Ballymaloe’s Famous Chocolate Orange Cake recipe

Serves 12

For the Orange Cake:

  • 4 eggs
  • softened butter
  • sugar
  • plain flour
  • 2 oranges
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

For the orange butter icing:

  • 1 orange
  • 110g (4oz, 1/2 cup) icing sugar
  • 55g (2oz, 1/4 cup) softened butter

For the chocolate icing:

  • 170g (6oz) chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 50g (2oz, 4 tablespoons) softened butter
  • 2 large eggs
Weigh the eggs. Take the same weight in butter, sugar and flour. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and light in texture. Wash the oranges and add the finely grated rind of 2 and the juice of 1 to the butter mixture. Mix the flour and baking powder and add alternately with the eggs. Beat thoroughly. Bake in a 24cm (91/2in) tin in a moderate oven, 180°C/350°F/gas 4, for 50 minutes approx. Cool the cake and split it in two. Sandwich with the orange butter icing and spread the chocolate icing over the top and sides allowing any excess to run off.
To make the orange butter icing, finely grate the rind of the orange and squeeze out the juice. Beat the icing sugar, butter and orange rind together. Add in enough juice to make the icing a spreading consistency.
To make the chocolate icing, melt the chocolate in the water. Remove from the heat and beat in the butter and then the eggs very thoroughly. Leave to cool and set before icing and filling the cake.

Avonmore Chocolate Milk with @keelings strawberries

 

Keelings-Strawb-Milk-266x266

Ingredients

  • 340g Keelings Strawberries, hulled
  • Avonmore Whipped Cream
  • 60g Sugar
  • 150g White Chocolate , Chopped
  • 700ml Milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Pinch of Salt

Directions


1. In a bowl, sprinkle the Keelings strawberries with sugar and mix together. Leave to one side for 10 mins.
2. Blend the strawberries in a processor until smooth – filter through a sieve to remove any pulp or seeds.
3. Bring the milk to a simmer over a medium-low heat – stirring constantly. Stir in the chocolate and mix until smooth.
4. Add the Keelings strawberries to the chocolate milk along with the vanilla extract and salt – stir together.
5. Top drink with some Avonmore whipped cream and serve.

 

Recipe courtesy of Keelings

Keeling’s Irish No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

A quick and easy no-bake strawberry cheesecake. Made with cream cheese, cream and Keelings strawberries… it will soon be a family favourite!DifficultyBeginner

Fruit TypeStrawberriesPrep Time20 minsCook Time20 minsTotal Time40 mins

Ingredients

For the base

250 g digestive biscuits

100 g buttermelted

For the filling

10 Keeling’s strawberriessliced

250 g Keeling’s strawberrieshulled

100 g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

600 g full fat cream cheese

275 ml double cream

To decorate

Keeling’s strawberriessliced

Directions

1

Line the bottom of a 20cm (8 inch) round springform cake tin with parchment paper.

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2

For the base, blend the digestive biscuits in a food processor until ground to fine crumbs.

3

Pour crumbs into a bowl and add the melted butter. Mix together until all the crumbs are coated.

4

Spoon mixture into prepared tin and press down firmly until evenly spread. Chill in the fridge to set, about 20 minutes.

5

For the filling, arrange a ring of about 10 sliced Keelings strawberries around the edge of the baking tin.

6

Combine 250g Keelings strawberries, icing sugar and vanilla in a food processor, blend to a smooth puree. Add the cream cheese and blend until smooth, then add the double cream and blend until mixture thickens – the batter should be thick enough that it can’t be poured out (about 2-3 minutes).

7

Spoon batter over prepared base and smooth the top with a spatula. Leave to chill and set in the fridge overnight.

8

To un-mould, run a sharp knife around the sides of the cheesecake then unclip and remove the outer ring of the cake tin. Gently work a spatula underneath the base and then slide the cheesecake onto a serving plate.

9

Decorate with slices of fresh Keelings strawberries.

.@rorysfood blackberry and sweet geranium posset #Ballymaloe

Watch How to Cook Well with Rory O’Connell at 8:30pm on Tuesday evenings on RTÉ One.

By Rory O’Connell Celebrity Chef
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How to Cook Well, with Rory O’Connell


Watch How to Cook Well with Rory O’Connell at 8:30pm on Tuesday evenings on RTÉ One.
Ingredients
A classic lemon posset or set cream is a simple and lovely thing and my version here with blackberries and sweet geranium leaves is I believe a good and delicious variation on the theme. It is remarkable how easy this is and how without the aid of egg or gelatine, the mixture sets into a tender chilled pudding. I like the possets served straight from the fridge, so nice and chilly. 
I often make this during the winter months using wild blackberries that I have frozen in the late summer or early autumn. If you are using frozen berries, use them straight from the freezer. I never cease to be amazed by the value one gets from a few bags of frozen fruit when fresh local fruit is simply not an option due to the seasons.  
A little softly whipped cream is the perfect accompaniment along with a fresh organic or crystallised rose petal. The combination of rose and blackberry is a marriage made in heaven and I might be tempted to add a few drops of rose water to the cream when whipping. Be careful though as too much rose water will yield a flavour that is too strong and overpowering. The flavour of the rosewater cream should be akin to catching the scent of a rose while walking about the garden – there but almost illusive.
If you do not have the lemon or rose-scented geranium, you can just leave it out. The fragrant leaves do however bring a magical element to the dish. The plants are easily found at good garden centres and can be treated as a house plant living on a bright window-sill or if the weather is mild where you live, they can spend spring, summer and autumn out of doors in a sheltered sunny spot. I can’t imagine not having one of these plants for the ravishing flavour to bring to certain dishes. In fact, it is the sort of magic that one receives from this rather innocuous looking leaf that humbles and mesmerises me and reminds me every time I use it, how astonishing nature is and how fortunate that my career has brought me down this path where I handle these treasures all of the time. Oh, joy.
The possets can be served in little cups or glasses or the prettiest receptacle you like to use. The portions are quite small as this is quite a rich little dish but I always think it is better to be longing for one more spoonful rather than being faced with too much food.
 A thin lacy biscuit such as the Nougatine biscuits would also be good here and I might be tempted to add a few drops of rose water to the cream when whipping. 
Serves
400ml cream
90g caster sugar
5 leaves of rose or lemon scented geranium
100g blackberries
50ml lemon juice.
Method
Place the cream, sugar, geranium leaves and blackberries in a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer.
Stir the saucepan occasionally to encourage the sugar to dissolve. Maintain that bare simmer for 5 minutes. If the cream boils hard the texture and consistency of the posset will be spoiled. 
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. You will notice the colour of the cream improving dramatically as soon as the lemon juice goes in.
Now strain the cream through a sieve to remove the geranium leaves and at the same time push as much of the blackberries through as possible. 
Pour the strained cream into 8 little cups or glasses and allow to cool before placing in the fridge for 3 hours to set.
The posset will keep perfectly in your fridge for several days. I like to cover them to protect the delicate flavour.
Serve with a little softly whipped cream and if you have them, a fresh or crystallised rose petal and a nougatine biscuit. 

Meringues with blackberries,raspberries,strawberries @bordbia #foodaware

meringues_with_summer_fruits2

Serves 10

Ingredients

  • 8 egg whites
  • 500g caster sugar
  • 1 teasp. white wine vinegar
  • 1 teasp. vanilla extract.

Summer Fruits & Cream Filling

Summer Fruits

  • 400g strawberries
  • 200g raspberries
  • 200g blueberries
  • 200g blackberries
  • 250g caster sugar
  • Juice of 1 lemon

Cream Filling

  • 500g mascarpone cheese
  • 250g Compsey Greek-style yoghurt
  • Grated rind of one lemon

To Cook

For the meringues

Set the oven to 100ºC and line 2 baking sheets with parchment.  Combine the egg whites, sugar, vinegar and vanilla extract.  In the electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the whites into stiff shiny peaks.  Using a piping bag, pie mounds of meringue 7cm in diameter and 7 cm high onto the baking sheets.  Bake for about 2 hours.  Cool to room temperature.

Summer Fruits

Prepare the fruit and add half the berries to a medium saucepan, add the sugar and lemon juice and simmer gently for 5 minutes.  Process the fruit mixture.  Set aside.

Cream Filling

Whisk the mascarpone, yoghurt and lemon rind together.

To serve

Tap the centre of each meringue to form a nest.  Warm the coulis in a saucepan.  Turn off the heat and add the remaining whole berries.  Spoon the cream filling into the centre of each meringue, followed by several spoonfuls of the fruit.

Catherine’s Citrus Apple Crumble – Odlums porridge oats

What you need:

  • 175g/6oz Odlums Porridge Oats
  • 125g/4oz Odlums Cream Plain Flour
  • 125g/4oz Shamrock Demerara Sugar
  • 125g/4oz Butter or Margarine
  • Pinch of Cinnamon (optional)
  • 450g/1lb Cooking Apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
  • 2-3 tablespoons Sugar, to sweeten
  • Rind & Juice 1 Lemon
  • Rind & Juice 1 Orange

How to:

  1. Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5.
  2. Put the oats, flour, sugar and cinnamon if used, into a bowl.
  3. Rub in the butter or margarine with the tips of your fingers to form a dough.
  4. Place the apples in an oven proof dish. Sprinkle over the sugar to taste.
  5. Pour over the lemon and orange juice and rinds. Sprinkle the crumble on top.
  6. Bake for approx 30 minutes. Serve hot with ice cream, cream or crème fraîche.

Citrus Apple Crumble