This recipe comes courtesy of my sister Barbara, cake-maker extraordinaire. Barbara’s baking skills have her in high demand for family parties and functions; people regularly ask her for cakes as Christmas or wedding presents. Apricot Upside-down cake Ingredients 1oz butter 3oz brown sugar 1 tin of apricots, preferably in own juice such as Epicure, available [...]

Why spend a fortune on dessert? They’re rarely spectacular, especially in some Chinese, Indian, and Italian restaurants, where they’re often pre-bought and formulaic. One regular offender is cheesecake, which can and should be one of the most delectable of sweets – but mostly isn’t. I used to feel a meal out wasn’t complete without dessert, [...]

Try this cunning little chestnut cake recipe. It’s moreish and gorgeous, and perfect to have on standby for nibbles now, or great Christmas eats. You can easily freeze it and throw it in the freezer for use at a later date. But you’ll want to eat it now; try it on its own, after dinner [...]

Wow! Look at all this food. Why don’t we have anything like this in Dublin? Corkonians need no introduction to The English Market, but the rest of us might. Last Saturday, I was amazed and enchanted by an extraordinary feast for all five senses. This huge indoor market has been around since 1788 and is [...]

My cooking hero Ruth Hegarty has very kindly supplied us with another recipe; this time for a simple but impressive chocolate cake. Chocolate Cake You cannot devote space and time to dark chocolate without getting people to make this chocolate cake. Every time I make it, people ask for the recipe and eat another piece. [...]

I was doing some last-minute panic shopping for snacks in Lidl, for a Christmas pot-luck dinner that we had on Sunday last, when I saw this incredible piece of cake kitsch in the ice-cream freezer.  It was only €6.99 and was a hit at the dinner…not just because of its ridiculous opulence, but also because [...]