Alanna Moffitt from Blacklion Co. Cavan started at Neven Maguire’s Macnean House and Restaurant 😀 @rtetoday

Student chefs from TU Dublin joined Maura and Dáithí in the studio.

Ingredients

Sticky Toffee Pudding

· 200g butter, room temperature

· 185g self-raising flour

· 185g dates, roughly chopped

· 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

· 185g brown sugar

· 30g treacle

· 1 tsp nutmeg

· 1tsp mixed spice

· 2 medium eggs

· 1 tsp vanilla extract

· Pinch of salt

Butterscotch Sauce

· 70g butter

· 70g brown sugar

· 70g golden syrup

· 100ml double cream

· Pinch of sea salt

· ½ tsp vanilla extract

· A few drops of lemon juice

Student chefs from TU Dublin joined Maura and Dáithí in the studio.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a baking tin with parchment paper.

2. Dice the butter and place it in a saucepan over medium heat. Allow it to melt, then continue to cook until it foams and turns a light golden-brown colour. Remove from the heat immediately and set aside to cool.

3. Place the chopped dates in a saucepan with 300ml water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, until the dates are soft.

4. Remove from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of soda (the mixture will foam). Set aside to cool slightly.

5. Transfer the date mixture to a mixing bowl and add the brown sugar, treacle, vanilla extract, nutmeg, mixed spice and cooled brown butter. Mix well.

6. Beat eggs and add to the mixture until fully incorporated.

7. Sieve in the flour and salt, then gently fold until a smooth dropping consistency is achieved.

8. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 35–40 minutes, until risen and firm to the touch.


Butterscotch Sauce

1. Place the butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir and allow to simmer gently.

2. Remove from the heat, add a few drops of lemon juice, then whisk in the double cream.

3. Finish with sea salt and vanilla extract. Serve warm over the pudding.


Chef’s tips:

· When making brown butter, don’t use a high heat, as milk solids can burn easily

· Brown butter can be used in so many other dishes, such as madeleines and fish dishes, or even vegetables, with its rich nutty caramel flavour.

· Best served warm with some vanilla ice-cream.

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Eunice Power’s cranberry and orange cake 🍊 😋

Eunice Power

By Eunice Power

Celebrity Chef

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Today

Irish Yoghurt Clonakilty Cranberry and Orange Cake.

Ingredients

Cake

  • 125g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • ½ orange zest and juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean extract
  • 250g plain flour
  • 1 heaped tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp mixed spice
  • 100g Irish Yoghurt Clonakilty Greek Style Yoghurt, plus extra to serve
  • 150g fresh cranberries

Topping

  • 150g fresh cranberries
  • ½ orange, juice
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 150g icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 23cm springform round tin with baking parchment.
2. Cream together the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. In a jug, combine the beaten eggs, orange zest, orange juice and vanilla.
4. Add this mixture to the creamed butter in 3–4 additions, fully incorporating each before adding more.
5. Fold in the flour, baking powder and mixed spice.
6. Fold in the Irish Yogurt Clonakilty Greek Style Yogurt until the batter is smooth.
7. Transfer ¼ of the batter to the tin. Scatter a handful of cranberries in a line over this layer.
8. Fold the remaining cranberries into the rest of the batter and spoon into the tin.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
10. Leave the cake in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.


Topping

1. Heat the cranberries, orange juice and caster sugar in a small pan for about 5 minutes until half the berries have popped and the rest are softened.
2. Strain through a fine sieve, reserving the softened fruit.
3. Mix 2–3 tablespoons of the strained liquid with the icing sugar to make a thick icing.
4. Stir the softened fruit into the remaining strained liquid.
5. Pour and spread the icing over the cooled cake and allow it to drip slightly down the sides.
6. Top with the softened fruit.

Serving suggestion: Serve with a spoonful of Irish Yogurt Clonakilty Greek Style Yogurt.

Chefs’ tips:

  • If the batter begins to curdle while adding the egg mixture, add a spoonful of the flour mixture — it stabilises the batter and keeps the cake light.
  • Scatter a little orange zest over the icing for a bright, fragrant finish.
  • For a decorative flourish, add a few candied rosemary stalks on top. To make these, dip fresh rosemary sprigs lightly in sugar syrup, then toss in caster sugar and allow to dry — they look frosted and pair beautifully with the cranberry flavour.

Sharon Hearne Smith’s Porridge Bread is SO easy to make! @RTEToday


By Sharon Hearne Smith

Food Stylist & Writer

More from
Today

Sharon Hearne Smith’s Sesame Seed Porridge Bread from Today with Maura and Dáithí.

Ingredients

This is an unusual bread recipe, based on porridge oats and yoghurt instead of flour and water. It is quick, easy and virtually foolproof to make.

Use any selection of seeds you prefer instead of sesame seeds, or omit them altogether for a plain bread. Alternatively, add other flavours like nuts and dried fruits or sundried tomatoes and basil or a swirl of pesto would be delicious too. This bread stays quite moist and fresh for a few days stored in an airtight container.

Makes: 1 loaf (about 12 slices)

  • Sunflower oil for greasing
  • 500g tub natural yoghurt
  • 100ml milk
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds + extra for sprinkling
  • 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 x 500ml yoghurt tubs of porridge oats (or 400g)
  • butter for serving, optional

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C (fan 180C), 400F, Gas Mark 6. Grease a 1Lb loaf tin (approximately 3 x 5 x 7 inch) with parchment paper and grease again.
  2. Scoop the yoghurt into a large bowl. Add the milk, oil, sesame seeds and bicarbonate of soda and mix until well blended.
  3. Fill a clean and dry yoghurt tub with oats and tip them in. Repeat with a second tub of oats. Alternatively, weigh out 400g of oats on a scales.
  4. Mix everything together until well blended.
  5. Spoon into the prepared tin, spreading the top level. Scatter a small handful of sesame seeds on top.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when pierced in the middle.
  7. Remove from the tin and return the loaf to oven, directly on the shelf, for another 5 minutes to dry out the crust.
  8. Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack. Cut into slices and serve spread with a little butter if liked.

Shane’s strawberry and pistachio galette: Today @RTEfood

Sweet strawberries and salty pistachios are a match made in heaven.

By Shane Smith

Award-winning Irish pastry chef Shane Smith.

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Today

Sweet strawberries and salty pistachios are a match made in heaven.

Ingredients

Serves: 6

Prep: 15 mins

Bake: 35 mins

Dough:

  • 80g wholemeal flour
  • 170g plain flour
  • 80g caster sugar
  • 150g Irish butter, room temp
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • pinch salt
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 600g Irish Strawberries
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 1 tbsp water
  • ½ tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp chopped pistachios

To serve

  • 200g Greek yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp lemon zest

Method

  1. For the pastry, in a bowl using your fingertips, rub together both flours, sugar, butter, and salt until a breadcrumb consistency is reached.
  2. To this add the yolk and water and mix until a dough is reached.
  3. Turn this onto a floured table and gently work, wrap, and chill for 30 mins hour.
  4. Once the pastry is rested, roll into a circle and using the rolling pin, transfer this onto a lined baking tray.
  5. Into a bowl, mix the cornflour, water and maple syrup and mix this with the prepared strawberries.
  6. Spoon this mixture into the centre of the pastry, leaving a 2-inch rim around the edge.
  7. Carefully fold the edges inward on top of the fruit leaving some of the centre fruit exposed.
  8. Egg wash the pastry and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.
  9. Place in a preheated oven at 180C and bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.
  10. Remove and allow to rest before serving.
  11. To serve mix the yoghurt, honey and lemon zest and serve on the side.

Sharon Hearne Smith’s Porridge Bread is SO easy to make! @RTEToday


By Sharon Hearne Smith

Food Stylist & Writer

More from
Today

Sharon Hearne Smith’s Sesame Seed Porridge Bread from Today with Maura and Dáithí.

Ingredients

This is an unusual bread recipe, based on porridge oats and yoghurt instead of flour and water. It is quick, easy and virtually foolproof to make.

Use any selection of seeds you prefer instead of sesame seeds, or omit them altogether for a plain bread. Alternatively, add other flavours like nuts and dried fruits or sundried tomatoes and basil or a swirl of pesto would be delicious too. This bread stays quite moist and fresh for a few days stored in an airtight container.

Makes: 1 loaf (about 12 slices)

  • Sunflower oil for greasing
  • 500g tub natural yoghurt
  • 100ml milk
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds + extra for sprinkling
  • 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 x 500ml yoghurt tubs of porridge oats (or 400g)
  • butter for serving, optional

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C (fan 180C), 400F, Gas Mark 6. Grease a 1Lb loaf tin (approximately 3 x 5 x 7 inch) with parchment paper and grease again.
  2. Scoop the yoghurt into a large bowl. Add the milk, oil, sesame seeds and bicarbonate of soda and mix until well blended.
  3. Fill a clean and dry yoghurt tub with oats and tip them in. Repeat with a second tub of oats. Alternatively, weigh out 400g of oats on a scales.
  4. Mix everything together until well blended.
  5. Spoon into the prepared tin, spreading the top level. Scatter a small handful of sesame seeds on top.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when pierced in the middle.
  7. Remove from the tin and return the loaf to oven, directly on the shelf, for another 5 minutes to dry out the crust.
  8. Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack. Cut into slices and serve spread with a little butter if liked.

Lilly Higgins’ chocolate orange overnight oats – RTÉ Today with Dáithí and Sinéad 🍫 😋 🍊

RTÉ Today

Lilly Higgins

By Lilly Higgins

Celebrity Chef

More from
Today

Recipe courtesy of Yoplait Skyr.

Ingredients

Serves 4

  • 2 tbsp honey (add more if you’d like it sweeter)
  • 100ml milk
  • Juice of 1 orange
  • 1 orange or mandarin, chopped up into small bite-size pieces
  • 1 large tub Yoplait Skyr
  • 180g oats
  • 1 tbsp each of linseed, sunflower seeds, chia, pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, and cacao nibs
  • 100g dark chocolate, melted

Method

  1. Place the nuts, seeds & cacao nibs into a high-speed mixer and blitz till slightly grainy like coffee grounds. Mix this seed mix with the honey, orange juice, milk until combined.
  2. Add a tub of Skyr and stir until combined. Fold in the chopped orange.
  3. Taste and add a little more honey if you’d like. Fold in the oats.
  4. Divide between four bowls or jars and top with melted chocolate. Store in the fridge overnight.

Sticky Beef Skewers with Satay Sauce & Pickled Cucumber by Neven Maguire from RTE Today

Sticky Beef Skewers with Satay Sauce & Pickled Cucumber by Neven Maguire

Recipe, Method & Chef’s Top Tip below 👇

For all of the Today Show recipes and hundreds more please visit RTE.ie/Food

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 Quality Assured Irish Angus Striploin Steaks

14 bamboo skewers

Rocket leaves, to serve

Marinade

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp Cajun spice

2 tbsp honey

4 tbsp Soy & Ginger Sauce

Zest ½ lemon

1 tsp thyme leaves

Satay Sauce

400g coconut milk

100g crunchy peanut butter

2 tbsp Soy & Ginger Sauce

2 tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce

1 tsp muscovado sugar

Juice 1 lime

Pickled Cucumber

4 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp caster sugar

½ cucumber, peeled, seeded, thinly sliced

Method

Beef Skewers

Thread beef strips onto skewers (1 piece each). Mix marinade ingredients in a shallow dish, coat beef and chill 2–3 hrs or overnight. Heat griddle with 2 tbsp oil until smoking. Cook skewers 2–3 mins per side, spooning over marinade. If it catches, add 1 tbsp water.

Satay Sauce

In a pot combine coconut milk, peanut butter, soy & ginger sauce, chilli sauce, sugar, lime. Stir, simmer to thicken, season.

Pickled Cucumber

Mix vinegar, sugar, pinch of salt until dissolved. Add cucumber, stir and set aside.

Serve

Place skewers on rocket leaves with satay sauce and pickled cucumber.

Chef Tip: Soak skewers in cold water first to stop burning.

Sarah Butler’s puff pastry apple turnovers: @RTEToday

More from
Today

Ingredients

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Makes: 6

  • 4 Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and cubed
  • 30g tablespoons butter
  • 200g brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon cornflour
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 2 sheets of puff pastry
  • 100g icing sugar
  • juice of ½ lemon

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 220C, 200C fan, gas 7
  2. Melt the butter in a frying pan on a medium heat.
  3. Add the apples, cinnamon and sugar.
  4. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the apples soften and the sugar melts to a sticky liquid.
  5. Mix the cornflour and water together and add to the pan, this will thicken up the sauce.
  6. Cut the pastry into squares and spoon a little mixture into half.
  7. Fold over from corner to corner into a triangle shape, and press edges together to seal.
  8. Put the turnovers onto a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes until they are puffed and lightly browned.
  9. Once cooled, you can decorate; mix the icing powder with the lemon juice until you have a toothpaste consistency and drizzle over each turnover.

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