last week).

Instead, I prefer my festive fancies to look more like this:

A layer of crunchy hazelnut meringue, a decadent chocolate cream and whipped cream offset by tart raspberries - could there be a better dessert?

This dessert is adapted from a recipe by Delia Smith. Here's what you need to do if, like me, you plan to treat yourself this Christmas.

Ingredients:
110g/4oz hazelnuts
225g/8oz golden caster sugar
4 large egg whites

140g/5oz dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
400ml double cream
160g/5 and a half oz raspberries (I use frozen raspberries at this time of year)

One baking tray measuring 10x14 inches (or 25.5 x 35cm), lined with baking parchment

• Preheat the oven to 190 C/375 F/gas mark 5.
• Toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet at the top of the oven for 6 minutes. You want them to look like this:
  

• Cool and grind in a food processor until finely chopped. Be careful not to overprocess or they will turn oily. What you want is something that looks like this:
  

• Whisk the egg whites in a clean, grease-free bowl until they form soft peaks

• Whisk in the caster sugar a little at a time.
• Fold in the ground hazelnuts using a metal spoon.
• Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared tin.
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes.
• Cool and then turn out on to a piece of parchment paper that is slightly larger than the roulade and gently ease away the lining.
• Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• Whip the cream and divide it between two bowls.
• Reserve four tablespoons of chocolate for decoration and add the rest to one bowl of whipped cream. Spread it over the meringue to within half an inch or one centimetre of the edge.

• Spread the whipped cream over the chocolate layer:

• Then stud with the raspberries, like so:

• You now have two options. If you're confident of your roulade-rolling skills, you can roll this into a swiss roll shape. You do this by placing the meringue so that its long side faces you. You then use the paper to assist you in rolling the meringue to form a long log shape.
• You're not supposed to worry about the meringue cracking as it's all supposed to be part of the charm. But my meringue always seems to crack a little too much. So, I usually just skip the rolling part and simply drizzle this flat (but no less delicious) confection with my remaining melted chocolate.

(My latest - not so successful - attempt at rolling a roulade)

• If you're braver and more skilled than me and succeed in rolling your roulade properly, all you need to do is make sure the seam is at the base of the roulade and drizzle it with chocolate. Then, stand back and marvel at the beauty of what you've created.

With this as your dessert, you're guaranteed a very Merry Christmas.