This week in the bakery… Whiskey and Doughnuts!

Here come those rare Dublin days. The days that are sunny and warm, and mean I can finally work some color back in to this pale, pale skin of mine. In Ireland, one must take advantage of these days while one can. If only those incessant dishes would cooperate...

So I have to enjoy my ice creams in the warm evenings (at which time a wine chaser is appropriate). It could be worse.

Most excitingly, this week Slow Food Dublin confirmed the details of the much anticipated Whisk(e)y and Doughnut Tasting event. I have written many a time about my love for the doughnuts at Firehouse Bakery. Well, they are coming home to momma on the 1st July, where they (5!) will be paired with whiskeys and whiskys. I am super excited about the flavor combinations that Paul Lambert and Patrick Ryan will come up with. And then feed me with. 

Tickets are limited and you can purchase them here: TICKETS

Website: www.carynascakes.com

Twitter: @carynascakes

Facebook: Caryna's Cakes

Phone: 086 0703425

Address: Terenure Enterprise Centre, 

17 Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, 

Dublin 6w, Ireland

This week in the bakery…Cherry Blossom Cake and a wedding bonanza

The beauty of having an artisan bakery rather than a cake factory  is that I have the freedom to change it up when the mood takes me. (I hear we're supposed to ditch the term 'artisan' now since it's been appropriated by huge grocery companies and popping up on labels for everything from extended shelf-life granola to oily chocolate chips). 

To keep things fresh around here, I've been introducing customers to a "Cake of the Month" featuring a seasonal ingredient. For June we've gone for a cherry cake scented with orange blossom water. Here it is, for one month only: Cherry Blossom Cake

Ingredients: FRENCH CHERRIES, POLENTA, PURE IRISH BUTTER, SUGAR, GROUND ALMOND, IRISH FREE RANGE EGGS, IRISH ORGANIC YOGOURT, FRESH SQUEEZED ORANGE JUICE, ORANGE BLOSSOM WATER, Gluten-free BAKING POWDER

There were wedding cakes and pirate cakes and model schnauzers too. Here is a graduated gold wedding cake that was collected last week.

And then on to a different style of wedding cake, featuring hand molded models of Garvan and Kevin from the fabulous Two Rooms in Dublin and their adorable schnauzer, Fred 

Schnauzer in progress

Grooms in progress

Here is the finished couple...

And finished Fred, holding a pillow with the rings (those green wires are for support while the glue dried)

The figurines were collected, along with this cake, for a journey to Wexford where they were assembled. Bottom tier was chocolate biscuit cake, middle tier was chocolate biscuit cake with Cointreau and the top tier was chocolate biscuit cake with toasted walnuts.
I am dying to see the photos. I still feel panicked when releasing a cake to get driven away to a venue. I can't rest soundly until I see a picture of it at it's designation safe and sound!

Website: www.carynascakes.com

Twitter: @carynascakes

Facebook: Caryna's Cakes

Phone: 086 0703425

Address: Terenure Enterprise Centre, 

17 Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, 

Dublin 6w, Ireland

Recipe for the best Blueberry Ginger Cake ever

Way back when I met The Rocket Man in Cork (like, 2 weeks ago) I was inspired. The man introduced me to 2 recent food loves: pickled grapes (amazing atop salads with some yogurt) and his handcrafted, limited addition, made with care and attention, cordial. His Blueberry and Ginger cordial got me to wondering if I could use it in a cake. Experiment done. Result = lovely. Here is the recipe.

Blueberry Ginger Cake

Blueberry Ginger Cake

Serves 8

Ingredients:

110g Irish salted butter (soft, room temperature)
140g Caster sugar
3 Free-range eggs (room temperature)
175g plain flour
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp / 3g ground ginger
125ml low fat natural yogurt
30ml The Rocket Man Rocket Fuel Blueberry & Ginger Cordial + 60ml for drizzling later
60g frozen blueberries

Vanilla Icing
The Rocket Man Rocket Fuel Blueberry & Ginger Cordial (about 30ml or so)
Fresh blueberries for garnish

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 180 C / 350F Gas 4. Line a 7" round cake tin with parchment/baking paper.

Bowl #1: Sift the flour, baking soda and ginger in a bowl

Bowl #2: Mix the butter and sugar together until light. Add one egg at a time, mixing well after each egg. Gently fold in the floury contents of Bowl #1. Fold in the yogurt and 30ml cordial until just nearly combined. Fold in the frozen blueberries. 

Spoon the batter into your lined cake tin. Bake in the centre of your oven for 30-40 minutes. When the cake is set and hot out of the oven, slowly drizzle 60ml cordial evenly on top. This will soak into the sponge cake. Cool completely.

To frost the cake, stir some cordial into your favorite icing. Combine it completely or leave it swirly - it's up to you. Top your cake and garnish with some fresh blueberries. Enjoy!

Website: www.carynascakes.com

Twitter: @carynascakes

Facebook: Caryna's Cakes

Phone: 086 0703425

Address: Terenure Enterprise Centre, 

17 Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, 

Dublin 6w, Ireland

This week in the bakery… we break for Ballymaloe

This week we were absent from the Dublin Food Co-op as we took to the open road and headed to East Cork for Ballymaloe Litfest. 

The weekend was pure delicious inspiration. I attended as a volunteer, which meant me checking tickets at the door for a couple of talks each day. 

Let's talk about René Redzepi of Noma. He was the first celebrity speaker, at the very first talk of the event. I had 2 jobs. Just 2 jobs. Job #1 check guests' tickets. Job #2 ring the dainty bell 10 minutes before the scheduled end of the talk. And so that's what I did. I asked everyone who crossed the threshold for their ticket, like the nerd that I am. Mr. René Redzepi (otherwise known as the head chef of the best restaurant 5 out of the past 6 years) was none too impressed with me when I asked for his ticket to enter his own talk.

And to make matters worse, that dainty bell, never chimed before the moment I picked it up, was the LOUDEST DANG BELL THAT EVER RANG. At least he laughed. On the stage. Mid-sentence. In front of 300 people. Who all turned to look at me.

Luckily he accepted my apologies. I had 2 jobs...

When I was done wrecking René Redzepi's day, I was then free to attend any and all talks on the schedule

And catch up with friends 

We were even on the jumbo-tron 

This was a magical bar filled with magical beverages

There were fantastic food stalls  

Have you heard of a pickle back? A shot of whiskey chased with a shot of pickle juice. I'm bringing pickle back

Thanks to Marion Agogue for sharing all of these pictures.

Website: www.carynascakes.com

Twitter: @carynascakes

Facebook: Caryna's Cakes

Phone: 086 0703425

Address: Terenure Enterprise Centre, 

17 Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, 

Dublin 6w, Ireland

This week in the bakery… we say bienvenue

Eurovision, eh? I was skeptical until the moment I heard Latvia's entry, Cake to Bake. All of the sudden Eurovision made sense. 

This week in the bakery we also welcomed Julien, who is working for experience in order to improve his English. He is a lovely, intelligent French lad who already has a good grasp of English but has enriched his vocabulary so far with words like Scale, Sieve, Parchment, Cake Tin, Wipe, Cloth, Apron… 

Here he wiping some cake tins with a cloth, wearing an apron. 

Website: www.carynascakes.com

Twitter: @carynascakes

Facebook: Caryna's Cakes

Phone: 086 0703425

Address: Terenure Enterprise Centre, 

17 Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, 

Dublin 6w, Ireland

This week in the bakery… flea market to start then cinema in the park. Plus 2 new coffee shops on the map

This week, as every week, has been busy. To start, we had a stall the Dublin Flea Market. The Dublin Flea market happens at the Dublin Food Co-op on the last Sunday of the month. There are a few guarantees: Much cake will be sold, I will smell like falafel for days afterwards, and people will sneak up, take pictures of the cakes and run. I treat this as a challenge to take my own picture of them taking a picture of me before they notice. Check out @carynascakes on Twitter or Caryna's Cakes on Instagram #peoplewhotakephotosofmystall 



This month, Ben Readman was the designer of the Dublin Flea poster. He even featured a slice of Caryna's Cakes Vegan chocolate cake. I'm chuffed :)

Post by The Dublin Flea Market.

And then… there was Happenings Outdoor cinema in Kings Inns park. It's a summertime pop-up event, totally weather dependent, and a total surprise (even to me. This results in a baking style I call "frantic").

Post by Happenings.

There are 2 new coffee shops on the Caryna's Cakes delivery route. Munchies, Dawson street and the brand new Berlin on Clarendon Street. 

See all the spots to get your quality cake fix here 

View Where to find Caryna's Cakes in a larger map

Website: www.carynascakes.com

Twitter: @carynascakes

Facebook: Caryna's Cakes

Phone: 086 0703425

Address: Terenure Enterprise Centre, 

17 Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, 

Dublin 6w, Ireland

This week in the bakery… (was actually last week. My bad.)

Ah Easter break… 2 days off in a row was a treat. I recharged in Wickow before launching in to another manic week in the bakery.

Here I am in BASH wedding magazine! Photos by the amazing Mark Duggan

Have you heard of Lovin Dublin's Lovin Box? Wednesday lunches have been transformed. This week's box was Country style terrine, celeriac remoulade, apple puree from Pichet and it was D (wait for it…)licious. 

On Thursday we hosted a Slow Food Dublin Irish-Mex cooking class in the bakery with Lily Ramirez-Foran of My Mexican Shop www.mymexicanshop.ie. We ate, we learned, we laughed, we made tortillas. Such fun!

Grilled lemon pound cake with ancho chill ganache and Irish-Mex fruits 

Website: www.carynascakes.com

Twitter: @carynascakes

Facebook: Caryna's Cakes

Phone: 086 0703425

Address: Terenure Enterprise Centre, 

17 Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, 

Dublin 6w, Ireland