a return to the old country with Guinness Brown Bread

so how does one celebrate stepping back into the Emerlad Isle after an absence of 2 years? well what better way than with some Guinness Brown Bread. when it comes to Guinness, i am very proud to say that us Irish are a bunch of snobs...yes, that's right, there is such a thing as a Guinness snob...basically no Irish person would ever really enjoy a pint of the 'black stuff' beyond the Emerald Isle...and even within the Emerald Isle itself there are certain pubs where we would go purely to drink Guinness because of the way the pint is 'pulled' from the tap. it is a culture here...so to really enjoy my return to the 'old country' i needed to incorporate some of the black stuff into my baking to truly get back into the mood...the bread turned out delicious. it was rich and full of the flavour of the Guinness. if i made this again though, i wouldn't add the demerara sugar because i think it made it too sweet and less bread-like and with the treacle already added i think it provides enough sweetness to the bread. and according to others who have tasted Guinness bread, it should be a tad darker...so i would need to re-think how to darken the bread some more because it didn't appear dark enough for my liking. but overall i was really pleased with the result...with no eggs or yeast in this recipe, it both rose and was of a traditional irish bread density.

Guinness Brown Bread

450g coarse wholemeal

2 level teaspoons bread soda

25g pinhead oatmeal

4 tablespoons demerara sugar

50g margarine

1 tablespoon treacle

400 ml guinness

preheat oven to 190C and lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin

put margarine and treacle in a saucepan and allow margarine to melt

meanwhile put wholemeal, oatmeal and sugar into bowl. sieve in bread soda and mix well

when margarine has melted add guinness and stir

add liquid to dry ingredients and mix well

transfer to tin and bake for about 40-50 minutes until risen

wrap in a clean cloth and allow to cool.

eat slathered with good creamy butter...you know you want to...

guinness cupcakes - embrace 'the black stuff'!

so what is a girl to do when in a country where 'the black stuff' is almost considered to be part of the staple diet!?! embrace it, of course and get creative with it! so guinness cupcakes became the mood of the moment. the recipe started off with melting the butter in the guinness (hot guinness....yeuch!) and then the rest of the ingredients were added to it. by the time the batter was ready to scoop into the cupcake cases, i was ready to just sit down somewhere quietly and lick the bowl of batter up...no need to bake! it was that good and the smell....divine! but i figured there were a family of eager testers and tasters waiting to see what guinness cupcakes would taste like so who was i to disappoint! i topped with a mascarpone vanilla icing and OH MY GOSH! these little guys tasted FANTABULOUS (that's a mixture of fantastic and fabulous for those not in the know....cos one word is just not enough!) the guinness added this smoothness and richness to the chocolate and the cupcake just seemed to melt in your mouth. these are such wonderful adult cupcakes that it really puts to rest all those critics who say that cupcakes are just for kids....these certainly are for the adult population...proof....18 made yesterday....3 left today on last check....need i say more?

Guinness Cupcakes

Cupcake
1 cup Guinness
1 stick + 1 Tb unsalted butter
¾ cup cocoa
2 cups dark brown sugar
¾ cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 Tb vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 ½ tsp baking soda

Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
1 ¼ cups icing sugar
1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tray.

Combine the Guinness and the butter (chopped into 1 inch chunks) in a double boiler and heat to melt the butter. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa and sugar.

In a bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla, then add to stout mixture.

Sift together flour and baking soda and fold into batter.

Pour into cupcake cases and bake for 25 mins or until toothpick comes out clean. Let stand 10 mins and then remove from tray and cool on a wire rack.

In a mixer, whisk together ingredients for icing and spread over cooled cupcakes.