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A chocolate roulade makes an elaborate centrepiece at this time of year, so why not give your family a fabulous festive treat with this chocolate roulade. My flourless chocolate roulade is deliciously light and gluten free. Combining cherries, orange and a rich chocolate mousse like filling, it is the perfect prepare ahead dessert as it tastes even better when made the day before. Flavours such as brandy, cointreau, coffee, sweetened chestnut purée and even ginger can be added to the chocolate sponge or filling. 

Decorate into a Yule log for an elaborate, luxurious seasonal centrepiece. 

Sponge
200g dark chocolate (max 55% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped
25g butter
5 eggs, room temperature, separated into yolks and whites
150g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Filling
125g dark chocolate, broken into squares
250g butter, softened
40g icing sugar, sieved
2 tbsp milk

Grease and line a Swiss roll ...

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Mince Pies play such a big part in a typical Christmas.  My grandma made them every year and while she always made her pastry by hand, she only ever used a jar of mincemeat.  I start to bake mince pies at home from the first week in December.  While my kids love the taste of them, they love making them even more with this easy recipe.  They make gorgeous presents wrapped up in florist cello-wrap and tied up with a festive ribbon.

Since I bake alot, I find my muffin tins have the perfect size hollows for filling deep mince pies.  If you have a shallower tins, be careful not to fill them to the brim as the mincemeat filling will expand while being baked.  Make them in advance and leave in the freezer uncooked and bake them when you need them.

There are lots of ways you can add your own signature to mincemeat. You can add some extra crunch with toasted chopped hazelnuts or bitter orange marmalade to the mincemeat.  Eve...

By now the house will be strewn with tinsel and glittering baubles.  It is the perfect time to indulge in a bit of festive baking alongside a playlist of holiday tunes. These red velvet cupcakes are show stoppers! The cocoa powder in the sponge gives them a mild chocolate flavour and rich colour. For the fabulous red icing I use cream cheese which lends a contrasting tangy taste to these sweet cupcakes.

Red velvet bakes have an intriguing trompe l’oeil effect signalling to the brain ‘red fruit’, whilst the flavour of the cake is actually chocolate, due to the addition of cocoa powder.  Commercial bakers achieve a vibrant deep red sponge purely by adding artificial red food colouring as it maintains a stable colour after baking which doesn’t fade.  However the manufacturer’s labelling indicates it should be used sparingly (so it’s wise to ask mum to supervise the amount used).  In this recipe, I have kept the red colouring to a quarter teaspoon in both the cake sponge and icing respect...

No one is too young or too old to enjoy making gingerbread biscuits. The smell of orange, ginger and mixed spice wafting through the house on a cold wintery day is completely enticing.

Perfect gingerbread: From people to entire villages, let your imagination run wild. Gingerbread can be cut into every shape imaginable and decorated as delicately or as gaudily as you like. Now is the right time to make gingerbread that will last right up until Christmas Day.

If you’re of a mature and civilised persuasion, gingerbread biscuits are lovely dunked in a cup of tea in the morning. For the rest of us, they can be cut into every shape imaginable and decorated as delicately or as gaudily as you like.

Younger children might want to use cutters to make sure their biscuits have a recognisable shape. They can go to town with brightly coloured icing, sprinkles and baubles. The sky is the limit for older bakers. From gingerbread people and animals, to entire gingerbread villages, you can let your imagi...

An all time Irish snack Classic

The sausage roll is one of the most beloved snack pastries available here on the Emerald Isle. What could be better than a delicious sausage wrapped in puff pasty? Well, nothing! Of course you won't know that until you try it! :)

Think of pigs in a blanket: a traditional US classic for parties and events, made with hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls. But what if they were homemade from a real Irish recipe with fresh pork sausage? These delicious morsels are so popular you can find them behind the deli at any convenience store in Ireland, and they're one of the highest selling pastries available in Ireland as well as the UK. They form a big part of many Irish people's day to day cuisine, and to say they're addictive would be an understatement. Once you try them, you'll want to make them again and again! Here's the recipe!

Ingredients (Makes about 20):

• 1lb of puff pastry

For the Filling - 

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1lb pork sausagemeat
• 3 tbsp c
...

Carrot cake fans seem to fall into two categories: those who insist their carrot cake should be light, fluffy and cloud-like; and those who prefer a believe the perfect carrot cake is dense, moist and rich. I fall into the latter. The only thing the two camps seem to agree on is that the cake should definitely include a thick layer of cream cheese frosting with a citrusy hint. Historically carrots were a good source of sweetness when sugar and dried fruits were extremely expensive. Carrot cake seems to have its roots in a sweet meat dish. Much like mincemeat, it slowly lost its meat and gained sugar over the centuries. During the second world war, carrot cake took off, making the best use of a home grown source of sweetness. The oil in the mixture means this is a beautifully moist cake which will keep very well. Once the frosting has been added, the cake should be refrigerated. A butter-based cake will firm up in the fridge, but the oil in this cake means it will stay moist even when c...

Brown Soda Bread - An Irish Staple

Its not uncommon for you to be offered soda bread when staying in a B&B anywhere in Ireland.

Long ago, the Irish mostly made flat griddle bread because Irish flour didn’t have enough gluten to rise with yeast. Baking soda was developed in the US in 1846 and was quickly adopted by Irish cooks, as it enabled bread with Irish flour to rise. In the late 1800s, white Canadian flour with a higher gluten content came over on returning emigration ships, and bakeries started making white bread raised with yeast, known as “shop bread”, and distributing it by horse and cart.

Irish Soda Bread is delicious and like all recipes, you can make your own changes to please your taste. I discovered one tip from a recipe that I looked up years ago - use raw, unsalted sunflower seeds and mix them in thoroughly. The chemical interaction of the soda and the raw sunflower seeds causes the seeds to turn a beautiful, emerald green that looks fantastic when you slice into the bre...

Spaghetti alla puttanesca is the ultimate fast food dish!  An iconic dish from the city of Naples, Italy.  The pasta is dressed in a rich and flavourful sauce which can be made in less time than it takes to boil a pot of linguine, spaghetti or any pasta you choose.  The basic ingredients are pantry staples including tinned tomatoes, garlic, anchovies, olives and capers.  I like to add thinly sliced carrots and since this dish should be salty, piquant and hot. and you can add extra heat with the addition of crushed chillies (another of my store cupboard favourites).

My top tip when cooking pasta, is to always use plenty of water, plenty of salt and keep the pasta on a rolling boil (not splashing!), lid off.

Because anchovies are quite salty it is unlikely that salt will be required but black pepper and perhaps a pinch of sugar to balance the acidity of tinned tomatoes will suffice as seasoning.

It is such a simple, cheap and delicious recipe.  You'll wish you found this recipe yea...

There's no better time to settle into some creative cooking than in the run up to the party season. It's no secret that I adore this time of year and one of my favourite culinary hobbies is dreaming up little morsels of heaven to delight guests with.  By now I have a few signature recipes which many of my family and friends look forward to when they come for drinks.  Canapés don’t have to be difficult but they do give you an opportunity to showcase your culinary talents and impress your friends. Best of all, tasty bites are a great way to set any occasion off on a fabulous note! 

Try these 3 signature canapés that are true crowd pleasers. Remember, preparation is the key, but there is still lots of scope for creativity. You can store canape bases and fillings in an airtight container until ready to use.  Always buy plenty of extra fresh herbs for freshness.  Contrast and colourful garnishes make finger food look so appetising. Once you realise how easy they are to prepare, you might e...

Old recipes are always the best recipes. This whiskey cake recipe was given to me by a lady from Lurgan, Northern Ireland. Intensely dark and moist, it is very easy to make. This is a traditional boiled fruit cake, so called because part of the fruit mixture is boiled before adding it into the cake batter.

The old housewife trick of liberally lacing a little extra whiskey over the top of the cake once it is freshly baked increases the shelf life and in creating this intensely flavoured cake, which remains wonderfully moist even for up to a week, if stored tightly wrapped in an airtight container. The boiling method also means there is no creaming of butter and sugar involved, so the stove actually does the work for you. The mixed dried fruits are soaked in whiskey and spices before being boiled with butter and sugar. Though you’ll be tempted to eat the plump, liquor-soaked fruit straight from the pot, the sacrifice of leaving it be, will be worth it. 

The world would be set to rights ...