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

This week in the bakery… was bonkers

This week was FULL. 

Starting off with a mean clamper (bonus points if you can spot the illegality here. Hint: It's not pay parking)

Sunday was the first day of Terenure Village Market. Caryna's Cakes is a proud supplier to Saltpeter Deli (see that adorable coffee scooter/van situation? That's Pepe with his proud mama, Jenny). Here's a little blurb about it from the Sunday Business Post. 

And here Jenny is with her Pepe, ready for what would turn out to be a super busy market day. 

Later that evening I was on an RTÉ program about Passover. A Sunday Business Post and RTÉ Guide Pick of the Week, no less.

You can watch the video here:

http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10272880/

Healthy Snacks baking class happened on Thursday night. It was a sell-out and students learned to make:

Lemony Date Bars

Blueberry Cheesefakes

Toasted Almond Coconut Fudge

Honey Apricot Bars

Breakfast Cookies

Last night was the first Outdoor Cinema in Fitzwilliam Square, put on by the ever impressive Happenings. There were so many people to see Life of Brian with their blankets and their picnic baskets and their friends and totally not enough warm clothes. So many, in fact, that I hear they had to turn away about 1,000. Bonkers! I was happy to provide a cake tent, as always, for movie snackage. 

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… spring is in the air

This week in the bakery we swapped our ski hats for bandanas (more normal for an artisan bakery. Read more about why we bake in ski gear here). As the weather changes from "jayyyysus what a horrible day!" to "bejaysus what a fine day!" 2 holidays are nipping at our heels - Passover and Easter.

Passover lands first this year. It goes by the Jewish, lunar calendar so won't fall on the same day each year. In brief, Passover is the Jewish holiday that remembers the slavery then exodus of the Hebrews in ancient Egypt. It is so famous that they made a film about it starring Charlton Heston. Learn more about Passover here.

To celebrate, we eat. There are however things we shouldn't eat for Passover including wheat, corn or anything leavened (this is to remember the Hebrews fleeing Egypt in such a rush that there was no time for the bread to rise). Passover cake recipes are therefore made using alternate ingredients. This recipe uses ground almonds, butter and melted chocolate for a gooey, chocolatey and gluten-free cake. This cake is Italian Jewish, and is the very cake I baked for RTÉ last week. 

Sunday at 5:30 on RTÉ One just got awkward

Chocolate Pudding Cake (Budino di Mandorle e Cioccolata)




Ingredients:
280g Irish salted butter
260g 70% chocolate
300g ground almond
280g granulated or caster sugar
8 Irish Free Range Eggs, separated

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 300 / 150 / Gas 2. Prepare a 12" lined baking tin (springform tins don't really work for this) and place the tin in a larger roasting tray. 
Whisk egg whites to a firm peak. Set aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate. Set aside.
Beat egg yolks and sugar until very pale. stream in your melted butter/chocolate mixture. 
Fold in your egg whites in 3 additions. 
Pour the batter into your lined baking tin. Pour water in your roasting tray (this creates a bain marie) and gently place your batter/tin/tray contraption in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Be very careful when removing the cake from the oven because that splashy water will a) be very hot, and b) will make your cake gross if you soak it.
Enjoy the cake hot or cold. 


And now for an Easter recipe, as recommended by This Week in Aspic. Thank you. They were yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmy. The lemon juice balances perfectly with the lavender, preventing the cookies from tasting like potpourri. 

Lemon & Lavender Cookies
adapted from When Harry Met Salad

Ingredients:
190g sugar + extra for sprinkling
zest of 1 lemon
4 sprigs / 2 teaspoons dried lavender 
30ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
315g plain flour
pinch salt
180g Irish butter, salted. Chilled and cut into small cubes.
1 Free Range Irish egg yolk
½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
In a food processor, blitz the sugar, lemon zest, and lavender to release all the Springtime aromas (around 1 minute).

Sift the flour, and salt. Add to the food processor and blitz again to combine (a couple of pulses will do). Add the chilled butter and pulse until the mix looks like chunky bread crumbs. Add the lemon juice. Blitz. Add the vanilla. Blitz. Add the egg yolk. Blitz.

Turn your mixture out on to a lightly floured surface and form a sausage/log shape. Wrap in parchment paper and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Or you can continue tomorrow. 

When you're ready to make your cookies, preheat the oven to 375/190/gas 3. Line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper. Slice your cookie log into ¼" rounds and space about ½" apart. Bake about 15 minutes, just until the edges started to go golden colored. 

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…was insanely good

What's whirler than a whirlwind? This week was that. In a wonderful way

  

Sunday: 2 worlds collided and my delivery vehicle solved a crime

Corrina and Caryna, united at last. Corrina represents Lovin' from the Oven (West Coast) and I, Lovin' form the Oven (East Coast). Click on the picture to read about the strange set of coincidences that led to our meeting.

This is Raquel, the trusty Vespa I used to deliver cake at the very beginnings of Caryna's Cakes. This week Raquel was a pivotal piece of evidence, instrumental in the solving of a crime involving damage to 6 cars in an underground car park. Apparently the criminal attempted to hot-wire poor Raquel and after being subjected to fingerprint analysis by the Gardai, she identified the culprit. All in a day's work, ladies. 

Monday: I supply 3 out of 10 of the best cafés in the country and I fix myself a drink

The Irish Times named the top 10 cafés in Ireland (6 are in Dublin) and Caryna's Cakes proudly supports 3 of them. Coffee Together, Clement & Pekoe, and The Coffee Dispensary in Block T.

Mondays are taxing and Tuesdays are my day off. This Tuesday Slow Food Dublin had a cocktail making class, taught by the wonderful Paul Lambert of the Blind Pig speakeasy. I only spilled one cocktail on myself (those shakers are tricky buggers).

Tuesday:Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. And a hike

Wednesday: My face is HUGE in print and on camera

This wonderful article was published in the Irish Times regarding food businesses who start out in markets, with contributions by Caryna's Cakes.

Later that day RTE came by the bakery to film me making an Italian Jewish chocolate pudding cake (Italian Jewish chocolate pudding cake is part of my heritage)for a program about Passover (to be aired on April 13th I believe)

Thursday: I'm a Who's Who! 

To top off the week, the very respected John & Sally McKenna of McKenna's Guides (formerly Bridgestone Guides) named me in their "Who's Who" of Irish food. The notice went out in their megabits newsletter and the review it linked to was INCREDIBLE. John and Sally, I know you live far away from me but I will find you and I will hug you. Amazing.

Website: www.carynascakes.com

Twitter: @carynascakes

Facebook: Caryna's Cakes

Phone: 086 0703425

Address: Terenure Enterprise Centre, 

17 Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, 

Dublin 6w, Ireland