St Patrick’s Day will be here soon and I’ve got enough Irish in me to start thinking about a celebration. Not a big party but an opportunity to pay homage to a part of my ancestry (My Dad’s parents were German and Swiss; my Mom’s English and Irish). I’ll usually make corned beef for dinner, some sort of Irish dessert and occasionally meet some friends for a green beer (and I don’t even like beer!) but this year I’ve got another idea for how to spend my time and my money and it’s all for a worthy cause.
Fadó Irish Pub & Restaurant in Denver (1735 19th St. downtown) celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with a full week of festivities. In addition to the annual celebration on the day of the Denver Parade and on St. Patrick’s Day, Fadó is hosting a charity event on Friday, March 11, organized by St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
Nearly 300 people (click to see participants) will have their heads shaved by stylists from Salon on the Boulevard in honor of children with cancer and to raise awareness and funding. Over 35 teams have signed up and over $65,000 now almost $100,000 has been raised to date. Their goal is $200,000. In support of the event Fadó Irish Pub will donate 20 percent of all food sales during the event to the cause.
St. Baldrick’s Foundation is the world’s largest volunteer-driven fundraising event for childhood cancer research. Those getting their heads shaved will be enthusiastically cheered on by crowds of friends, family, doctors, nurses, children and others who have been touched by cancer in hopes to further awareness that pediatric cancer, the number one disease killer of children, is terribly under-funded.
So I’m calling on you to get involved. Either shave your head, volunteer, eat or donate, but give hope to infants, children, teens and young adults fighting childhood cancers. Visit St. Baldrick’s website to learn how to be a shavee, support a team or donate in general. If you’re not local and want to help, make an online donation to this very worthy cause; kids deserve the very best from us to kick this deadly disease!
A few of the kids being honored by the event:
Preston has Stage 3A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with cancer in his neck, top left clavicle, liver and spleen. He was treated at The Children’s Hospital and is currently in remission. He is eight years old and a hero and warrior.
Bella was one year old when she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). She was treated at The Children’s Hospital and is currently in remission. Her treatment ends March 11, 2011. Now three years old she remains strong and is an inspiration to everyone.
The mission of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation is to raise awareness and funds to cure kids’ cancer by supporting cancer research and fellowships.
I admit, I am not getting my head shaved but here is what I will do. For everyone who leaves a comment I’ll donate a dollar to this cause; just leave a comment before 10pm on 4/13/11 and I’ll make a donation that night for each one. That’s right…spread the word, tell your friends and get them to come here and say hello. My hope is that everyone will read this article, feel compelled as well and go make a donation! Help give kids a chance to live a cancer free life at the very least.
And so that you can celebrate in MY style…here’s the recipe for Irish Coffee Cake. To be certain of what you’re getting into, this is not Irish ‘Coffee Cake’ – nope it’s ‘Irish Coffee’ Cake. A cake made with coffee and Irish Whiskey and Irish Whiskey whipped cream on top to mimic an Irish Coffee!
Irish Coffee itself, in its original form, is quite wonderful. But I understand the need to incorporate something so wonderful into desserts of all kinds. One of the most successful of these is Irish Coffee Cake, which first started turning up in Irish cookbooks in the 1960′s and ’70′s.
The cake itself is simple: a delicate one-layer sponge with an intense coffee flavor. But the real kick in this cake comes with the syrup that saturates the cake — more coffee, naturally with whiskey in it — and then topped with whipping cream flavored with…yes, more whiskey! To finish sprinkle with that best-loved of Irish native nuts, the hazelnut. I toasted the hazelnuts and can’t imagine it without…and be warned; this cake is amazing. Thankful today is Fat Tuesday…that does mean I have to finish it today right?
Summary: A rich cake made with traditional Irish Coffee ingredients including coffee, Irish Whiskey and Whipped Cream
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2/3 cup butter – I used Kerrygold Irish Butter; I mean really, how could I not?
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 3 teaspoons instant espresso
- 2 Tbsp hot water
- 2 large eggs, beaten
Coffee Syrup - 2 Tbsp hot water
- 3/4 cup strong coffee (I made mine with instant espresso)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons Irish whiskey
-
Whipped Topping
- 4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons Irish whiskey
- 1/2 pint heavy cream, whipped
- 4 Tbsp chopped, toasted hazelnuts for garnish
Preparation Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter an 8-inch cake pan, then flour it lightly.
- Cream the butter and sugar well until light and fluffy: then add the eggs one at a time and continue beating after each until the whole mixture becomes very light.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt; then at low speed with the mixer, or by hand if you prefer, fold two thirds of the dry mixture into the creamed butter, sugar and eggs.
- Dissolve the instant coffee in the water and add it to the batter; then fold in the remaining 1/3 of the flour.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan, and smooth the top of the batter, leveling it out. Then bake for 35-40 minutes, until the cake is just starting to pull away from the sides of the cake pan. Carefully turn the pan out onto a rack to cool. When it’s out, wash the cake pan or springform pan and dry carefully. You’ll need it again shortly.
- For the syrup: Heat the strong coffee and sugar together gently until the sugar has dissolved then boil rapidly for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the whiskey.
- Return the cooled cake to the pan and pour the syrup over it; leave it to soak for 2-3 hours. NOTE: I did that and the cake did not want to easily come out of the pan, so I recommend you cover the bottom of the pan with a piece of waxed paper so it will flip out easier and you can just peel the paper off once it’s removed.
- For the topping: Whip the heavy cream, blending the powdered sugar and whiskey into it when the whipping is done. Turn the cake out onto a serving plate and decorate with the whipped cream; sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts. Chill well before serving.
Attributed to European Cuisines
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I want to thank everyone who participated and helped me realize a goal. This post didn’t just raise money for this wonderful organization but has increased awareness of the job they do to serve our greatest national treasure…our children.
I know that people felt moved enough to donate, I’ll be donating $115 dollars to St. Baldrick’s Foundation today and I feel blessed that Sharon Miro (@nickelmoon on Twitter) generously offered to match my contribution so I know that my overall goal of $250 was exceeded with all of this support. Thanks to all of you!
thanks for the great recipe and the donation! my son had his head shaved last night at deVere’s in Sacramento and raised almost $500!! http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mrryanmattb so proud of him! thanks for giving us another (yummy) way to contribute to this great organization!
What a great post for a great cause!
The cake looks amazing, can’t wait to make it!
You rock! And great looking cake!
Yummy!!! This sounds awesome! and you are a saint: )
St. Baldrick’s is a wonderful foundation and I love that you are donating money for comments!
I’m not Irish, but I can appreciate this gorgeous cake! I came over from Lora’s site- thanks for a great post for a great cause. :)
I’m far from Irish, but very inspired by the worthy cause and the delicious cake. Sláinte!
a lovely cake & a great cause.
great idea and great cause! well done :)
What a great cause and a great post. Your cake looks divine. I was especially touched by the fact that today is the end of Bella’s treatment.
Barb,
Absolutely love this post!!! What a wonderful organization and what a wonderful way to celebrate St. Patrick’s day! It’s because of people like you that so much progress has been made in the fight against childhood cancer.
This cake sounds divine and just the kind of cake that I love. Have bookmarked the recipe for our “belated” St. Patrick’s day feast – I will be, of course, on the la Crosse field – LOL!!!
Fabulous for you! The cake looks and sounds fabulous, too!
delicious looking cake!
What a great cause, you are so inspiring!
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