Yes, I'm aware that this post is a few days late; one day I'll make it on time. In all fairness I did make the goods before St Patrick's Day, does that count? And I've been a bit busy, packing up and moving from the countryside to north London and then unpacking and getting used to a new kitchen (and new oven, which does now work). All these things take time, and yes, good things come to those who wait! Haha, pun intended and yes I did get to enjoy some guinness over the weekend.
So, green velvet cupcakes... my goodness. What a pilaver. I ran out of green colouring and it ended up looking like pond green sludge. But from the outside it still looks alright, well sort of. Had to hide the cupcakes with lots of yummy cream cheese frosting. But the main thing is, they tasted amazing.
Not to forget the shamrock cookies, the dough I used, meant that you have to chill them overnight. So that took some time, but you know what, sandwiched together with buttercream frosting and these little beauties are worth all the time spent.
Spring is springing and this is a good thing.
Whilst down in the West Country visiting my parents this weekend, I happened across a copy of my mum's Good Housekeeping and they had a lovely recipe for a courgette and pistachio cake... and as luck would have it, I had just bought a cake tin with a hole in it - like a Bundt tin. Good times.
So on a mission we went to find some courgettes, but its not really the season yet I discovered. I should know this. It was last summer that I first attempted courgette cake, sort of like a carrot like with the cream cheese frosting but a bit greener and slightly more gooier than spongey, I'm guessing due to the amount of water contained in courgettes. For this reason, its best to add a little more flour than required. But yes, we eventually managed to find some courgettes, thank you Mr independent grocer!
I would rather buy roasted salted pistachios and shell them myself. There's something about this shelling process that I find soothing. I just love how the salty taste of the outer skin of the pistachios works with the sugar, like a sweet / salty texture so its not overly sickening with the drizzle icing. You could just used unsalted pistachios if you are watching your salt intake.
