St Patrick’s Day Recipes from Paul Rankin

For Immediate Release

(11 March 2014, Toronto, ON) — Wishing you a Happy St Patrick’s Day, Northern Ireland’s Celebrity Chef Paul Rankin shares his favorite Irish recipes to enjoy on March 17th. Please feel free to publish, share and post.

“St Patrick’s Day is a great time to celebrate all that is wonderful about Irish produce and cooking. So what could be better than using the whole day to celebrate the culinary delights of the Emerald Isle? I have selected one of my favourite St Patrick’s inspired recipes for you to try at home. Make this St Patrick’s Day one to remember with this Irish Coffee Tart & Brown Bread Parfait.” Paul Rankin

Irish Coffee Tart

A dark and sumptuous tart with smooth chocolate as the background for the coffee and whiskey flavors. The ultimate touch is the Bailey’s Irish cream in the topping, but you could leave that out if preferred.

SERVES 8 – 10

INGREDIENTS:

For the base:

125 g. unsalted butter, diced
25 g. soft golden brown sugar
45 g. sugar
125 g. plain flour
1 ½ Tbsp. cornflour
pinch of salt
175 g. toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

for the tart filling:

300 ml. double cream
100 ml. single cream
100 ml. Bushmill’s Irish whiskey
300 g. dark chocolate, finely chopped
100 g. milk chocolate, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. coffee extract ( or very strong coffee )
2 eggs

for the topping:

½ leaf or 1 tsp. powdered gelatine
250 ml. whipping cream
150 g. icing sugar
4 Tbsp. Bailey’s Irish Cream

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 170’C. / 325’F.

Process the butter, sugars, flour, corn flour, salt, and half of the prepared hazelnuts to a crumbly texture and pat into the base of a 23 cm. springform tin in an even layer. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Reduce the oven temperature to 160’C. / 310’F.

For the filling, bring the double and single creams to the boil together, remove from heat, and add the Bushmill’s and coffee extract. Cool slightly before stirring in the chopped chocolates. Stir and when they have melted, stir in the eggs. Pour the filling over the cooked base, and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for approx. 20 minutes until just set, but still slightly wobbly at the centre. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

To make the topping, soften the gelatine in 2 Tbsp. cold water for a few minutes, heat gently to dissolve, then set aside to cool slightly. Beat the whipping cream until it forms soft peaks, sift in the icing sugar, and mix in the gelatine and Bailey’s. Spread in an even layer over the chocolate filling and leave to set.

Serve in slices with a chocolate sauce and lightly whipped cream with the remaining hazelnuts scattered over and around the cake.

Brown Bread Parfait with Bushmills Prunes

SERVES 4 – 6

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE PARFAIT;

70 g. white chocolate, chopped
175 ml. Double cream
2 Tbsp. milk
¼ vanilla pod, split
3 egg yolks
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. Bushmills whiskey
175 g. Irwin’s stoneground brown soda bread, crusts removed, and broken up to pea size crumbs

FOR THE PRUNES:

200 ml. Water
50 ml. Orange juice
175 g. sugar
½ lemon1/2 orange
120 g. pitted prunes
4 – 6 Tbsp. Bushmills whiskey

METHOD:

To make the parfait, melt the white chocolate. Place half the cream, the milk, and the
vanilla on to boil in a small pan.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved. When the cream mix has come to the boil, slowly pour it on to the yolk/sugar mixture, whisking continuously. Return to a medium heat and cook out over a low heat until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. When it is ready, strain through a fine sieve into a mixing bowl, and allow to cool slightly.

Add the custard to the melted chocolate, and fold in the bread crumbs. Place in the fridge to chill for about ½ hour.

Whip the remaining cream until it forms soft peaks, then fold it and the Bushmills together with the custard mix.

Pour into individual ramekins, ( approx. 100 ml. Size ) and place in the freezer, for at least 2 – 3 hours, or even over night. ( If it is too hard, take from freezer to fridge for about an hour or two before serving. )

Place the water, orange juice, sugar, orange, and lemon in a medium pan, and bring to the boil. Add the prunes, cover, and summer gently until soft, about 20 minutes. Take off the heat, remove the lemon half, and orange half, and add the Bushmills. Set to one side.

To serve, demold by dipping each ramekin into hot water for a couple seconds, just to loosen, and then run a sharp knife around the edge. Carefully tip out the parfait into the centre of each plate, and surround with the Bushmill laced prunes, and a little of the prune juice. Garnish with mint and icing sugar as desired.

Serve and enjoy!

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