We Love Cooking! [Search results for kooky dough] 

So I guess you are totally intrigued by Kooky Dough at this stage! How about getting your hands on some? Yes? Ok well Sophie has promised me 3 of these super cute cookie jars filled with the 3 rolls of Kooky Dough!

You can enter over on twitter by tweeting the most inventive use of Kooky Dough followed by the hash tag #kookydoughrocks and on "The Good Mood Food Blog" facebook page by telling me your inventive way to use Kooky Dough!

To be in with a chance of getting your hands on this fantastic prize right here on the blog, all you gotta do is answer this simple question.

Which of these is not Kooky Dough flavour?
A: Mint Chocolate
B: Triple Chocolate
C: Blueberry and White Chocolate

Please note that by entering this competition, you will be signing up for The Good Mood Food Blog newsletter, but if you don't wish to subscribe, please put "NS" after your answer. The competition will close on Wednesday evening (18th of March) at 9.30pm. Only one entry per person please!

I came across Kooky Dough after discovering it while rooting through the fridge the other day, someone had bought a pack of triple chocolate dough, and it immediately caught my eye! On closer inspection, I realised it was a handmade product, made in Dublin. The packaging is what really sold it to me though, the dough comes wrapped in parchment paper, so you can bake the dough directly on the paper, with no dirty trays to wash up after. Extremely simple but very effective, and very convincing for any would be bakers out there! I posted about the dough on The Good Mood Food Blog Facebook page and within about 15 minutes the lovely Sophie, who as it happens is a fan of the blog, posted a comment, and sure as things happen in this day and age, we got chatting and I invited myself down to see how they make the Kooky Dough! Sophie runs the company with her boyfriend Graham and they have just started supplying shops in Dublin, with plans to take things further afield as they grow. It's a really exciting new Irish product, the guys are young and full of ideas, and I have a feeling were going to be seeing a lot more of Kooky Dough! Sophie has promised me a prize for the blog, so details coming up in the next few days!
I recorded a video with Sophie while I was there so check her out givin' it socks and showing off her cool product below!

Yesterday, I spent the day getting a tour of Lamb farms in Co. Kerry an hours drive from where we were staying the night before in Ballincollig, Co. Cork. Michael Gottstein and Dennis Carrol from Ring Of Kerry Quality Assured Lamb were my guides for the day and we saw lots of great things which I will save alongside some pics for my next post!

After the great reaction to the video of the lovely Sophie from Kooky Dough, I persuaded her to share with me her secret recipe for her favourite homemade cookies. Now there has been A LOT of discussion over the perfect cookies, but for me it's all about making them homemade with a decent recipe and with a little bit of love! Sorry I'm feeling very loving today! :)

Sophie's Chocolate & Hazelnut Chip Cookies
Sophie spend a lot of time creating the perfect cookie recipe for her Kooky Dough, but she has given me this, her secret (not for long!) recipe for Chocolate and Hazelnut Chip cookies. The cookies are delicious and the dough can be frozen if you wanted to make a few ahead of time.

Makes about 12-15 cookies
225g butter
375g muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
350g plain flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
250g good quality chocolate, chopped
100g toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and fold in, then add the chocolate and hazelnuts.
Form the dough into a round, wrap in cling film and transfer to the refrigerator for 30 mins.
When ready to bake, simply cut the dough into slices and lay on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for approx 10-12 minutes or until pale golden brown.

Variation: White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies
Substitute white chocolate and dried cranberries for the chocolate and hazelnuts above.

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.