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Ireland: Bread and Butter Pudding with Irish Whiskey (March 9, 2008)

The Irish climate is the kind in which you need comfort food every now and then, and this dessert is one of the best sorts.

Bread and butter pudding has a long association with childhood and the nursery in these islands. A century or so ago, bread and milk was a common suppertime or bedtime dish for children. Eventually someone got the idea of making it a little more special by baking it: and probably someone else later came up with the concept that such a very simple dish might be made more interesting by adding dried fruit, or fruit preparations like jam or marmalade. After that, especially where Irish cooks were concerned, when they started thinking about tinkering with this old favorite from their past, it was probably only a matter of time before the whiskey arrived.

Just a note: probably it's not a good idea to make this with too lightly flavored a whiskey. EuroCuisineGuy (whose specialty is this kind of assessment) recommends Jameson's, Paddy's or Black Bush as whiskeys that would be able to stand up to the other ingredients and the baking process without being too aggressive. Lighter-flavored ones like Powers' or plain Bushmills are more likely to get lost in the shuffle.

Click on "read more" for the recipe.

Ireland: Burnt Oranges

A favorite recipe of the famous Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels and formerly dean of Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin.

  • 4 Large oranges
  • 150 ml sweet white wine
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 8 tablespoons sugar
  • 300 ml fresh-squeezed orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons whiskey (warmed)

Carefully peel the oranges thinly. Then with a sharp knife remove as much of the pith and white skin as possible, keeping the oranges intact. Cut the thin peel into fine strips and cover with the wine.

Ireland: Cranachan (Toasted Almond, Honey and Whiskey Cream)

Almost all Celtic countries have a dessert that's a variation on this theme: cream, oatmeal, honey, fruit, sometimes nuts, and the local firewater -- in this case, Irish whiskey.

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