the irish
Irish cream, pralines, coffee and pound cake in a jar.
It doesn't have to be homemade.
I did it the old fashioned way and I've written recipes for every part of this thing.
But if you just want to buy the cake, the cream, the pralines -- do it.
Spike the whipped cream with Irish Cream.
Crush up the pralines.
Soak -- and I mean really soak -- cubes of pound cake in super strong coffee and Kahlua.
Then drop them in a jar, chill and lick...
It. Is. So. Good.
I went with 8 oz. jars, which is pretty small - really good single-serving sizes.
And the fun thing about jars is that you can just open it up, eat it whenever, then save any extra for later.
There may not be any extra, but still...
And the name - it was either Irish Cream, Coffee, Pralines and Pound Cake in a Jar
or
The Irish.
I went with the sexy one.
The Irish
makes 12 (8 oz) jars
Note: This can also be made in any trifle dish you like.
Pound cake:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, soft and cubed
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10" springform pan.
In small bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolk and vanilla.
In large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add the butter to flour mixture and beat on low until combined and butter is no longer visible, about 1minute.
Add in 1/3 of the egg mixture to flour. Beat on medium until combined, about 1 minute. Add the remaining egg mixture in two more batches, beating 1 minute after each batch.
Beat an additional 2 minutes on medium.
Pour into pan and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Bake for about 25 minutes, until tester inserted in center comes away clean.
Allow to cool in pan for about 5 minutes, then remove sides and cool on rack.
Prepare 12 (8 oz) glass jars with lids.
Once cake is cool, cut into cubes and pour coffee-Kahlua soak (recipe below) evenly over cubes, turning cake cubes to coat.
Layer Irish Cream cream (below), cake and pralines (load it up!) in jar.
I experimented here, but I found it best this way -- pralines, cream, pralines, cake, pralines, cream, pralines, cake, etc. You want the cream pressed against the cake BUT still have enough pralines in there to get some in every bite. :)
Coffee-Kahlua soak:
1/2 cup very strong coffee or espresso
OR
1/2 cup hot water mixed with 1 tablespoon instant espresso/coffee
1 tablespoon Kahlua
Combine coffee and Kahlua.
Pralines:
1 to 1 1/2 cups pecans
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsalted butter
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Combine all ingredients in large pot over medium to medium-high heat.
Stir frequently and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir constantly until mixture reaches 238 to 240 degrees, about 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and whisk vigorously until cloudy and grainy. Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheet. Allow to cool completely.
Break into small pieces.
Irish Cream cream:
2 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 tablespoons Irish Cream liqueur
3 tablespoons sugar
In large bowl, combine cream, liqueur and sugar. Beat until cream has soft peaks. Chill until ready to use.