We Love Cooking! [Search results for kitchen hero] 

It's here!!! It's finally time to reveal the cover for my brand new cookbook.... Kitchen Hero: Bringing Cooking Back Home! So without further adieu here it is! Let me know what you think! :)

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!

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.