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We arrived in Cannes for a holiday last week, I came armed with a copy of Elizabeth David's French country cooking and Sofie my girlfriend with a copy of "The Notebook" (yes the soppy love story, the big screen version of which she has seen way too many times to count), so as you can imagine we have fairly different agendas on this summer holiday! I think it's always important to have a sniff around the local food market as a way of getting your bearings when you first arrive at a new place. It's been something that is engrained on my mind from an early age after hours of traipsing behind my parents on every family holiday, my dad busy comparing prices to the fruit and veg at home, while my mom being a bit more practical would be eyeing up a nice piece of meat for dinner. Needless to say it didn't take me very long to tire of reading by the pool and after a long drive the wrong way into Cannes and a fight with the GPS who I thought might be more interesting if we changed the language to French, we discovered the most beautiful French food market.

The Marché Forville is a massive covered market specialising in fruit, vegetables, fish and flowers and takes place every day except Monday's when it becomes the home to a spectacular antique market. The place literally crawls with activity. Big beefy stall holders eyeing up potential customers and of course the many well endowed Cote D'azur ladies, savvy French shoppers in the know, picking up up pieces of fish to inspect every inch of it, bronzed grannies beating their way through the crowds filling those distinctly French wheely bags to the brim with the best the market has to offer and then of course the tourists who like ourselves are busy snapping photos and taking it all in. You can't leave a place like this without a paper bag heavy with the summers finest fruit.

Baked Peaches with Vanilla Sugar
Stoned summer fruits are whack bang in season at the moment and there are lots and lots of different recipes you can use to make the most of them, however I think keeping things simple brings out the natural juicy flavours and leaves you with far less washing up to do. A win win situation I think you'll agree! If you can't get vanilla sugar you can quite easily make a homemade batch by popping a vanilla pod in a jar filled with caster sugar. Or alternatively just use caster sugar and a splash of good quality vanilla extract.

Serves 4
8 peaches, halved with stones removed
3 tablespoons of vanilla sugar
2 tablespoons of water
Vanilla ice cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6.
Arrange the peaches in a non stick baking tray and sprinkle over the water.
Dust each peach with a little of the vanilla sugar until each one is nicely coated.
Place the peaches into the oven for around an hour or until the fruit is tender when pierced with a knife.
Serve the peaches with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I spotted these amazing cupcakes in Leila's book when I first scanned through it, they really pop out! They would be absolutely perfect for kids parties as I am sure they would get a great reaction. In fact there is a whole chapter in "A Piece Of Cake" dedicated to Leila's fab cupcake creations, including flavours like, raspberry, lemon and poppy seed, banana fudge, blueberry corn, and carrot, ginger and walnut!

I know I have been talking about Leila all week but as I said I am a little bit in love! :) I hope you have been enjoying learning a bit about her and some of her recipes. Tomorrow I have a really exciting competition for you to win a copy of the book, so make sure you stop by to enter!

Leila Lindholm's High Hat Cupcakes
These fantastic-looking cupcakes should be served cold. You can keep them in the fridge for about three days, but cover them carefully in clingfilm to keep them fresh. They are the yummiest of cupcakes.

Makes 12 cupcakes
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)

For the meringue topping
6 organic egg whites
850g caster sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar

For the chocolate coating
350g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Prepare the cupcakes according to the basic recipe.
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 and pour in the mixture until the cases are two-thirds full.
Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool.

In a stainless steel bowl mix together the egg whites, caster sugar and lemon juice. Beat by hand for about 1 minute until fluffy.
Rest the bowl over a pan of boiling water. Beat until the sugar crystals have dissolved and the mixture has a consistency as fluffy as meringue. You should see the trail from the whisk to them foam.
Remove the bowl from the pan and beat the vanilla sugar into the foam. Use a hand-held electric beater to mix the meringue for a few minutes until it is thick and cool.
Put the meringue in a piping bag with a round nozzle and pipe the meringue on top of the cupcakes in spirals. Leave about 1cm around the edges.
Leave to set in the fridge.

Make the chocolate coating. Chop the chocolate and melt it with the vegetable oil in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
Pour the chocolate into a small bowl and leave to cool.
Take the cupcakes out of the fridge and dip each peak in the chocolate. Brush on additional chocolate if there are any gaps.
Leave to set on a plate in the fridge for about 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.

On Monday I took the train up to Jonkoping to visit my best buddy Jonathan and his lovely family! Jonathan and I were in a boyband together a few years ago and we always had similar interests so ever since the band went its separate ways, we have always been in touch! He was in the Swedish version of Eurosong and released his second album this year so he's a bit of a celebrity over here!

Celeb status aside we spent the day baking! Every year his whole family traditionally do a huge amount of baking of Christmas goodies ahead of the big day, so by the time I arrived there was already a room full of cakes and treats! We made a gingerbread and blueberry loaf, the makings of a gingerbread house and these calorific but oh so worth it Peanut Butter Snicker Squares!

Peanut Butter Snicker Squares
This snickers recipe makes delicious squares which are miles better and totally different than the commercial bars you can buy in the shops, way more chewy, crunchy and chocolatey and totally worth it! We used 100g of white chocolate and 100g of milk chocolate when we made these and swirled the two together to get a super marbled effect to make our squares a little unique.

Makes about 20 squares
200g of smooth peanut butter
100g of caster sugar
200ml of golden syrup
100g Special K flakes
100g coconut flakes
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
200g of chocolate

Place the chocolate in a bowl over a small simmering saucepan of water and allow to melt gently.
In another saucepan, over a gentle heat, melt together the peanut butter, sugar, and golden syrup until runny and smooth.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the Special K flakes, flaked coconut, and vanilla sugar until combined.
Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and using a wooden spoon stir until everything is nicely combined.
Turn the mixture out into a 2 inch deep baking dish and spread out evenly pressing down with the back of the spoon.
Pour over the melted chocolate and place in the fridge for a few hours until firm.

Cupcakes cupcakes cupcakes! They just never fail to impress, no matter how many different types I make. These blackberry vanilla cupcakes were no different and only lasted a couple of hours in the house.

I had my little cousin Maisy (AKA the cupcake queen!) helping out, she totally enjoyed it and didn't complain once, despite me dragging her around the cliffs blackberry picking for 3 hours beforehand! I actually made the frosting a little too runny in an attempt to use up the coulis, but I kind of like the dramatic effect it gave the pics. Yup that was my sad attempt to cover up a mistake! But you'll let me away with it right?

Blackberry Vanilla Cupcakes

(Recipe adapted from Coconut & Lime)
This recipe makes delicious, light and moist cupcakes with a fruity taste.

Makes 12 cupcakes
For the cupcakes:
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup blackberry coulis

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons blackberry coulis
Blackberries for decoration

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 180c. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions.

In another bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk and blackberry coulis. Add half of the dry ingredients to the bowl of the mixer and mix on low speed until just combined. Mix in the blackberry coulis/milk mixture. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated. Do not over-mix.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared paper liners. Bake 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and blackberry coulis in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth and well blended. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired and garnish with fresh blackberries.

I made this delicious pancake based dessert for a BBQ and it was really tasty. I bought a huge amount of cherries at the farmers market in howth recently, so the lucky few which didn't get eaten on the way home, saw a much more elaborate end in this lovely dish!

Cherry Clafoutis
To be honest, even though I served this on a hot day, I think this dish would work better on colder one, as I find it's a little bit too heavy for the summer sunshine.

Serves 4-5 people.
50g of flour.
3 eggs.
100g of sugar.
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.
1/4 teaspoon of salt.
250ml of milk.
450g of stoned sweet cherries.
Icing sugar for decoration.

Preheat the oven 190oC/Gas Mark 5.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar, vanilla extract and salt. When they are combined sift in the flour and whisk to combine. When the mix is smooth, add the milk and whisk through to form a light batter.
Add half the batter to a floured and buttered dish then add the cherries, arranging them nicely in the dish. Cover the cherries with the rest of the batter and place in the oven to bake for approximately 40 minutes or until the batter fluffs up and goes a nice light golden brown. Sift a little icing sugar over the top and serve warm with some vanilla cream.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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 promise no more pumpkin recipes up on the blog for while after today's recipe! But I did save the best till last! These pumpkin brownies are so delicious, you just have to try them. I didn't manage to get my hands on pumpkin puree so I made my own. I slowly roasted the pumpkin until it was soft, scraped out the flesh, then I puréed the mixture and passed it through a sieve. Unfortunately my homemade purée didn't have that authentic neon orange colour that you see in American food photo's so you will have to allow me a little artistic creativity, as I did play around a little with the colours in the photos.

Chocolate, pumpkin and pecan brownies

Recipe from The Daily Mail

Makes about 20 squares
For the pumpkin mixture:
25g butter
75g cream cheese
100g caster sugar
1 egg
100ml pumpkin purée
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2tsp ground ginger
75g plain flour

For the chocolate mixture:
200g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate, chopped
3 large eggs
300g granulated sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
125g plain flour
Pinch of salt
100g pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
Grease and line a rectangular baking tin, approximately 20cm x 30cm (8-12in) and 3-4cm (1 1/4-1 1/2in) deep, with greaseproof or parchment paper.
To make the pumpkin mixture, beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Keep to one side.
For the chocolate mixture, melt the butter and chocolate together, either in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or gently in the microwave.
In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric hand whisk until thick and creamy.
Mix in the melted chocolate and butter. Finally, stir in the flour, salt and pecans.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the lined baking tin and level off the surface.
Using a tablespoon, drop dollops of the pumpkin mixture all over the top, and then, using the back of a table knife, loosely swirl it into the chocolate mixture.
Place in the oven and cook for about 25 minutes, until the top is cracking and the centre is just set.
Leave to cool in the tin for 40-45 minutes before cutting into bite-sized squares.

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 had spotted these on tastespotting.com a few months ago and have been craving them ever since. My brother and I were a little bit obsessed with Oreo cookies when we were kids. They only arrived on Ireland's green shores in the late 90's commercially, so they quickly became the coolest thing to have in your school lunchbox at the time! We were banned from eating them when my mother realised we were addicted after catching us devouring a whole box in one go. When she couldn't see our teeth because of the black biscuit she never bought them again!

Cookies and Cream Chocolate Chip Oreo Cupcakes

This is my aunt Erica's cupcake recipe and it could not be easier to make. You can easily adapt this recipe to make a regular plain cupcake mixture also, simply remove the cocao powder and chocolate chips from the ingredient list.

Makes approximately 8 cupcakes.
175g of self raising flour.
110g of soft margarine or butter.
110g of caster sugar.
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.
1 teaspoon of baking powder.
2 large eggs.
50g of good quality chocolate chips.
50ml of water/milk.

For the Oreo Cream frosting:
250ml of fresh cream.
25g of icing sugar.
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
8 oreo cookies, crushed.

Preheat the oven to 180oC and line a cupcake tray with paper cases.
In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips. Make a well in the center of the bowl and break in the 2 eggs. Using an electric hand mixer beat all the ingedients together until combined. Add in half the milk/water and beat again until combined. You are looking for the batter to be light and creamy. Add the rest of the liquid if you need it you may not.
Divide the batter evenly into the paper cases and place in an oven for 15-20 minutes or until firm and light brown on top.
Allow to cool on a wire rack before applying the oreo cream.

For the Oreo frosting, simply beat the cream, vanilla extract, and icing sugar until it becomes thick. Gently fold in the oreo cookie crumbles and spoon the mixture into an icing bag with a large round nozzle. Squeeze the oreo cream onto the cupcakes and top with broken cookies.

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.

As I mentioned over on twitter the Swedes celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December and Santa Claus personally delivers all the presents in person which was a very strange experience altogether! When I was living in Sweden a few years ago I worked briefly as a chef at a Christmas buffet which is more commonly known over here as a Julbord, so I have my fair share of knowledge when it comes to traditional Swedish Christmas food. However having never actually experienced a Swedish Christmas I was totally unprepared for the non food traditions!

When we arrived at Sofie's grandparents house on the big day, we got straight to work on a red cabbage carrot salad we had promised to make, to add to the table. There was 14 people for dinner so the kitchen was already a hive of activity by the time we arrived. Halfway through preparing the salad, we were whisked into the sitting room to sit and watch "Kalle Anka" which is a collection of Disney cartoons, shown at the same time every year! I was informed that across the country every other family would be doing exactly the same thing! So we all sat and watched Donald Duck wish us a happy Christmas and waited anxiously for dinner to be served and for a visit from Santa!

After the cartoons ended, we all headed towards the kitchen where the whole table had been set out with a huge spread of delicious Christmas food. The Christmas ham which had been boiled and baked with a mustard topping, boiled eggs with caviar, good old Swedish meatballs, Brussel sprouts, beetroot salad, boiled potatoes, and a selection of Swedish cheeses with Knackebrod all made an appearance on the huge table of food! One of the dishes which is a little strange for foreign visitors is Jansson, which is like a shredded version of potato gratin with anchovies, it's really delicious! Unlike Christmas dinner at home, we all served ourselves buffet style, and then sat down to eat.

When everyone had helped themselves to seconds and were finally finished them, we all sat back on the sofa and waited for the big fella to arrive! Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE!) was excited, as Sofie's youngest cousins who were stuck to window, managed to peel themselves off the glass in time to shout to the rest of us, that Santa was here! He clumped into the room and sat down, Sofie's grandad served him a big glass of schnapps and he got straight down to business giving out the presents! Sofie told me that this was the first year he had ever spoken English so he must have known I was there! :) His English was so good that he even managed to sing a verse of "We wish you a merry Christmas" every time he gave out a present. The only problem was that when he gave out a present you had to go up to him and sit on his knee, where he bounced you up and down while singing the song! Even the grandparents weren't left out!

After Santa left, we all sat around the sitting room and everyone opened their presents one by one, another Swedish Christmas tradition! While this is a lovely thought, in theory, and everyone gets to see each others gifts, it took us two hours to get through everyone's presents! I suppose it's much more pleasant than the Irish tradition of everyone ripping into their presents as quick as possible!

When the presents were all opened and thoroughly appreciated we were served the final meal of the day, Ris A La Malta, which is like a rice pudding with cream and vanilla sugar served with orange segments. I have a particular fondness for this dessert as it was always my job to make it at the Julbord! Overall my first Christmas away from home was great fun and it was brilliant to experience something new but I have to say it was really strange to celebrate the big day before the big day!

This recipe is probably the closest one to the way I like my Chocolate Chip Cookies to be, I adpated it from this recipe from the King Arthur Flour website and it seems to be pretty foolproof. The cookies are crunchy and chewy all at the same time, which, in my books is a winner!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
The best way to get nice even cookies is to use an medium sized ice cream scoop. Using one means, not only will you get proffesional looking cookies, but it totally simplifies the spooning out process! Also if you can't get your hands on chocolate chips, just break up some good quality chocolate bars and they will do the trick.

Makes 8-10 cookies
140g/5oz brown sugar
140g/5oz granulated sugar
225g/8oz butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 large egg
240g/8½oz plain flour
340g/12oz chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 4. Grease two large baking trays or line with baking parchment.
In a large mixing bowl, with a wooden spoon, beat the sugars, salt, vanilla extract, and butter until they are smooth and combined.
Add the egg and beat again, until thoroughly mixed through.
Mix in the flour and when the dough begins to form, add the chocolate chips and mix again lightly, until everything is combined.
Using an medium sized ice cream scoop or a large dessertspoon, spoon the dough onto the prepared baking trays, leaving about 2 inches between them as the cookies will spread out as they cook.
Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are a nice golden brown with the middle remaining slightly pale.
Enjoy the cookies old school style, a little warm with a nice cool glass of milk!
JUMANJI!

The weekend we went blackberry picking I sacrificed making blackberry jam so that we could make this coulis. Unfortunately there just wasn't enough to make both and the thing about coulis is that it can be used in more than one recipe, it's essential for the blackberry cupcakes I'll be posting tomorrow and perfect for the delicious blackberry mess which I submitted as my recipe for the November edition of Irish Tatler. After a long walk over Howth hill the other day, it seems like there is still a huge amount of berries still ripe for the picking. I may just have to go and get some to make some jam during the week.

Blackberry Coulis

(Recipe from BBC Good Food)
Blackberry coulis is a wonderfully versatile fruity sauce which is perfect for a wide variety of desserts. The coulis also freezes extremely well and should last for up to 3 months in the freezer.

Makes about 150ml/¼ pint
250g blackberries
50g golden caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract

Put the blackberries and sugar into a small pan with 100ml/31⁄2fl oz water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 mins until the fruit is soft. Stir in the vanilla, remove and cool a little.
Tip the contents of the pan into a blender or food processor, and whizz to a purée, then strain through a sieve, rubbing it through with the back of a ladle or spoon. Serve warm or chilled. Keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

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!

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.