Belleek Classic Shamrock Mrs Doyle Mug

Belleek has partnered with the Mrs Doyle's Tea to bring everyone two great branded Mrs Doyle's Belleek Mugs, in the fantastic classic Belleek style !

We think it's time that we all came together and enjoyed the Best Tea on the Island from a beautiful Belleek mug!  

These two great mugs are a modern take on the Belleek iconic Shamrock tableware and they are just perfect for Irish Christmas gifts and new years gifts.

 First the large contemporary mug shape which features a ring of embossed shamrocks and the famous Mrs Doyle logo.

It's really functional and durable, this will make a lovely gift and comes packaged in the classic Belleek green gift box.

•  Unique Gift , Made in Ireland , Measures: 11.4 cmD x 9.2 cmH

 

Our second Mug is Mrs Doyle's Tall tea Belleek Mug , and it is totally the best way to drink the best tea on the Island ! So Go On go...

• Made In Ireland, Hand painted, Measures 11cmW x 11.5cmH x 325ml/12flozC

 

Easy Irish Soda Bread recipe

 Sometimes making homemade bread feels like it could be difficult and time consuming, but it's your lucky day. Mrs Doyle's Irish soda bread can be made quickly and easily by almost anyone. Yes this is a shortcut bread but it certainly doesn’t skimp on flavor. 

Irish soda bread is so easy because it only needs a few ingredients, and the one that makes it taste so good is buttermilk. The buttermilk is so important because it reacts with the baking soda and so permits the bread’s leavening, and of course it gives the bread that great flavor, so with a cup of the best Irish tea and a slice of soda bread you can relax and if you are living far away from Ireland or if you are with friends and family you will always feel at home with this great soda bread and a nice cup of Mrs Doyle's tea .  

• Mrs Doyle soda bread recipe gives a bread that has a golden brown crust and also a dense crumb, just lovely. Mrs Doyle's Irish bread isn’t heavy, it’s really tender and soft, the crust is perfectly crisp as soon as it comes out of the oven,  and in a day or too it's even better and it is the perfect bread for an great Irish breakfast , so if you are sending a friend or relative an Irish gift for Christmas or a Irish gift hamper well why not make up Mrs Doyle's Irish soda bread and send it to them as well Go On Go

• So how do you make the best Irish soda bread? The method

• First whisk buttermilk and one egg together, at the same time whisk a little sugar, flour, baking soda, together in another bowl. Now cut some butter into the flour mixture, remember that cutting the butter into the flour is an important step, and this is how you get the great flaky texture. Go on use your hands and mix it up, and then using a very good knife, score the dough, so that heat gets into the center so that the bread will bake well. Also please note that Irish soda bread can be made with out an egg, it's really up to you. However an egg will add a little richness to the soda bread. Feel free to skip it to make a slightly lighter loaf. No other changes necessary, and if eggs are not for you ,simply leave out the egg. Finally  bake until it's golden brown as easy as it gets .

Mrs Doyle's Irish Christmas cakes are made in lots of different ways, all with lots of love and in general they are variations on the old fashioned fruitcake. They are very tasty, and they can be light, dark, a little moist, a little dry, sometimes heavy, and even sometimes spongy . Mrs Doyle's Irish Christmas cakes are made in many different shapes, sometimes with a little with frosting, or a dusting of icing sugar and of course they can be as simple and plain as you like .

So what are the special ingredients and what do they represent? well the  dried fruits in the cake may represent the fantastic eastern spices which the three Wise Men brought to the newborn King! And remember just to make things a little more interesting the fruits are sometimes soaked overnight in Irish whiskey.

 

So what are the ingredients of Mrs Doyle's Christmas  cakes ? ok here it comes , now remember , this cake only tastes great if you enjoy it with friends and family and a nice cup of decent Irish tea for everyone  !

 

My Christmas Cake Ingredients:

100ml  Irish whiskey

quarter of table spoon of ground clove

50g ground almonds

grated rind of 1 lemon & 1 orange

150g  raisins

125g  stoned dates

quarter of a block of real Irish butter

125g sultanas

100g glace cherries

extra butter for greasing

200g soft brown sugar

4 eggs

grated rind of 1 lemon & 1 orange

2 table spoons of black treacle 

225g  plain flour

half a table spoon of salt

1 rounded table spoon of baking powder

1 table spoon of  mixed spice

quarter of teaspoon of  grated nutmeg

 grated nutmeg and a little few teaspoons of Irish whiskey 

 

My Method:

        You should Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F), around Gas mark.

Now grease a 20cm cake tin and then line it with greaseproof paper. Next wrap some newspaper around the outside of your cake tin with string. This should  help the outside of the cake from going too brown during the cooking and so help it from  drying out.

Now it's time to beat together in a big bowl all that lovely  sugar & butter until its all very creamy. Next  add the eggs, add a little  flour in with each egg, and some treacle and perhaps a few grated fruit rinds and make sure you mix all  for a few minutes.

it's time to stir the flour and baking powder into the bowl of all these lovely soaked fruits and add some salt, some  spices and a few almonds, again stir all of these great ingredients together and mix well.

Now fold the fruit mix into the amazing egg mix, stir it all evenly. Now spoon the mix into the big cake tin, and maybe pull a little bit back in the middle of the cake , this will help as it rises, it will level itself off perfectly.

So Bake in the oven for 3 hours. If it is browning a lot , then cover it loosely with some tin foil. Now cook for another 30 minutes. You will know the cake is ready if you insert a fine skewer into the middle of the cake , and it  comes out clean and really dry.

Now it's time to leave the cake to cool in the tin. 

When the cake is cool, you can remove it from the tin, take off the lining paper, and  wrap it first in clean greaseproof paper and then in tinfoil.

Here is the secret!  do all this in November and each week leading up to Christmas, pour another little bit of your favourite drink over it. This will help the  alcohol to penetrate to the Christmas cake and will make it taste so Irish Go On Go!

here's a hint for the perfect Irish gift to send to some one you love or may be a self gift ? yes go on try a Mrs Doyle's Irish Christmas breakfast hamper for everyone to enjoy with your Christmas cake , you can check out just how good Mrs Doyle's tea is vs Barry's ! no competition at all ! 

1. Good for the immune system

Like other types of tea made from the camellia sinensis tea plant, black tea is extremely high in antioxidants. Cinnamon bark, cardamom, and cloves are also high in antioxidants. Chai tea is a wonderful source of antioxidants, so helping reduce free radicals in your body and promote your cellular health. 

2. Importantly at this time of year it fights off colds

When you’re feeling under the weather, a decent cup of chai can actually help to ease symptoms of the common cold, or even ward off colds . Black tea contains catechins with antiviral properties that may also contribute to the prevention of common illnesses like colds and flu. Ginger contains antimicrobial properties that can help to fight illnesses like sore throat. Cinnamon contains unique antibacterial properties that can sometimes to protect against infection and keep you healthy. Also cardamom and cloves also contain antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, so making a cup of chai tea is a great choice if you want to stay well this winter , Go On Go 

3. Boosts your heart health

Ingredients in chai tea have amazingly been shown to help boost heart health. Basically black tea contains flavonoids, these can help prevent plaque buildup in the body’s arteries, which reduces stress on the heart. Cinnamon is also been shown to help to treat cardiovascular diseases and reduce harmful cholesterol.

5. Improves your digestion

Drinking chai tea can also help to improve digestion. Ginger is also a powerful digestive aid, and drinking ginger can help to improve gastrointestinal symptoms and so help the digestive system to work better, and of course cardamom has many digestive benefits .

6. Good for skin

Black tea is high in a variety of vitamins and minerals that are good for the skin, including zinc, magnesium, and potassium, all of which can help to protect and help rejuvenate the skin, and of course  drinking tea is also a great way to stay hydrated, which will help your skin look healthy and fresh. 

7. Increases your energy and your alertness

Black tea is an energizing tea that can help to increase alertness and focus. Black teas like chai tea contain moderate amount of caffeine to give us all a welcome boost of energy, and the caffeine in black tea helps to encourage our focus and alertness.

8. Reduces inflammation in the body

Chai contains plenty of ingredients that can help with inflammation, including black tea, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom. Black tea can help  reduce inflammation in your body, which can help soothe muscle soreness and chronic pain, and  ward off inflammation-related diseases .

Cinnamon has also been shown to help reduce inflammation and soothe pain. If you’re suffering from temporary inflammation, or dealing conditions like arthritis, a cup of cinnamon tea can have great  anti-inflammatory effects.

Ginger can help with inflammation too, and has been used for many centuries in herbal medicine for its powerful anti-inflammatory effects. Cardamom also contains anti-inflammatory properties.

These ingredients all make chai tea a great choice if you’ want to reduce inflammation in your body.

9. Good for skin

Black tea is high in a variety of vitamins and minerals that are good for the skin, including zinc, magnesium, and potassium, all of which can help to protect and help rejuvenate the skin, and of course drinking tea is also a great way to stay hydrated, which will help your skin look healthy and fresh. 

10. Good for the old teeth

Many caffeinated beverages, contain  heaps of sugar, tea of course does not and has been shown to be good for oral health. Black tea contains compounds that attack harmful bacteria within your mouth, which can help prevent the buildup of plaque. Ginger and cardamom also contain antimicrobial and antifungal properties that help to kill off harmful oral pathogens. This can help to improve your the health of your teeth .

What Irish Breakfast Tea Can Do

Irish breakfast tea is a blend of teas composed mainly of Assam tea and African kenya tea and because its a blend of these great herbal teas, the benefits of Irish breakfast tea is totally increased. Irish breakfast tea contains polyphenols, catechins, the amino acid L-theanine, and tannins. It's these that helps the Irish breakfast tea act as an antioxidant, astringent, and diuretic. These components have really great health benefits, such as possibly fighting cancer cells and preventing heart disease and possibly preventing the onset of diabetes. Irish breakfast tea can also help reduce stress and increased concentration, and help with increasing your immune system. Irish Breakfast Tea also contains the really important fundamental minerals like calcium, zinc and magnesium, especially great for antioxidant activity. There just are so many benefits to Irish breakfast tea, but which  brand of Irish breakfast tea is the best? well if you get a pack of Irish tea in your Christmas stocking, remember Mrs Doyle was thinking of you !  in every way , so Go On Go !

 Winter is coming ? feel like you are low on energy? then you should brew up a blend of Mrs Doyle loose leaf Chai tea, it has cinnamon seeds and cardamon seeds and ginger, theses should help increase stamina and oxygenate you blood, this will help with your immune system and your metabolism and so aid recovery in the long winter months ahead .

Mrs Doyle loves  to make a nice mug of Chai latte  around 11 am every morning during Christmas week, so here's how !

Infuse one tea spoonful of Mrs Doyle's  Chai tea in the hot water for 3 to 5 minutes, warm a little milk in a pan, and then whisk to create a froth, now pour the  milk and chai tea into a big mug , add a little honey or sugar to taste and sprinkle with a little nutmeg or  cinnamon 

Mrs Doyle loves  to make a nice mug of Chai latte  around 11 am every morning during Christmas week, so here's how !

Infuse one tea spoonful of Mrs Doyle's  Chai tea in the hot water for 3 to 5 minutes, warm a little milk in a pan, and then whisk to create a froth, now pour the  milk and chai tea into a big mug , add a little honey or sugar to taste and sprinkle with a little nutmeg or  cinnamon