PATRICIA O'FLAHERTY is a specialist baker and sugar artist based in Carrigaline Co Cork.
In a pre-Covid world she would be busy making creative and imaginative cakes for weddings, birthdays and other special occasions.
When Ireland went into lockdown, and looking for an outlet for her creativity, Patricia set herself a challenge to a 100-day bake-off.
Taking to Facebook each morning for 100 days, she baked a new recipe each day and broadcast this live.
As word spread online, her audience grew from tens to hundreds and quickly evolved into an online baking community.
Home-baking made easy, thanks to Patricia O'Flaherty (PIC: Chris Egan)Inspired by the online community, Patricia later went down the publishing route, with the help of Orla Kelly Publishing, and took the 100 bake-off recipes and committed them to print.
The result is the recently published cookbook Baking with a Touch of Magic.
With illustrations from Chris Davies and Jeremy Cunningham from Doodle Creative in Little Island Co. Cork, the book is a baking delight, crammed full of, not just delicious recipes, but also little gems in the form of hints and tips to help with your baking.
All the recipes have been tried, tested and finessed, reflecting O'Flaherty's baking experience.
In reviewing the baking cookbook, the Red Velvet Cake with a Marshmallow topping have been made, and they turned out perfectly thanks to the guidance within the recipe method.
Finished with a sticky marshmallow topping, these tasty cupcakes will ensure you will want to make them again and again.
As with all the recipes contained in the book, the ingredients are listed (in metric) and are accompanied with a detailed method which contain the baking tips and are easy to follow.
Baking with a Touch of Magic by Patricia O'FlahertyBaking with A Touch of Magic is available on Amazon, Waterstones and the Book Depository and is also available in a Kindle Edition.
