We Love Cooking!:
icing sugar

I was honoured this year to be included in the line up chefs demonstrating at two of the Irish summers top foodie events Taste of Dublin and Bord Bia's Bloom in the Park. Shamefully I had never been to either events, so it was fantastic to finally have my eyes opened to massive amount of work that goes in to creating such amazing displays and stands. I have had the experience of demonstrating in front of large crowds before and a brief stint in the musical world has meant that I no longer suffer too badly from nerves, but this was a little different. When you are included on the lineup with well established people who you have watched cooking growing up the pressure is really on! For my demonstration at Bloom I did a selection of dishes based around in season produce and one of them was this mouthwatering Summer Berry Pavlova.

Summer Berry Layered Pavlova
This mix makes a chewy, marshmallow meringue, which goes perfectly with the cream and berries. Layering the meringue discs gives this beautiful summer dish fantastic texture! If you haven't tried making meringues before, don't be scared as this mix is fairly fool proof, just pop the icing sugar and egg whites in a mixer and whisk till you have stiff glossy peaks, add in the cornflour and white wine vinegar, pop in the oven and you're sorted.

Serves 8
250g icing sugar
4 egg whites
2 teaspoons of cornflour
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
500ml of cream, whipped
250g of mixed berries

Preheat the oven to 150oC/Gas Mark 2
Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Draw a large circle 25cm/10inch on each piece of parchment paper.
Place the icing sugar and egg whites in a standing food mixer and whisk on high for 10 minutes until glossy white peaks form.
Using a spatula, gently fold in the cornflour and the white wine vinegar.
Divide the meringue mixture between the two baking trays and using a tablespoon, form two large meringue discs.
Bake for 45 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Assemble the pavlova, by spooning half the cream onto the first layer of meringue, adding half the berries and topping with the other meringue layer, remaing berries and cream.

Strawberries a true sign of summer and the ones in my garden are just about to burst with their mouthwatering red colour! A few weeks ago I was invited to the launch of National Irish Strawberry Week in Bord Bia which is runnung all this week and a fantastic strawberry recipe demonstration by the equally fantastic Catherine Fulvio. Catherine will be known to many Irish food fans for her series "Catherine's Italian Kitchen" which is shown on RTE One. Catherine also owns the Ballyknocken Cookery School in Wicklow and guided us through some really fantastic strawberry recipes which I will be posting this week. Here is the first!

Quick Millefeuille with Toasted Hazelnuts, Cointreau and Strawberry Mascarpone Cream Filling
To toast the hazelnuts, purchase the hazelnuts without skins if possible, then lightly chop and toast in a preheated oven 180C / gas 4 until lightly browned, about 15 minutes

Serves 4 (makes 2 millefeuille, each serves 2 persons)
1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry (approx. 200g)
Flour for dusting
1 egg, beaten
300g strawberries, hulled and sliced
20g hazelnuts, roughly chopped and toasted
Mint leaves for decorating
For the filling
250g mascarpone
60ml cream
50g icing sugar
Zest of 1 orange
For the jam
5 tablespoons of strawberry jam
2 tablespoons of cointreau (or orange juice)

Open out the sheet of pastry on a floured surface, roll it out a little thinner, to a 30 x 32cm rectangle. Divide into 3 equal rectangles.
Then place the pastry on a floured baking sheet. Prick all over with a fork and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180ºC.
Remove the pastry from the fridge, brush with egg wash. Place in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Combine the mascarpone, cream, icing sugar and orange zest.
Mix the jam with the cointreau (or orange juice).
To assemble the mille-feuille, place one pastry strip on a board or serving plate, brush with half the strawberry jam, spread over a third of the cream mixture, a sprinkle of hazelnuts and cover with a layer of strawberries. Place the second piece of pastry on top. Brush with the remaining strawberry jam, spread over half of the remaining cream, a sprinkle of hazelnuts and a layer of strawberries. Place the last piece of pastry on top and spread over the cream and then a layer of strawberries and sprinkle on the remaining hazelnuts. Chill for 30 minutes.
Decorate with mint leaves and dust with icing sugar just before serving.

Who doesn’t like Meringues? They always go down well in my books and are a really great dessert to make in advance because you can bake them ahead of time and they store extremely well. In our case for foodstock we baked off a mammoth amount of them, 700 to be exact on the Monday before the event on Wednesday and when it came to serving all we had to do was give them a scoop of Jameson whiskey cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce and a sprinkle of chopped toasted hazelnuts!

I have to say that by the end of the night, there was a fantastic sense of team work when everyone who had been helping us all night, came down to the kitchen- the chefs, the girls from Bord Bia, the staff at the Chalet and the guys from Le Fooding, to work together to get the meringues out and ready! Every free space in the kitchen was taken up and there was meringues as far as the eye could see and in no time we were ready to serve up the last course. Let me just say that these chewy mocha meringues dripping with chocolate sauce didn’t last long in front of the eager crowd and within no time at all we had served them all up!

Mocha Meringues with Jameson Whiskey Cream, Chocolate Sauce and toasted Hazelnuts
This batter makes a really chewy, marshmallow meringue, which goes perfectly with the whiskey cream. If you aren't a coffee fan, drop the espresso powder from the recipe and replace it with more cocoa powder.

Makes 12 meringues
250g icing sugar
4 egg whites
2 teaspoons of cornflour
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
10g of good quality cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder
60g of chopped toasted hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 150oC/Gas Mark 2
Line two baking trays with baking parchment.
Place the icing sugar and egg whites in a standing food mixer and whisk on high for 10 minutes until glossy white peaks form.
Using a spatula, gently fold in the cornflour and the white wine vinegar. When this is mixed through, sift the cocoa powder and espresso powder over the meringue mix and gently fold in.
Using a tablespoon, place 3inch/8cm spoonfuls of the meringue mix onto the baking tray and flatten each one gently in the centre with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 45 minutes.

For the dark chocolate sauce:
30g caster sugar
60ml of water
50g of good quality dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder

Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan over a medium heat and stir gently to dissolve the sugar.
Add the espresso powder, whisk through and bring the mix to a steady simmer for 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat, allow to sit for 1-2 minutes, then add the chocolate and whisk through until combined.
Sift in the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.

For the Jameson Whiskey Cream
375ml of cream
3 tablespoons of Jameson whiskey
3 tablespoons of icing sugar

Whisk the cream into soft peaks.
Dissolve the icing sugar with the whiskey in a bowl and then add to the cream, folding to combine.

To assemble the meringues, place one on each plate, add a spoonful of Jameson whiskey cream on top, drizzle with the chocolate sauce and sprinkle with the toasted nuts.

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!

I am all geared up for Thursday's cookery demonstration in Ballingcollig, I hope to see some blog readers down there, and if you are around do pop down, I will be demonstrating dishes from the book and there will be books on sale! I have heard there are still a few tickets left which can be bought directly from the Oriel House Hotel. I have another cookery demonstration tomorrow in a local school here in Howth and then I'm off to meet the lovely Sophie from Kooky Dough to learn all about her brand new product. Pictures that will make you want to lick the screen, to follow! :)

Now, everyone needs a reliable birthday cake recipe. My aunt passed this recipe on to me recently and it is absolutely fool proof and makes a really delicious moist cake. That combined with the deeeeelicious frosting makes for the perfect chocolate cake!

Naughty Chocolate Fudge Cake
(Recipe from BBC Good Food)
If you want to get the four tiers, slice the each cake in half and place on top of each other to create the layers.

Makes 1 delicious cake!
175g self raising flour
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
150g caster sugar
2 eggs beaten
150 ml (1/4 pint) sunflower oil
150 ml (1/4 pint) semi skimmed milk
2 Tbsp golden syrup

For the Coating and filling
75g Unsalted butter
175g icing sugar
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
A drop of milk

Pre-heat oven to 180ºC/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line two 18cm (7 inch) sandwich tins.
Sieve the flour, cocoa and Bicarbonate of Soda into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix well.
Make a well in the centre and add the syrup, eggs, oil and milk. Beat well with electric whisk until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into the two tins and bake for 25 - 30 minutes until risen and firm to the touch. Remove from oven, leave to cool before turning out onto a cooling rack.
To make your butter icing, place the butter in a bowl and beat until soft. Gradually sift and beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder then add enough milk to make the icing fluffy and spreadable.
If the cake has risen a little to high then use a serrated knife to even off the top, now sandwich the two cakes together with the butter icing and cover the sides and the top of the cake with more butter icing.

After all the excitment over the weekend and the last few days on tour with JLS, I am just about back in the land of the living! It's these days, after the big highs, which are always the hardest, it becomes really important to pick yourself straight up and keep going, otherwise you don't know what to be doing with yourself! I can see the addictive side to performing in front of crowds that size, and with 10,000 people screaming for you it is extremely easy to see why, the problem then becomes that you expect that sort of addulation when you leave your house to go to the car, but unfotrunately nothing really comes close. While my band is not quite on the scale of JLS we have had an amazing journey so far which has provided us with more than a bit of a taster. But I am very glad I have another passion in my life, which of course is cooking, it keeps me distracted and after the big high, there is nothing better than getting back into the kitchen to refocus! In my case the answer is cupcakes!

Mega Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes
(Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food and food styling by Erica Ryan)
This batter makes really delicious and moist cupcakes which will give you more reason to have just one more! The batter is a lot more runny than normal cupcakes batters, but will rise so just make sure not to overfill the cases, halfway up is just perfect.

Makes about 16
175g Self raising flour
2 tablespoon of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda
150g caster sugar
2 eggs beaten
150 ml (1/4 pint) sunflower oil
150 ml (1/4 pint) semi skimmed milk
2 tablespoon of golden syrup

For the frosting
75g unsalted butter
175g icing Sugar
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
Drop of Milk

Pre-heat oven to 180ºC/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line a muffin tray with cupcake cases.
Sieve the flour, cocoa and Bicarbonate of Soda into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix well.
Make a well in the centre and add the syrup, eggs, oil and milk. Beat well with electric whisk until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases about halfway up and bake for about 20 minutes or until they have risen and are firm to the touch. Remove from oven, leave to cool before turning out onto a cooling rack.
To make your butter icing, place the butter in a bowl and beat until soft. Gradually sift and beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder then add enough milk to make the icing fluffy and spreadable.
Top the cooled cupcakes with delicious frosting and enjoy!

It may not look like it now but when I was younger up until the age of 5 or 6 I was completely blonde! There was a brief few years in my teens where I tried to recreate this look, but this ended in tears and should most definitely not be revisited. Anyway as a blonde kid people always seemed to make the association between me and the milky bar kid who also had bright blonde hair. I blame these comparisons for my love of white chocolate from an early age. I know white chocolate gets quite a lot of stick because it's not as high quality as good dark chocolate but it is an ingredient that I love using in desserts, giving a great creamy sweet flavour.

White Chocolate Ginger Cheesecake Pots
Desserts that can be made ahead are lifesavers when it comes to entertaining and ones which only take a few minutes to put together are even better! These individual cheesecake pots are perfect to pull out of the fridge at the end of a meal and with an extra kick from the ginger your guests will be singing your praises!

Serves 6
200g of gingernut biscuits
100g of butter, melted
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
450g of cream cheese
200g of white chocolate
100ml of cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of icing sugar

Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until you have fine breadcrumbs. Pour in the melted butter and ginger and process until everything is mixed through.
Gently push the biscuit base into individual serving pots and set aside. Don't press down too hard as you want nice loose spoonfuls of biscuit with the cheesecake mix.
Slowly melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a small pot of simmering water.
Put the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and add the white chocolate, cream, vanilla extract, and sugar.
Beat all the ingredients together until you get a nice light mixture.
Spoon the cream cheese mix into the serving pots, smooth the top and garnish with a sprinkling of thinly sliced white chocolate.
Place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

One of the first things to grab me when flicking through Leila's book was the fantastic food photography and styling. There are some super shots of table settings and food spreads scattered throughout the book. From what I have read Leila does most of her styling herself even more reason to be impressed! As you might know, one of my huge passions is food photography, so I am always on the lookout for inspiration when it comes to the style of shots. Leila also has a magazine in Sweden called "Leilas Country Living" which is packed with even more inpirational photo and style ideas, which has unfortunately stopped for some reason, but from the issues I have there is a great mix of styling and recipes. Check out todays Leila recipe, Butterscotch Pecan Pie.

Leila Lindholm's Butterscotch Pecan Pie
This pie is good all year round, summer as well as Christmas! If you'd like to vary the flavouring you can add some ginger or cardamom. To check if the butterscotch is ready, drop a little of the mixture into a glass of really cold water. If it hardens a little so that you can form a soft, little ball it is ready and will set in the pie. I allow the pie to come to room temperature before serving, because keeping it in the fridge makes the filling a bit hard. Serve the pie accompanied by Raspberry Fool Cream.

Makes 1 Pie Serves 8
1 batch of classic shortcrust pastry dough (see below)
2 handfuls of pecan nuts

For the filling:
1 vanilla pod
500ml whipping cream
270g caster sugar
40g brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
150ml golden syrup
1 tablespoon good quality cocoa powder
50g unsalted butter, softened

Prepare the dough according to the basic recipe.
Preheat the oven to 175oC/350oF/Gas Mark 4.
Roll out the pastry on lightly floured surface to a circle and use it to line a loose-bottomed pie tin. Prick the base with a fork. Fill the case with foil or beans and bake blind for about 10 minutes.
Split the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds.
Put all ingredients except the butter in a saucepan. Heat, then simmer for about an hour.
Use the cold water test described above. When the butterscotch is ready, stir in the butter in knobs.
Fill the pie case with butterscotch, sprinkle whole pecans on top and put in the fridge to set.

Leila Lindholm's Classic Shortcrust Pastry Dough
When you make shortcrust pastry dough don't knead it too much or it will turn dense and lose its crustiness. You can easily make a chocolate shortcrust pastry dough by adding 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Makes enough for 2 tarts
150g cold unsalted butter, diced
240g plain flour
30g icing sugar
1 organic egg
1/2 tablespoon cold water

Put the butter, flour and sugar in a bowl and mix with your fingertips to make breadcrumbs.
Add the egg and the water and gently work the dough to bind the ingredients together. Don't knead.
Cover the clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

I have mentioned Leila Lindholm on this blog quite a few times at this stage, she is my baking hero, plus I think I might have a little bit of a crush on her! Leila is from Sweden and I was given a present of her book "A Piece Of Cake" in Swedish last year by Sofie's dad. I have been hooked on her delicious recipes ever since. She has been in the kitchen since the age of three helping her grandmother and still remembers the first batch of muffins she ever cooked. I love hearing about those sort of stories when you read other cooks books, it gives a much more interesting sense of where the recipes come from.

Leila is extremely successful in her native Sweden and has released 3 cookbooks there, including my favourite "A Piece Of Cake". I speak a good bit of Swedish, enough to read a cookbook, and having worked over there in a restaurant, my Swedish food vocab is pretty up to scratch, so I have worked my way through a good few recipes in the book. However I recently got sent a copy of her book in English, as it has just been released in the UK and it has rekindled my love for her recipes. The ones without pictures, which I may have skipped over in Swedish, I am now salivating over and reading properly! It's all very exciting, so I have decided this is going to be Leila Lindholm week here on the blog, featuring a recipe everyday from her fab book "A Piece Of Cake". The first recipe I have chosen for today is these fantastic Peanut Butter Cupcakes". As you might have noticed I have a bit of a weakness for cupcakes and I have been meaning to try these ones in particular for so long! Enjoy!

Leila Lindholm's Peanut Butter Cupcakes
There are loads of delicious frostings you can use to ice your cupcakes, and there are no limits to how you decorate them. This frosting is as tasty as it is simple to make.

Makes 12 cakes
3 organic eggs
225g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
50g unsalted butter
100ml sour cream
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cold coffee
210g plain flour
4 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
1 pinch of salt
100g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
150g salted peanuts and extra for decoration

For the peanut butter frosting:
100g soft peanut butter
240g icing sugar
4 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
150g cream cheese
1 tablespoon warm coffee

Preheat the oven to 175oC/350oF/Gas Mark 4.
Beat together the eggs, butter and vanilla sugar until pale and fluffy.
Mellt the butter, add the sour cream and coffee and blend with the egg mixture.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt and carefully fold into the mixture.
Chop the chocolate coarsely and melt it in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Add the the mixture.
Put paper cases in a muffin tin.
Chop the peanuts and add them to the paper cases, layering them with the cake batter until two-thirds full.
Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool.
Stir the peanut butter, icing sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla sugar and cream cheese until creamy. Stir in the coffee.
Spread the frosting on top of the cakes and decorate with extra peanuts.

So things are all set for the big day tomorrow, I spoke to the lovely Faye at Market Kitchen yesterday and she talked me through each step of the filming process. Apparently all the members of the audience will be given a little sample of what I'm cooking, so no pressure like! It's my first on air experience, so there are a few butterflies, but I have done a bit of cooking to camera so I guess it's more excitement than anything else. The really good news is that Faye said I was allowed to take pics over there, so expect lots of them up here!

There are some days when recipes just float around my head after reading something or seeing something on tv, in most cases they go as quickly as they come, but sometimes, when I am organised, I write them into a little notebook I have with me at all times. I have had this recipe in my mind since last summer, probably because of my love of Swedish Cinnamon Buns, I guess it just stuck, so as you can imagine I have been dying to finally make it.

Pink Berry and Almond Swirly Buns

This recipe is a fresh take on the Swedish Cinnamon Buns which have been so popular on the blog and in the book! Inspired by Leila Lindholm (my current hero!) who uses blueberries in the filling, I decided it would be great way to use up the last of my leftover frozen berries. This recipe makes a lot of buns, but they freeze really well in ziplock bags and can reheated straight in the oven.

Makes about 40 buns
400ml/14fl oz milk
110g/4oz butter
2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
110g/4oz sugar
750g/1½lbs flour
½ teaspoon of salt
1 egg, beaten
A handful of flaked almonds

For the filling:
200g of butter, at room temperature
150g of sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
450g of mixed frozen berries
2 tablespoons of icing sugar

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 3 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. In a small bowl beat the butter with cinnamon and sugar until you get a light and creamy consistency. In another bowl combine the berries and icing sugar. You may have to zap the berries in the microwave to defrost them first.
When the dough has risen, cut it in half and roll it into a rectangle about 5mm thick, and then spread half the creamy butter filling all over. Top with half the berry mixture and spread evenly over the dough.
Then, from the long side, roll the dough so you get a snail effect and slice into approximately 15–20 pieces. Repeat the process with the second half of the dough.
Place the slices in paper wrappers face up and bake the rolls in the oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for about 10–15 minutes or until they are a light brown colour. Remove from the oven brush with a little beaten egg and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Place back in the oven for another 5-6 minutes or until the buns are golden brown and the almonds are toasted.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack, if you can wait that long!