Nellie's Trip to Dublin, Plus Irish Beef Stew and Guinness Chocolate Cake

Stew and cake starring one of the most beloved brands in Ireland.

This is yet another post that I've been sitting on for a long time, partially because I couldn't think of a good hook to really get it off the ground. Back in the fall, I was suddenly struck by wanting to make some Irish inspired recipes, and dug out an old recipe I had saved forever ago for a Guinness beef stew and a chocolate cake made with Guinness as well. I invited two friends over for dinner, snapped pictures, and then promptly lost any inspiration to write about it as a blog post. I tried a couple times, hemming and hawing over what to say, but figured it would be best not to force it and let it sit and wait for inspiration to strike. 

Good thing I did, because unknown to me, my parents were also having thoughts of Ireland! And surprised us all with...

A short trip to Dublin! Our local airport offers cheap flights on Aer Lingus, and thanks to some crafty planning on my parents' part, we were off for a three day visit to a city I'd always wanted to see. Since it was a surprise, mini Nellie tagged along because her full sized counterpart was still in Washington, but I still have most of my mini dolls at my parent’s house. Plus, when you're not checking a bag, it's nice not to drag around a full sized doll for photo opportunities! 

Nellie and her sisters were born in the United States, and had never seen Ireland before the events of The Stolen Sapphire, a Samantha Mystery published in 2006. If you haven't read any of the American Girl Mystery books, I would definitely recommend them, as they tend to flesh out the stories of the characters by covering topics that are a little more grown up or just not touched on in the original series. 

In The Stolen Sapphire, Nellie and Samantha are accompanying their grandparents on a trip to Europe, and although the ship will be docking in Queenstown, Ireland, they are not planning to disembark. At the time, wealthy families saw touring Europe as a huge part of their children's education, thinking visiting places like Paris would make them more cultured and worldly. Because Ireland wasn't considered a cultural hub, ships would dock, but wealthier passengers would stay on board. This depresses Nellie, as she's always wanted to see her family's homeland. Fortunately, Grandmary decides that Ireland is worth visiting after all, and Nellie and Samantha get to visit Queenstown with their grandparents before heading on to Paris. 

Queenstown is now known as Cobh, and has been since Ireland declared its independence from the United Kingdom. It's in County Cork, which is far to the south of Dublin, so we didn't visit, but there was plenty of great stuff to see in Ireland's capital city.

Dublin was probably founded sometime during the 7th Century, and is the largest city in Ireland, as well as its capital. James Hoban, the architect who designed the White House, was from Dublin, and his mentor Thomas Ivory helped really influence the architecture of the city during the Georgian period. Like many European cities that avoided being bombed into oblivion during World War II, Dublin has preserved an enormous amount of historic architecture, and the city is building after building after building, with little room for green space in the city center outside of parks. 

Unfortunately, because it was New Year's weekend, a few things had sold out tickets or weren't open, notably Kilmainham Gaol, the jail where many Irish revolutionaries (including those who participated in the 1916 Easter Rising) were held and executed, Trinity College's Library (one of the many inspirations for the Great Hall at Hogwarts) and the Book of Kells exhibit.

I was really disappointed that we didn't get to see the Book of Kells, as I'm a big fan of The Secret of Kells, the animated movie that tells a fictional story about the book's origins, and have convinced most of my family members to watch it. 

On the plus side, almost everyone didn't get to do at least one thing they were really excited about, which for me was the National Museum of Ireland. We keep saying it means we have a reason to go back! 

We visited Christ Church Cathedral first, which was founded sometime around 1030. It sits in the heart of medieval Dublin, which got its name from the black river that runs through the middle of the city. I'm usually not a big fan of tours of cathedrals or churches, but we had a really great tour guide who really brought the cathedral to life for us. We got to go up to the belfry and ring the bells, which requires a lot of upper body strength and was a really unique experience!

Christ Church Cathedral also has some really impressive artifacts on display in the crypt, including one of the oldest copies of the Magna Carta and a mummified cat and rat found in one of the organs, which are referenced in a James Joyce novel.

Christ Church Cathedral is connected to the Dublinia exhibits, which tell the story of Viking and Medieval Dublin, as well as how archaeologists are able to learn more about these periods by examining the evidence that has survived. There was a lot of great information about daily life during these periods, with displays discussing things like religion, how homes were built, medicine, and of course food!

I really wanted to love these exhibits, as the early 2000's trend of making life size dioramas guests can interact with is one of my favorite styles of exhibit design, but the space was extremely, extremely crowded. Because it's in the heart of the city and has a multigenerational appeal, it's a popular attraction for families, and I had a really hard time actually reading any of the wall text because kids kept pushing me out of the way, blocking the signs, or generally being rude. If you're in Dublin, I definitely recommend checking this out, but try to schedule it during a less busy time of year if possible. What I was able to read and see was really interesting, and the archaeology exhibit in particular was a really cool introduction to the discipline for visitors, so I would absolutely recommend checking it out despite our less than stellar experience with it. 

The best museum we visited was the Little Museum of Dublin, a relatively new addition to the museum scene in the city. It's located across the street from St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful public park that was the site of a battle during the 1916 Easter Rising, an event that's discussed in detail at the museum.

As the name suggests, it's small, and you need to book a guided tour in advance, but it's absolutely worth the visit and really brings the history of the city to life. All the artifacts in the museum's collections were donated by Dubliners when the museum first started, and they're hoping to be able to expand into the building next door to become the Medium Museum of Dublin. Our tour guide took us into two rooms, one of which focused on Irish history before and during their fight for independence from Britain, and the second which focused on life after Irish independence. They had a room dedicated to the history of U2 with artifacts donated to the museum by the band, as well as a podium that JFK used while speaking at the Irish parliament. We also learned a lot about journalist and activist Nell McCafferty, who was and is a real spitfire. Look her up!

The apartment we stayed at was close to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was another really beautiful church that is slightly younger than Christ Church, dating to about 1191. Contrary to popular belief, neither Christ Church nor St. Patrick's are Catholic cathedrals. We didn't do a guided tour of St. Patrick's, but they had a small exhibit about Ireland's military history, as well as a nice display of Christmas trees in the back of the Cathedral.

There are two other really big tourist destinations in Dublin: the Guinness Storehouse and the Jameson Distillery. Both market themselves as museum-ish, promising to give you a history of the brands and their connections to Dublin, as well as a chance to taste their wares. We went to the Guinness Storehouse first, interested to learn more about one of the most iconic Irish brands.

Now, to be honest, I really wasn't that much of a fan of the Guinness Storehouse. It's a multi story complex that has a lot of impressive, artsy displays, but I felt like instead of giving visitors a chance to really understand how their beer was made, it was just a lot of marketing slogans and felt very much like one long queue up to the rooftop bar at the top of the facility, which allegedly has some of the best views of the city. 

They did have a cool exhibit about the history of Guinness's advertisements, with gigantic models of some of their more iconic mascots, a display of different products that had been sold over the years, and a moving model of my favorite Guinness advertisement - a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle!

The slogan was coined in the 1970's by an Australian feminist, but it is often attributed to Gloria Steinem and has remained in the public consciousness since. Guinness used it during an ad campaign in the 1990's, and I might have bought a t-shirt, tote bag, and tea towel with the advert on it because it really resonated with me. 

The rooftop bar did have really cool views of the city...

But unfortunately, you were sharing the view with approximately 6,000 of your closest friends.

We fled downstairs to redeem our free drink vouchers and find somewhere to sit that wasn't crawling with other people. 

They also had some fun suggestions of how to use Guinness in cooking, which I obviously enjoyed and also had some first hand experience with. I took one of each of the recipe cards, but now I'm not sure where I've put them. Hopefully they'll be located and some of these recipes will make appearances on the blog!

Despite it feeling very tourist trappy and not really museum like, I'm glad we went because the brand is so iconic to Ireland and the building was definitely aesthetically impressive. I really liked the gallery discussing their advertisement history as well, and frankly, the Storehouse is sort of just something that you're expected to do when you're in Dublin, much the same way people visit Times Square when they go to New York even if it's touristy. They even have a wall displaying photos of famous visitors, including one familiar face I was excited to see!

Since I'm apparently the only person who still likes Lost...

The Jameson Distillery was a lot more fun, which really surprised me. As you all know, I'm not really a fan of any kind of alcohol (although I've been growing to appreciate a good Mai Tai, which is a discussion for another day), and whiskey is no exception, so I wasn't expecting to really enjoy the taste testing or overall experience too much. 

I was extremely pleasantly surprised! Unlike Guinness, where you're just released into a massive exhibit/funhouse/long queue to get to the top, Jameson divides visitors into small groups and takes them into three different rooms to give a presentation about the history of their brand. The first discusses the history of Jameson whiskey and its connection to Ireland. The second discusses how the whiskey is made, allowing guests to get up close and personal with small samples of barley and aged whiskey, and the third is a tasting, where Jameson whiskey is put up against two famous brands, one from Scotland and one from America. You're then given a free drink on the house at the bar downstairs, where more drinks and specialty cocktails can be prepared. 

Although both experiences are obviously just gigantic advertisements for these brands, I felt like the Jameson one did a much better job of connecting the brand's history to Ireland as a whole, and the fact that you had a more personal experience learning about the way it was made will probably help the information stick a little better than any of the stuff Guinness was saying. Museums are great because they allow guests to choose what they want to learn about, but Guinness was a little too free form, and almost encouraged guests to rush through just to get to the top, or get distracted by the more artsy displays. 

So, despite the fact that Guinness is probably the more famous of the two, if you could only choose one, I would definitely say go to Jameson over Guinness for a more personal, interesting experience where you'll actually come away with some new information.

We also did a lot of exploring (shopping...) around the city, which has a ton of different options for visitors. One of the arcades we visited had a shop that was basically Modcloth but not online, which was really dangerous for me! Because we were there over New Year's, the Christmas decorations were still up as well, which were a lot of fun to look at, especially at night.

And, of course, we did a lot of eating. 

"Authentic" Irish food - as I believe I've discussed before in other Nellie themed posts - is in a lot of ways not that different from British food, and yes, potatoes tend to be a staple of many traditional dishes. However, modern Irish cuisine is just as multinational as American or Australian food is, with influences from all over the world. We walked by dozens of Indian restaurants, and even ate at a highly recommended barbecue place for dinner one night. We also went to a few pubs for drinks and to rest some weary feet, as we did a lot of walking around on this trip.

A real gem we stumbled upon while walking back from our unsuccessful trip to the Gaol was JK Stoutman's on James's St., where we had extremely delicious fish and chips. The owner was extremely welcoming and friendly (as was everyone we encountered on this trip) and I'm really glad we happened to walk past it and decide to give it a shot. Would absolutely recommend!

We also went to An Evening of Food, Folklore and Fairies at the Brazen Head, which dates back to 1198, making it the oldest pub in Dublin. Here, we got to experience some really tasty more "authentically" Irish foods like beef stew made with Guinness, and Irish stew with potatoes and lamb. We got to learn a little about Irish folklore, history, and music, which was a lot of fun.

On our last night, we went to the Woolen Mills for some other tasty treats, including traditional coddle, haddock with colcannon, mussels and cockles, and a really yummy Christmas pudding.

Hands down my favorite part of the trip was our two breakfasts spent at Queen of Tarts, an adorable tearoom with so many tasty baked goods to try. They have two locations fairly close to each other to help handle the crowd, as it is a pretty popular place to visit. They had delicious, gigantic scones and similarly impressive pots of tea. I could have spent the entire vacation here if my family had let me!

Unfortunately, all too soon it was time to return home... and time to dig up the photos I'd taken of the stew and chocolate cake I'd made back in September. 

(Also, thanks to Michael for remembering the name of two of the restaurants we visited!) 

This all started because I was hankering for some colcannon, and also because like a lot of Americans, I'm slightly fascinated with the land my ancestors were originally from. Knowing it would be criminally irresponsible for me to be left alone in an apartment with a vat of colcannon, I decided to turn it into an opportunity to have some friends over and make a meal of it. 

The recipe for the stew I used was from Damn Delicious. You heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large stock pot, season one pound of stew meat with salt and pepper, and cook until the meat is browned, which should take about three minutes. Once the meat is browned, remove it from the pot and set it aside. Add two chopped cloves of garlic, two chopped carrots, one chopped onion, and one thinly sliced leek to the pot. These cook in the oil and beef drippings for about four minutes, or until they’re tender. Next, add a tablespoon of tomato paste and stir it until everything is well combined. 

The beef goes back into the pan, along with one cup of beef broth, one cup of dark stout beer (I used Guinness, because of course), two tablespoons of fresh parsley leaves that have been, one teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves, and one bay leaf. Season with some more salt and pepper, and then bring the pot to a boil, then turn the heat down to let it simmer for about 90 minutes. 

When that’s done, combine two tablespoons of melted unsalted butter with two tablespoons of flour. This will help the stew thicken. Mix this in, and when the stew is thick, add a half a cup of frozen peas.

Once the peas are heated through, you’re ready to serve either on its own, or over colcannon like I did. The original recipe also provides a recipe for garlic mashed potatoes if you’d prefer that.

To complement the stew, I pulled out a recipe I’ve had saved for literally three years: Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Guinness Cake. It might seem like an involved recipe for someone who’s new at baking cakes from scratch, but I can promise it was really easy and resulted in a very yummy treat. 

In a large pot, take ten tablespoons of unsalted butter and one cup of stout Guinness beer and slowly melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, take it off the heat and add ¾ of a cup of cocoa and two cups of sugar. Whisk it all together and set it aside to prepare the other ingredients. 

Combine ¾ of a cup of sour cream with two large eggs and one tablespoon of vanilla in another bowl. Once it’s blended together, add it to the Guinness mixture. Add two cups of flour and two and a half teaspoons of baking soda and whisk everything together. You’ll probably start noticing that you’re getting a lot of batter to work with. Pour the batter into a well buttered springform cake pan with parchment paper lining the bottom.

This bakes at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until the cake is “risen and firm” according to Nigella. You can test it with a cake tester to be sure. I think mine required about an hour in the oven because my oven runs a little cool, but it did finally come out clean and came out of the pan really easily. 

You’re left with a really tall, dense cake that smells pretty wonderful.

Not a bad spread, right?

In all honesty, the stew was nothing special. It wasn't bad by any means, although I did think the broth tasted a little too buttery, but the flavor of the Guinness didn't really come through for me. It was fine, but not amazing, so I probably won't be making it again in favor of finding other beer based stews to try. 

The cake on the other hand was a completely different story. My love of chocolate cake is very well documented on this blog (my favorite is still the war cake I made for VE Day several years ago), so it probably doesn't come as much of a surprise to hear I really liked this one, but man, it was tasty. Very rich and chocolately, but definitely with that hint of beer lingering in the background. 

It was also a really impressive cake, as it rose a lot in the pan and created this tall, dense cake that made really attractive slices. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to frosting cakes, and tend not to do it if I can get away with it so I didn’t bother to make the topping the recipe suggested, but if you feel differently about frosting on cakes, I think it's safe to say this easily could have been sliced in half, filled with frosting or fruit, and turned into a nice two layer cake. 

It's also always fun to play with a piece of kitchen equipment you don't get to use often. I've played with springforms before (like when I made a Pilgrim era cheesecake), but I don't get to use it anywhere close to frequently, and unhooking the ring to discover a perfectly baked cake is always exciting.

So in short, cake was delicious, stew was just okay, colcannon remains as tasty as ever, and I want to go back to Dublin as soon as possible, especially to enjoy more giant scones at Queen of Tarts. Hopefully you enjoyed hearing about our short trip! 

Ideally, this will be the first of a couple posts talking about different food cultures and treats from around the world, but considering my posting speed these days, I'm not going to make any promises about when you're going to see those. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

Until then, let me know if you give either of these recipes a try!