We Love Cooking!:
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Christmas has well and truly hit the Skehan household! We've only been in our brand new little cottage two months, but it's safe to say we've finally made our house a home. The Christmas decorations are up, the house is filled with Christmas spirit and the scent of warm baking is wafting from the kitchen. Just this week we carried our first Christmas tree up to the house from a little shop in the village; Christmas is here and I'm loving it! The festive season is a fantastic time for cooking, ingredients are celebrated and people are busy stocking up on all those essential Christmas storecupboard ingredients. I'm huge fan of Christmas baking and we're planning a big baking session with my little cousins who are coming over next week; a giant gingerbread house, homemade toffee, christmas tree biscuits and gingerbread muffins are all on the menu. If all this talk of Christmas baking has got you in the mood, then you have to try these absolutely delicious cranberry and white chocolate muffins. They make the best of leftover cranberries, but you could also use any other berry you wish. The sweetness of the white chocolate really balances out the sourness of the cranberries... utterly delicious!

Cranberry and White Chocolate Muffins
If you really want to get ahead of yourself you could make a big batch of these and freeze them to serve for a Christmas morning treat! If you're making them for kids, I'd suggest quickly whizzing the cranberries in a food processor to break up them up a little.

Makes 8-12 Muffins
100g of butter, melted
200ml of buttermilk
Zest of 1 orange
2 large free range eggs
150g of caster sugar
250g of self raising flour
250g of fresh cranberries
200g of white chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 175oC. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.
In a bowl, whisk together the butter, buttermilk, orange zest and set aside.
In a standalone mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in the butter mixture and whisk until combined.
Gently fold in the flour until just combined. Stir through the cranberries and white chocolate until combined. Be sure not to over mix the batter.
Spoon the mixture into the papercases and place in the oven to cook for 15-20 minutes until brown on top.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire wrack to cool.

The funny thing about the food writing biz is that you end up preparing things way in advance of certain events and Christmas is one of the major ones which editors and researchers panic about and will have you cooking turkeys and hams even before Halloween has passed! However it was very refreshing yesterday to be shooting lots of leftover Christmas dinner recipes for RTÉ's 4Live in the middle of the Christmas season with snow on the ground outside. We thrashed through 6 great festive dishes including, cranberry and white chocolate muffins, leftover ham pies, and a Christmas cheesecake. A big thanks to the lads, Robin, Mark, Niall and Tony who left the house last night stuffed... or so they told me! I'll post some of the recipes from the day during the next weeks but for now just in case you have been suffering from Christmas overload, how about some real food?

Roast Garlic Shepherd's Pie
I was never really a big fan of shepherd's pie growing up, mainly because it was churned out most weeks (sorry mom!) so we became far too used to it, which realistically is a terribly ungrateful complaint, but it's only in the last few years I have fallen in love with this classic little dish all over again. I make mine with a twist by stirring mashed roast garlic through the potato, to be honest I normally make it with two bulbs of garlic because I'm a bit of a garlic fiend, but if you are pushed for time skip the garlic and just make the mash, it will taste just a good. Another handy tip to remember is that once you have assembled the shepherd's pie to the point just before you put it in the oven you can actually freeze the pie and cook from frozen if you fancy prepping a few in advance!

Serves 4
1 garlic bulb
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion , chopped
2-3 medium carrots , chopped
500g pack minced lamb
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
400ml beef stock
800g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
75g butter
50ml milk
Sea salt and ground black pepper to season

First things first, get the garlic in the oven! Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6.
Slice the top off the garlic bulb just enough so that each of the cloves is exposed and place on a roasting tray. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with a some sea salt. Place in the oven to roast for 40 minutes or until soft and tender. When the garlic is cooked, remove the roast cloves from their skins and mash with the back of a fork.
While garlic is roasting, add the potato chunks to a pot of cold water, cover, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potato is tender when pierced with a fork.
When the potatoes are cooked, remove from the heat, drain into a colander, then add back into the pot with the butter and milk. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy. You may want to add a little bit more or less milk and butter, it is up to you! Add in the mashed garlic and season with sea salt and ground black pepper, stirring to combine.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat and soften the onion and carrots for 5-6 minutes. Turn up the heat and allow the pan to get hot before you add the minced lamb. Using the a fork break up the meat and allow to brown and cook through for 3-4 minutes. Stir through the tomato purée and Worcestershire sauce until combined and then pour over the beef stock. Bring to a steady simmer, then partially cover and cook for 45 mins.
Preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas Mark 4.
When the lamb is ready, season with sea salt and ground black pepper and transfer to an ovenproof baking dish and top with the roast garlic mash, using a fork to make a nice topping. Give the topping an extra sprinkle of ground black pepper and bake in the oven for 25 mins until the top is starting to brown and the mince is bubbling up around the edges.
Serve straight away for a delicious and comforting supper!

Life is constantly full of surprises, there are some things I plan for and then there are some things that sneak up and just smack you around the chops! I was lucky enough to be shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards last month for my book Good Mood Food, but to be perfectly honest never really expected to win, it was an extremely tight category with some amazing competition. Not being a regular at black tie events I borrowed a tuxedo from my pal Simon, which just about fit, bar some tightening with a belt and dragged myself into the mansion house in Dublin for the awards. It wasn't until the first award winner Donal Og Cusack stepped up to deliver his speech, that the panic set in that on the off chance of winning, I had absolutely NOTHING prepared! Not the way I usually roll! So Best Irish Published category came up and guess what I WON! Honest complete utter shock took over and I really can't remember what I mumbled on stage but I was just so thrilled. It's a fantastic tip of the hat towards young and upcoming writers and huge win for myself, Mercier Press and of course everyone who was involved in producing the book. While celebrations ran into the earlier hours, I managed a couple of hours sleep before getting up to prep my demonstration at the Food&Wine Show in the RDS. It was a fairly packed weekend with the Taste Of Christmas also taking place at the new convention centre in Dublin. For my Food&Wine demo I ran through a collection of traditional Swedish Christmas dishes, after working at a Julbord (the traditional Swedish Christmas buffet) in Gothenberg, I had a great selection of interesting dishes to show off. Along with the Julgrot and Gravadlax I demoed the big hit of the day was the Jansson's Temptation a delicious creamy potato dish which is served alongside the Christmas Ham. It makes an interesting addition to our Irish Christmas dinner and I definitely suggest you give it a go! :)
I am getting around to a full thank you video for the book award but I'll keep you posted on that!

Janssons Temptation
Not unlike a French Potato Dauphinoise this Swedish take features anchovies and is a regular at the Swedish Christmas table. If you don't fancy the anchovies you could of course add some finely chopped garlic instead.

Serves 8
14-16 Swedish anchovy fillets and the brine they're stored in
2 large onions, sliced in half moons
5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into matchsticks
200ml of cream
2 tablespoons of butter
A small handful of fine breadcrumbs
Sea salt and ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 225oC.
Put half the potatoes into a large rectangular pyrex dish. Evenly distribute the anchovy fillets and onions over the top of the potatoes and top with the remaining potatoes.
Pour half the cream and anchovy brine over the top and then add the butter in knobs over the top. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper.
Place in the oven until the potatoes are golden and after 20 minutes remove from the oven and top with the breadcrumbs and remaining cream and brine. Place back in the oven and cook for a further 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

All this snow is not good for the diet. The cold weather seems to always make me crave serious comfort food so I do have to apologise for posting another seriously delicious, seriously sweet recipe! Most of yesterday was spent very busily building a snowman in my friends back garden, so there wasn't much time for cooking. Dinner last night was a quick carbonara, thrown together using the bacon I was gifted by the lads at Truly Irish our stand neighbours at the RDS, who gave me a great selection of pork products to try out! A big pasta dish and a great movie made the perfect snowy evening in!

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies
I don't think there is any question that the Americans know how to create the most overindulgent desserts, and this one ticks all the boxes.
These were created by an American chain of restaurants and have something of a cult following in the US. Put simply, it's cookie dough piled into individual serving dishes and baked at high heat, so you get a set top and edges but a ridiculously gooey interior.
When they are pulled out of the hot oven, a big dollop of vanilla ice cream is plonked on top to melt and mingle with hot, soft cookie. Makes four individual portions.

Serves 4
200g butter, softened
200g light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
120g good-quality milk chocolate chips
Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Pre-heat the oven to 260°C/Gas Mark 9. In a mixing bowl, using a electric hand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until it is light and pale. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat through. Add in the flour and baking soda, little by little, until you have a stiff dough. Using a spatula, stir through the chocolate chips until evenly combined.
Divide the cookie dough among four large six-inch ramekins and place in the oven on a baking sheet. Bake for seven to 10 minutes but keep an eye on them, you want them to puff up and become golden brown around the sides and just about set in the middle. Remove them from the oven and serve straight away with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top.

After a few days in Sweden I'm back on Irish soil this week before I head off to Paris today. It's nice to be back, the more I travel the more I enjoy coming home; I'm not sure if it's because I don't like to leave my kitchen for too long or because it's that time of year where your house really becomes your home.
As always I left Sweden with lots of Scandinavian inspiration, the shops are always so packed with amazing displays but the most interesting items I left with weren't from an expensive shop; they came from a 1950s basement. People with an interest in food photography will know that props can really make a photo and give it a certain style. Since the summer I've been on the hunt for retro kitchen items, rustic table spreads, old doors and pieces of wood to create the pretty scenes that make my food photos what they are. I hit the jackpot when I walked into Sofie's grandmother's basement - an Aladdin's cave packed with an amazing collection of 1950's style kitchen equipment and a fantastic selection of retro cookbooks, complete with old style imagery. After I'd scooped up enough potential props as my baggage restrictions would allow, I spent hours trawling through old Swedish cookbooks (I have enough Swedish to get me by and surprise, surprise, my food vocabulary is top notch!).

I found some really fantastic recipes for gingerbread cookies, gooey chocolate cake, Saffron bread and, of course, all the aspic jellies and gaudy plastic food images that were all the rage back when. The major find of the day was a beautiful old book in which Sofie's grandmother had written her favourite recipes into. It's in these books, handed down through the generations, that you find out what home cooking is really all about. If you have time this weekend, pull out the family cookbook and delve into the recipes which are closest to your heart. Why not start writing one yourself?

Between all the retro diving and cookbook reading, we did manage to stop for a warm hot chocolate and the famous Kanelbulle at Saluhallen, a cook's paradise not unlike the English Market in Cork, which is well worth a visit for a foodie in Gothenburg.

Swedish Cinnamon Buns
Swedish cinnamon buns, or Kanelbulle, were the first thing I learned to bake when I stayed in Sweden. Pearl sugar is sprinkled on top to give it that distinctive finishing touch, but if you can’t get your hands on any, simply sprinkle a little Demerara sugar to finish.

Makes about 40 Buns
400ml/14fl oz milk
110g/4oz butter
2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
110g/4oz sugar
750g/11⁄2lbs cream flour
1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons of Pearl sugar
1 egg beaten

For the filling:
110g/4oz butter
90g/31⁄2oz sugar
2 tablespoons of cinnamon

Melt the butter in a large pot gently on a low heat and then add the milk. When the mixture is lukewarm, remove from the heat and add the two sachets of dried yeast, sugar and salt.
Slowly incorporate the flour one cup at a time; be patient, as the mixture will eventually come together and you won’t be left with a sticky mess forever!
You may need to add less or more of the flour to get the right consistency. When the dough has taken shape and is no longer sticky, turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about three minutes.
Leave the dough to rise in the bowl covered with a damp cloth for 45
minutes.
Try and find somewhere warm, as the yeast will do its job a lot quicker.
While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Gently melt the butter
in a sauce-pan and add the cinnamon and sugar, making a thick
spreadable mixture.
When the dough has risen, cut it in half and roll it into a rectangle about 5mm thick, and then spread the filling all over.
Then, from the long side, roll the dough so you get a snail effect and slice into approximately 15–20 pieces. Place the slices in paper wrappers face up and coat with the beaten egg. Repeat the process with
the second half of the dough.
Sprinkle the buns with pearl sugar. Bake the rolls in the oven at 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 for about 5–10 minutes or until they turn golden brown. Enjoy!

We have guests staying with us in our new place this week and one of my favourite things that happens when people stay over is that breakfast time becomes a bit more of an occasion. While most mornings are spent rushing around desperately trying to shove a piece of toast into your gob while you struggle to put on your shoes, the beauty of guests means there is a bit more pressure to entertain in the morning. I don't mean firing up the hob and pulling out a full Irish brekkie, as tempting as that is, I'm talking about being a little more creative. This week we had blueberry pancakes (batter easily thrown together the night before and popped in the fridge), fruit salad and these delicious and highly addictive Caramel Apple Granola Pots. At this time of year, with its dark, miserable mornings there is even more reason to go all out and make a big deal of your first meal of the day. I find the key to making sure you eat well in the morning is a little bit of preparation just before you go to bed; decide what you want to eat and lay out the ingredients you need, so you can switch to autopilot in the AM! These little granola pots will make the perfect little weekend breakfast so get cooking!

Caramel Apple Granola Pots
I admit that this is quite a sweet breakfast but it is quite filling with the addition of granola. You can buy premade granola or else toast some rolled oats with some honey, cinnamon, and raisins in the oven until golden. It will store quite nicely in an airtight jar for use throughout the week so I often make a double batch.

Serves 4
For the caramel apples:
75g of butter
5 tablespoons of golden syrup
3 golden delicious apples, peeled and cored
1 tablespoon of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

To serve:
Handful of Granola per person
2 tablespoons of Vanilla yoghurt per person

In a small sauce pan bring the butter and golden syrup to the boil. Allow to simmer and bubble for approximately 4-5 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Set aside.
Chop the apples into chunky slices. Melt a knob of butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the apples slices. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and caster sugar, toss to combine. Fry the apples, tossing every now and then until you get a nice golden colour on all sides and they have become soft (About 3-4 minutes either side). When the apples are ready, add them to the butter and golden syrup sauce and stir gently to combine.
Layer the caramel apples with granola and yoghurt in small glasses and serve straight away.

Well we're two rooms down on the house and surprisingly after 3 days in a row in IKEA, I'm still ready for more! We have just got in the door from sorting out the bedroom, with a bed and wardrobe set for delivery tomorrow. I have to admit that with all the rushing around, we have ended up in the cafe twice and I have to confess that I have munched my way through 30 meatballs in the last two days, with copious amounts of mashed potato, gravy and lingonberry jam! But then again when you are lugging your life around there is most definitely a need for some serious comfort food. Speaking of which today's recipe is one of my ultimate comfort foods- Slow cooked lamb shanks for many need absolutely no introduction as you will know just how delicious, slow-cooking this off-cut of meat is. If you haven't tried them before, give this recipe a go it's perfect for the cooler evenings.

Lamb Shanks with Colcannon Mash
I really am a sucker for a good lamb shank, with it's melt-in-the-mouth texture, which literally falls off the bone, it truly is a thing of beauty! The key is to slow cook it at a low temperature. This transforms the gnarly piece of meat into a rich and juicy piece of deliciousness. You can serve it on normal mash, sweet potato mash, or with lentils, but I love colcannon and seeing as it is the season, it makes perfect sense!

Serves 4
30ml/2 tbsp of olive oil
4 lamb shanks
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 stalk of celery, finely sliced
350ml/12 fl oz of red wine
A few sprigs of thyme, tied in a bunch with string
650ml/1 ½ pts of stock (vegetable or beef)
2 tablespoons of cornflour
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

In a large casserole dish, heat the olive oil and add the lamb shanks and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Fry the onions for two to three minutes until soft but not browned. Add the garlic, carrot and celery and fry for another couple of minutes. Pop in the thyme and stir through.
Add the red wine and bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes.
Place in the browned lamb shanks and pour over the stock. Bring to a steady simmer, then cover and place in the oven at 150oC/300oF/Gas Mark 2.
Cook the lamb shanks very slowly, for three hours, turning them half way through the cooking time, until the meat is extremely tender and almost falls off the bone. Toward the end of the cooking time, taste and season.
If you want to serve the lamb shanks with its juices, I remove a few ladles of the juices and place them in a small saucepan. Then place two tablespoons of the juices in a bowl and stir through the cornflour until you have a smooth mix, pour this back into the saucepan and bring to a steady simmer, cooking down until you have a thick gravy.
Serve in large deep bowls with the colcannon.

For the colcannon:
1kg potatoes, peeled and diced
250g cabbage, finely sliced
1 bunch of spring onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons of butter
75ml of milk or cream
A good pinch of sea salt and black pepper

Add the peeled and diced potato to a pot of cold water, cover, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potato is tender when pierced with a fork.
Place a metal steamer into another pot, add a little water and bring to the boil. Place the cabbage into the steamer and steam cook until it is tender.
When the potatoes are cooked, remove from the heat, drain into a colander, then add back into the pot with the butter and milk. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy. You may want to add a little bit more or less milk and butter, it's up to you!
Add in the spring onion, steamed cabbage, sea salt and black pepper and stir through with a spoon until evenly combined.
Serve with the lamb shanks.

After a fairly busy weekend the majority of my worldly belongings have been moved into our new house! The bad news we got today however is that it's going to take a whopping 25 days to get broadband installed in the house because there hasn't been a line there since 1994. So a life of robbing other peoples internet is what's on the cards for the next 25 days. Which isn't a bad thing really, I mean I would get far more things done if I wasn't drooling over my new favourite food blog What Katie Ate and talking crap on twitter. The truth is that I will probably far more focused now on cooking in the kitchen without my laptop keys getting covered in flour, corners nearly being singed and screen getting a lovely smattering of grease.

We should really talk about the kitchen, it is a bit of a work in progress but there is lots and lots of light and space so in the next few days I'll be adding a few touches to make it perfect and then you most definitely will be due a photo or two. Very exciting stuff! The other advantage this new lovely house has is a big back garden, which at the moment looks like an overgrown jungle, but with a bit of work, by next spring will make the perfect little vegetable garden! Right enough new house talk how about a recipe?

Rustic Apple and Blackberry Galettes
These are one of my favorite little autumnal (yes I said autumnal, it rolls off the tongue doesn't it!) desserts, because they are really easy and make you look like a baking genius, when, realistically all you do is make some pastry and fill it with apples and blackberries. No messing around with blind baking, pie tins, or fancy latticing here, this is a no fuss dessert which you have to serve with cream or, even better, a soft scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Serves 4
Pastry:
250g of plain flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
140g of chilled butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk
3 tablespoons of cold water

Filling:
250g of blackberries
250g of cooking apples, peeled and sliced thinly
4 tablespoons of light brown sugar
A good squeeze of lemon juice
1 egg whisked together with a drop of milk to brush on the galettes

Add the flour, sugar, salt and butter to a mixing bowl.
Using your fingertips, combine the dry ingredients with the butter, until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. This can take time, but don't worry the mixture will come together.
Add the egg yolk and water and form the dough using your hands.
Press the dough into a sausage shape and cover it in clingfilm, place in the fridge to chill for at least 30-40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190oC/Gas mark 5.
Mix together the blackberries, apples, sugar, and lemon juice in a bowl and set aside.
Split the dough in four and roll each quarter out into 6"/15cm circles on a floured work surface with a rolling pin. Transfer the rounds to a baking sheet with a non stick surface.
Add a handful of the blackberry apple mix to the centre of each pastry circle and fold the sides of the pastry up and over the sides of the fruit mix. Brush with the pastry with egg wash and place in the oven to bake for 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool before serving with a dollop of thick, cool whipped cream and dust with a little icing sugar.

I always had a sweet tooth growing up and it hasn't helped that I now am a bit of a demon in the kitchen when it comes to baking sweet things. My theory is that if you're going to go to the bother of baking, you might as well make a big batch of whatever you're cooking up. Now whether you share your baking creations or scoff them in a corner rocking by yourself, well that's entirely up to you! I try and balance all my baking and sweet stuff out with lots of healthy food too, so in mind it all balances out just perfectly. While I do very much enjoy spending time beating sugar into butter, whisking eggs into stiff foamy peaks, and icing cupcakes, sometimes, yes sometimes folks, it all comes down to little more than rice crispy buns. To be honest, I'm not ashamed to say it, there is an incredible sense of satisfaction to melting chocolate and then pouring it over crisped grains of rice, placing in paper cases, popping them in the fridge, licking the spoon (and the bowl if you maneuver yourself correctly!), and gorging on the buns when they are set! I decided recently to go one better and take the simplicity of rice crispy buns and combining them with the American sweetness of rocky road cookies, and "hey presto!", my very delicious Crunchie Rocky Road Buns!

Crunchie Rocky Road Buns
Okay, so you've gotten past Rice Krispie buns; well, these Rocky Road Buns are the next step up in deliciousness. Packed with lots of goodies, these little babies will give you that quick hit of sugar you crave. They're easily thrown together in a matter of minutes with ingredients that can be found in the store cupboard. I picked up a very cute pack of 'mini mini marshmallows' to decorate the top of mine.

Makes 12 big buns
150g digestive biscuits, roughly bashed so you have nice chunks
200g mini marshmallows, or large ones chopped up
4 Crunchie bars, chopped into chunks
250g chocolate (milk or dark)
3 tbsps butter

In a large bowl combine the digestive biscuits, marshmallows and Crunchie bar chunks and set aside.
Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and sit over a pan of simmering water and stir until melted. You can also do this in the microwave -- just keep your eye on it and don't forget to stir halfway through.
You ideally want the chocolate to be glossy and smooth.
Pour the chocolate and butter over the biscuits, marshmallows and Crunchie chunks and, using a wooden spoon, stir until everything is nicely coated.
Place heaped spoonfuls into paper cases and place in the fridge to firm up for about 30 minutes.
You can also turn the mixture out on to a baking tray and spread it evenly, then slice them up into squares when they are set, but the paper cases are far less trouble, with no washing up!

It's quickly becoming an annual tradition that early on a Saturday morning at the start of autumn just before the leaves fall from the trees, we take my little cousin out blackberry picking. It doesn't take too much persuading really, because at the end of our trek around the local hedgerows and fields, she always knows we'll end up cooking a whole batch of sweets and treats. Last year we spent a bumper day of cooking, which included, Blackberry Coulis, Blackberry Mess and the most amazing blackberry cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting! AMAZING!

This year it was just a big batch of blackberry jam and these really easy blackberry crumb slices.
Blackberries are most certainly not the most pretty of fruits our Irish countryside has to offer, especially when compared to our most prized summer berry the seductive and far more grown up, glamourous, strawberry. No the blackberry is a bit more like your rough and ready cousin who doesn’t bother with the latest trends and insists on wearing wooly jumpers! But despite all this, blackberries are by far the most accessible and economical of all the fruits our countryside has to offer, with bramble bushes along most road sides literally teeming with the bulging black fruit.
So if you have the time this weekend, grab a few extra hands, pull out an old basket or a bucket and get picking! I got some good advice to bring an umbrella with a hook on the end to pull down the branches- the big ones are always at the top!

Blackberry Crumb Slices
I think these blackberry crumb slices match the fruit perfectly! They are most definitely and bit more rustic looking than most cake slices, but are full of warm sponge and juicy flavours. Both the cake mix and the crumb topping are extremely easy to make and great for baking with kids!

Makes 24 delicious slices
115g butter, at room temperature
175g caster sugar
1 large free range egg
280g self raising flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
125ml milk
300g of fresh blackberries (you could use frozen if you’re stuck)

For the sweet crumb topping
115g caster sugar
85g plain flour
zest of 1 lemon
75g of butter

Preheat the oven to 190oC/Gas Mark 5.
Grease a rectangular baking tin and line it with parchment paper. If you’re stuck for parchment paper you could probably get away with greasing the tin and flouring it instead.
Using a hand mixer, in a bowl beat together the sugar and butter until pale. Add in the egg whisking to incorporate the mixture little by little.
Using a wooden spoon fold in the flour, cinnamon and milk. Mix gently until you have a sticky dough like mixture.
Spread evenly across the bottom of the prepared baking tin, this requires patience as the dough can be sticky, but bear with it you’ll get there! Then arrange the blackberries on top. Set aside while you prepare the sweet crumb topping.
Add all the ingredients for the sweet crumb topping to a bowl and rub the dry ingredients into the butter with your fingertips as you would with pastry. Keep mixing until you have a mixture that resembles rough breadcrumbs.
Sprinkle the crumb topping over the blackberries in the baking tray and place in the oven on the middle rack for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing into 24 pieces.

Unfortunately the last of the Swedish summer hasn't been as kind as I had hoped, with most of my time being spent dodging the rain, it all feels very much like home. However, the bad weather hasn't dampened our spirits and we soldiered on, enjoying one of the more traditional events of any true Swede's summer calendar, the highly regarded Kraftfest! For a foreigner, this can be a fairly strange event to come across, so put simply it's a party where large groups of Swedes don bibs and funny hats to guzzle and suck their way through mountains of Swedish crayfish, interrupted only by traditional kraftfest songs while downing copious amounts of schnapps (which, by the way, tastes like paint stripper!). In fairness to the Swedes they most definitely know how to make the best of the summer.

One of the other very exciting things I've had the chance to try my hand at is wild blueberry picking! Over 60% of Sweden is covered by rich forests which are literally teaming with low lying bushes covered in little blue dots throughout late summer. Like any good Irish fella, I never pass on the chance of free food, so as soon as I heard about these little babies, we were in the car and deep in the woods in record time.

One of the things I learned early on about Sweden is that everything has a system, and blueberry picking is no different, they have these fantastic rectangular boxes with a handle and little prongs to pick the berries, which makes it as simple as running it through the bushes, to pick up generous handfuls bursting with goodness! We are still working our way through the huge amount we picked, making American style blueberry muffins and a delicious blueberry créme brulee, but this was one of the desserts which perfectly complimented the little berries.

Swedish Gooey Chocolate Cake
If you're looking for a gooey chocolate fix, you've come to the right place. This cake is perfect for a quick dessert using ingredients you probably already have in your store cupboard. To be perfectly honest, it tastes so good on its own it can just as easily be served without the cream and the berries! I have witnessed the picking apart of a cake just like this straight out of the oven by a hungry group of young ladies. It was similar to a scene from a David Attenborough documentary - believe me, they didn't need the frills!

Serves 8
100g butter
200g sugar
2 eggs
70g flour
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:
500ml of double cream
150g of blueberries and raspberries

Preheat the oven to 175oC. Grease and flour a cake tin 24cm in diameter with a removable base and set aside.
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the sugar and the egg and mix well.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into the greased cake tin and place in the oven for 20 minutes. The cake won't rise dramatically but you should be left with a set top and gooey middle! Allow to cool while you whip the cream until it become stiff.
When you're ready to serve, spoon generous dollops of whipped cream on top and then decorate with blueberries and raspberries.

I very excited to tell you I am in London!!! For the next two weeks we are shooting the photos of the recipes for my new book which is going to out in March 2011. To say I am excited is probably a total understatement because for me this is the most interesting part of producing a cook book. The first time around for Good Mood Food I was a totally unorganised mess, when it came to planning the photography, I was coaxed along the way by my lovely Aunt Erica who did the majority of food styling, but this time around it's all rolled nicely into two weeks. It also helps that this time I have a far better idea of what I'm doing! My kit has been upgraded and I have a set work pattern which hopefully by this time two weeks will have held up long enough to have provided me with all the photos required! I'll try and stick up a few posts about the whole process if I can- for now enjoy these very cute whoopie pies which look very pretty indeed! :)

Go Nuts Nutella Whoopie Pies!
By dropping the cocoa powder from the original whoopie recipe and substituting flour you get left with really beautiful plain whoopie discs. As a filling I use a combination of nutella and smooth peanut butter but you could also use the chocolate frosting from the cupcake recipe.

Makes 16 whoopie pies
120g/4oz butter
190g/6 ½ oz caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
345g/12oz of plain flour
5g/1 tsp of baking powder
5ml/1 tsp of vanilla extract
250ml/8 ½ fl oz of buttermilk

For the filling:
80g of smooth peanut butter
80g of nutella

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350oF/Gas Mark 4 and line two baking sheets.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
In another bowl, using an electric whisk, cream the sugar and the butter until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs gradually, mixing well to combine.
Add the vanilla extract to the buttermilk and, alternating with the dry ingredients, add to the bowl, mixing until everything is combined and you are left with a thick batter.
Spoon rounded teaspoons of the batter onto lined baking sheets, allowing space for them to spread while cooking. Place in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the tops have puffed up and spring back when lightly pressed.
When they are cooked, remove the mini pie halves from the baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on wire rack to cool.
Once cooled, spread a teaspoon of the nutella on the flat side of 16 of the pie halves. Spread a teaspoon of peanut butter on the remaining 16 pie halves and sandwich together with the nutella pies.
These little pies are heavy going so make sure to serve with a glass of cold milk.

I think Sweden is slightly behind on the garden growing front, we visited Sofie's dad's little garden patch last night and his strawberries are still a little bit away from bursting into colour. Though bearing in mind the last time I was here the ground was covered completely in a thick layer of snow, could have a lot to do with it! When I left on Monday our strawberries plants were heaving with big ruby red fruit and suprisingly enough the birds weren't hatching their usual plan to steal them all. I guess seeing me shouting at them in my underwear with a stick during last years seige did the trick!

One of the cool things Sweden has on the strawberry front are these fantastic wild plants which produce the tiniest little sweet strawberries you can imagine. They grow in garden hedgerows and are found throughout Sweden. Hopefully there will be a few ripe ones ready to pick before I leave so I can photograph them and show you. Today's recipe is one I shot a few weeks back with some beautiful Irish strawberries which are bang smack in season right now, so if your tempted pick up some and make this delicious cake!

Mega Strawberry Summer Cake
Strawberries really should be celebrated with over the top desserts and if you want to look beyond the simplicity and utter deliciousness of strawberries and cream then this is the cake for you!
When you are assembling the layers of cake make sure you give it an extra little squeeze to ensure those mouth watering dribbles of jam down the sides.

Serves 8
3 large eggs
225g of caster sugar
50g of butter, melted
100ml of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
210g plain flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder

For the filling and topping:
80g of strawberry jam
300g of strawberries, hulled
250ml of cream

Preheat the oven to 175oC/Gas 4 and grease and line two x 8 inch spring form baking tins.
Using a handheld electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy.
Mix the milk, melted butter and vanilla extract together in a measuring jug and pour into the sugar and egg. Mix through to combine.
Sieve the flour and baking powder into the bowl and then using a spatula, gently fold in to the cake mix until completely smooth and combined.
Divide the mix evenly between the two baking tins and place in the oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
When both cake layers are completely cooled, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Sieve the jam into a bowl to ensure it is really smooth.
If the cake layers have a peak in the middle make sure to slice it off so you are left with perfectly flat layers.
Place one layer on a cake stand and dollop with half the cream, spread evenly and then drizzle with the smooth strawberry jam. Carefully place the second cake layer on top and add the remaining whipped cream and strawberries.

I have over one hundred cookbooks in my possession and although I love to flick through them for ideas and inspiration, I have rarely cooked a recipe exactly as it is written. One of my new years resolutions was to cook my way through some of my favourite cookbooks and seek out the best recipes! I made these chocolate caramel squares recently and they went down a storm!

Bill Granger's Chocolate Caramel Slices
(Recipe from Bill Granger's "Holiday")
This fantastic and highly addictive recipe comes from Aussie chef, Bill Granger and it makes possibly the most delicious chocolate caramel slices you will ever taste. The addition of coconut here gives a great extra texture and flavour.

Makes about 20 squares
125g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
90g dessicated coconut
115g caster sugar
125g butter, melted

Filling
100g butter
100g brown sugar
397g tin of condensed milk
2 tablespoons of golden syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
150g dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas Mark 4 and lightly grease and line an 18 x 28cm baking tin.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, add the coconut, sugar and butter and stir together well. Press firmly into the base of the tin and bake for 12 minutes, or until light golden.
To make the filling, put the butter, brown sugar, condensed milk, golden syrup and vanilla in a saucepan over a low heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes , or until light golden. Pour evenly over the cooked base, then return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
Once the caramel is cool, put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, stirring occasionally until the chocolate has melted (or melt the chocolate very carefully in a microwave oven). Spread the chocolate evenly over the caramel and place in a cool place to set, before slicing into squares.

Another recipe from that amazing dinnerparty I keep mentioning, this time it's the turn of the amazing cheesecake which Sadhbh's son Jamie prepared. Cheesecake is definitely a winner when it comes to making desserts ahead of time, and even if you don't have a son to make it for you, it's not to tricky to get great results! :)

White Chocolate Cheesecake
(Recipe from Bill Granger's "Bills Food")

Serves 8
100g plain digestive biscuits
50g butter, melted
400g of good quality white chocolate
284 ml carton of double cream
250g full-fat soft cheese (such as Moonshine Farm cream cheese)
250g tub of mascarpone cheese

For the sauce
275g blueberries, raspberries or strawberries, plus extra to serve
50g golden caster sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Whizz the biscuits in a processor until they look like breadcrumbs. Pour in the melted butter and whiz again briefly. Line the base of a 20cm springform tin with a disc of baking parchment. Tip the mixture in and press firmly to cover the base in an even layer – use the back of a spoon. Cover and keep in the fridge until you’re ready to make the topping.
Break the chocolate into small pieces into a heatproof bowl. Put it over a pan of simmering water, then remove the pan from the heat and set aside until the chocolate has melted. Stir once or twice. Remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool slightly.
Gently beat the cream, cheese and mascarpone in a bowl until well-combined – don’t overbeat it or it will go too stiff. Stir in the melted chocolate until the mix is smooth. Spoon this mixture on to the biscuit base and put the cheesecake back in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
To make the sauce, tip half the blueberries into a blender or food processor, add the sugar and lemon juice and puree until smooth. Press through a sieve into a bowl and set aside until needed.
Remove the cheesecake from the tin and cut into slices. Transfer to serving plates, drizzle with the fruit sauce and top with the remaining fresh fruit.

There seems to be quite a lot of debate about banana bread and whether or not the inclusion of nuts is significant. I'm not really sure which side of the fence I stand on over this, so for now I'm going to plonk myself right in the middle, on the fence! It's actually quite comfortable here and I can see both perspectives. On one hand, there are those who love the combination of the crunchy nuts through the soft cake, the flavours of the two mingling together in one mouthful of wonderfulness, completely oblivious as to why you would accept anything less. Then on the other side I see all you lovely people who really can't see why you would tarnish such a pure and delightfully moist, spongy, banana flavoured loaf with the somewhat crude addition of nuts. Well I say stop your cribbin' and either way this recipe is damn good and will accommodate for both your nut or non nut needs!

Auntie Ann's Banana Bread
This recipe comes from my auntie Ann who spent a lot of time in America over the years and has picked up some really great US inspired recipes. This banana bread is deliciously moist and is extremely easy to throw together. I add a little sliced banana on top before it goes into the oven, but if you want you sprinkle some nuts on top or even stir some chopped ones through.

Makes 8 mini loaves or 2 larger loaves
110g butter
190g caster sugar
2 large eggs
240g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 large bananas

Preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas Mark 4.
Cream the sugar and the butter in a bowl with a hand held mixer until light and pale. Add in one egg and a little flour and mix through, repeat with the other egg and the rest of flour and baking soda, until everything is mixed through and smooth.
Peel the bananas and mash them with the back of a fork. Add them to the bowl with the vanilla extract and mix through.
Pour the mix into a well greased loaf tin and place in an oven for approximately 50 minutes. You can cover it with tinfoil after 25 minutes to stop it browning too much on top if you need too.
Insert a metal skewer into the centre of the loaf and if it comes out clean the banana bread is ready. Remove from the loaf tin and place on a wire rack to cool.
Enjoy with a big cuppa and filthy smile!

What I think I love most about Gizzi's book is her take on recipes, a perfect example being this Sticky Banoffee Pudding, what an inspired idea of combining banoffee pie and sticky toffee pudding, clearly the woman is a genius! If you are intrigued by the lovely Gizzi then you should definitely take a peak at the video below, where she talks about her style of cooking and her favourite recipes in the book.

Which reminds me I really should make one of those for Good Mood Food! Now that you have a full grasp of what Gizzi is all about I think it's high time we getting cracking with one of her recipes. I chose this recipe basically because not only does it look delicious, but because it combines two of my favourite desserts, simple really! :) Also don't forget to give me your questions for Ms. Erskine in the comments below or on twitter and facebook.

Gizzi Erskine's Sticky Banoffee Pudding
This is my boyfriend Dean’s recipe. While he is a fantastic cook, he is so lazy he never cooks for me, except for this. And my God, does it make up for it! The banana is terrific with the toffeeish dates and keeps the pudding really moist.

Serves 6
Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 40 minutes
250g dates, stoned and chopped
250ml hot black tea, made with 1 teabag
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
85g softened unsalted butter, plus extra butter
for greasing
175g caster sugar
2 large free-range eggs, beaten
175g self-raising fl our, sieved
3 bananas, roughly mashed
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
vanilla ice cream, or clotted cream, to serve

For the sauce
100g light muscovado sugar
100g unsalted butter
150ml double cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4 and butter a 22cm baking dish.
Place the dates in a small pan and cover with the hot tea. Bring to the boil and cook for 3–4 minutes, until the dates have softened, then stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time. Fold in the fl our, banana, mixed spice and the date mixture and pour into the baking dish. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the top is springy and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre.
While the pudding is cooking, make the sauce. Put the muscovado sugar, butter and cream into a pan, place over a low heat and melt until the sugar has dissolved. Then whack the heat up and simmer for 3–4 minutes, or until the sauce is a light toffee colour.
Serve the pudding with the warm sauce and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or clotted cream.
Or remove the bananas from the ingredients and you’ve got a classic sticky toffee pudding!

(Taken from Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic by Gizzi Erskine published by Virgin Books, price £20)

So I'm back in Dublin after a week of skiing up in Idre, in the north of Sweden for the Easter holidays. It might sound glamorous, but when you add the fact that we are sharing with 15 other people it becomes a little less so, but lots of fun! I haven't had much experience skiing, only having gone once before so I am certainly not an expert, which meant putting extra effort into using every muscle in my body to ensure I did't fall! This in turn resulted in me being absolutely ravenous by the time we got home everyday! The Swedes love their cheese and Vasterbotensost is one of there most well known and well established. I made this pie for a quick lunch and it was gone in seconds!

Västerbottensost Pie
Västerbottensost is a strong-tasting, crispy cheese, from Sweden with a delicious golden surface. The cheese is produced near the Arctic Circle in West Bothnia, Sweden, and has been made there exclusively since 1872. This pie can easily be adapted to use whatever cheese you can get your hands on, I am going to try it with Cashel Blue when I'm back in Ireland. The pastry is really lovely and buttery and makes a delicious crust for the soft cheese filling. This is a perfect little lunchtime dish!

Makes enough for 6-8 portions
For the pastry:
125 g/4½ oz butter, cold and cut into pieces
225g/8 oz plain flour
1 tbsp water

For the filling:
150 g/5 oz grated Västerbottensost (or any cheese you can get your hands on)
3 eggs
200 ml/7 fl oz double cream
A small handful of dill, roughly chopped
A pinch sea salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 225°C/425°F/Gas 7.
Using your finger tips combine the flour and butter in a bowl until you are left with rough bread crumbs. Add in the water and bring the dough together. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.
Roll out the pastry until about 1/2cm thickness and use it to line a pie dish with a removable base. Prick the base with a fork and place in the oven for about 10 minutes until light and golden.
While the pastry blind bakes, mix together the eggs and cream, whisking to combine. Stir in the cheese and the dill and season with sea salt and black pepper.
Pour the cheese mixture into the pie case and bake for about 20 min or until the pie filling is set. Allow to cool and serve in generous slices.

Of all the dishes we prepared for Foodstock, I am pretty certain that the Irish Seafood Chowder was the biggest success. I am told that the French absolutely love their seafood which is probably why! The chowder we made had a great selection of fish, haddock, cod, smoked fish, and prawns which the amazing chefs at the Chalet meticulously prepared for us. I have to admit that cooking on such a large scale can be quite daunting in terms of producing a similar end product to that of a smaller quantity, but that said between the whole team we served up some damn tasty chowder!

For about an hour on the Wednesday night I did feel like I was in a soup kitchen and there was a high chance of some sort of repetitive strain injury after ladling the chowder 350 times! Luckily we had the lovely ladies from Bord Bia to help us out, one of whom was out on her first assignment with them, though I’m pretty sure she is well inducted after Foodstock.

Irish Seafood Chowder
This is the kind of soup that if you put a lot of love and time in you will get the best results. The key is to add the fish at the very end leaving just enough time to let them cook. Cook the fish pieces too long and you will be left with an Irish seafood mush rather than a chunky creamy chowder!

Serves 8 (Makes 3.15 litres)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
100g salt pork diced (or pancetta/bacon bits)

2 dried bay leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 kg of peeled and diced potatoes
1.125 litre of fish stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1.25kg of cod (or similar white fish)
750g of fresh salmon
500g of mussels
500g of smoked haddock
330ml of heavy cream
1 tablespoon of fresh parsley, chopped finely
100g of smoked salmon, cut into fine strips for garnish

In a large pot, heat the butter and sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes.
Add the salt pork and continue to fry until it colours.
Add in the fresh thyme, bay leaves and potatoes and cook gently for 2-3 minutes before adding the fish stock.
Season well with salt and pepper.
Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are tender yet firm. (Some of the potato will break down and help thicken the chowder).
Add the haddock, salmon, cod and mussels and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and allow to sit before finally and gently stirring in the parsley and cream.
Serve with the strips of smoked salmon as a garnish on top.

Now when it comes to cakes and desserts, I am proud to say that cupcakes are my forte, I have been making them way before they became cool, back in the day when they were known merely as fairy cakes or buns and a little drizzle of icing would cut it as decoration. However, in the fast paced foodie world in which I roll, it was really only a matter of time before the cupcake title, as one of the most talked about bakery items, was to be challenged.

Let me introduce you to the whoopie pie; Not exactly a new idea, much like the beloved cupcake, whoopie pies have been around for years. Originally a native dessert of Maine, New England, the pies were baked by the wives of farmers, for a lunchtime treat, where upon finding one in their lunch box, the farmers are said to have cried out "Whoopie!", so hence their name. The pies are like mini chocolate cake sandwiches which ooze a delicious, creamy, frosting filling, and if foodies in the know are to be believed, these babies are going to be the next big thing!

Whoopie Pies
I was sent this recipe by a reader of my blog, who's mother in law, Mrs Linda Daunt has lived all her life in Maine, New England and is a fantastic cook. She bakes these pies for special occasions, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, birthdays, weddings, funerals and occasionally by special request when one of her daughters feels nostalgic for their childhood. Mrs. Daunt's special touch is to add buttermilk instead of regular milk, to give the pies a richer taste.

Makes 16 whoopie pies
120g butter
190g sugar
2 eggs
270g of flour
5 tablespoons of good quality cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
250ml of buttermilk

Filling:
250g icing sugar
170g butter
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
A pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and line two baking sheets.
Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
In another bowl, using an electric whisk, cream the sugar and the butter until pale and fluffy. Add in the egg, mixing again to combine.
Slowly add the buttermilk and vanilla extract and dry ingredients to the bowl, in batches, mixing until everything is combined and you are left with a thick batter.
Spoon rounded teaspoons of the batter onto lined baking sheets, allowing space for them to spread while cooking. Place in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the tops have puffed up and spring back when lightly pressed.
While the mini pies halves are baking, prepare the filling by beating together all the ingredients until you are left with a nice smooth mix.
When they are cooked, remove the mini pie halves from the baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on wire rack to cool.
When the mini pies halves have cooled, spread a rounded teaspoon of the creamy filling on the flat side and sandwich together with another.
Et voila, whoopie pies!