Buttermilk Panacotta with rhubarb

Posted in Sweet Treats by Niav Halpin

Apologies to all my dear subscribers for the lack of a post last week – I was swimming in Newry in the Ulster Masters – once you are over 19 years you qualify for Masters events! Oh to be 19 again! Swimming is something I did when I was a kid, thanks to my parents but I gave it up when I was 16 (over the hill in the swimming world!). I took it up again after watching the last Olympics when I was just past my 50th birthday and having a bit of a mid-life crisis. From initially swimming 3 times a week to relieve stress and get fit, I now swim / train 5 or 6 times a week and will be swimming in the European Masters Championships in the Olympic Pool in London at the end of May. So my life is all train, eat, sleep and work at the moment so forgive me if new posts are a little erratic in the next few weeks. In my wildest dreams would I have thought I would ever be able to do this and yes I am terrified but also excited. Continue reading →

10Apr2016

Macaroon Bars

Posted in Sweet Treats by Niav Halpin

One of my favourite chocolate bars when I was a kid was a Macaroon Bar – shows my age! They are still available in some retro sweet shops and I bought one recently to see if they were still as nice. I was so disappointed and couldn’t believe that I had actually liked them, it was so sickly sweet. I decided then to have a go at making my own version which was surprisingly easy and ‘finger licking good’ if I say so myself! To make them even more attractive they rock in at just 95 calories each, using natural sugars in the form of honey (or agave syrup) so they make a pretty guilt-free treat in my book! I made them using dark chocolate with 74% cocoa solids – you can use any chocolate however the amount of honey / agave syrup you need will depend on how dark(% of cocoa solids) the chocolate is. Continue reading →

3Apr2016

Dutch Apple Cake

Posted in Sweet Treats by Niav Halpin

I think it’s fair to say that any apple dessert, cake or tart goes down well in my house and while I adore an apple tart I am pretty hopeless when it comes to making pastry so I only make them occasionally. (Promise I will share my most reliable tried and tested recipe for apple tart in a future blog post!). This Dutch Apple Cake is an absolute winner – delicious, beautifully light, moist and fluffy and can be served warm with some cream, custard or ice cream for dessert or with a cup of tea or coffee.

The recipe is from the same book as last week’s Chocolate Biscuit Cake recipe (Darina Allen’s Easy Entertaining) – gosh did I enjoy that cake last week. At the end of a busy day I would wait until I was on my own, put the kettle on, make a mug of tea, cut a very small sliver of the cake and savour every mouthful. So, so good. Continue reading →