Summer Berry Sweet Pizza and a change of seasons…

At the moment life is sitting quite happily in limbo, as we fall between the seasons of late Summer and early Autumn.  There is still warmth in the air, yet I'm beginning to be drawn back to the more heavy and slow cooked dishes.  While it can easily be argued that Ireland got a fairly awful Summer this year, I haven't been left short on Summer produce.  My tomatoes, while slightly late are starting to turn a rich red and my proud pumpkin patch which has long been developing a personality of its own, now sits watching our living room overlooking slightly ominously, ready to engulf the house with ever expanding tendrils, the moment we turn our backs.  While everything is in full bloom and plants are still growing, said pumpkin patch is a great reminder that, it won't be more that a month or two, before I will be cutting the stalks of what I hope will be heavy orange fruits, reminding me further of the fact that the days are getting shorter and colder.

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Swedish Gooey Chocolate Cake

The Method

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Christmas Mince Pie Star Slices

These mince pie slices are a wonderful alternative to the traditional mince pie. Use your own mince meat recipe here if you have one, if not most supermarkets stock handy jars of the stuff! Serves 4-6 For the pastry: 170g flour 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 100g cold butter, cut into small chunks 1 tablespoon of caster sugar 1 egg yolk 2 tablespoons of water For the filling: 420g jar of mince meat 1 large cooking apple, peeled and cored A sprinkle of brown sugar Place the flour and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub in using your finger tips until you have a rough breadcrumb like mixture. Don't worry it will come together! Add the sugar and the egg yolk and mix through with a spoon. Add the water slowly until a dough comes together. Form a ball with your hands, cover in cling film and place in the fridge to chill for at least 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6. Chop the apple into small rough slices and combine in a bowl with the mince meat. Roll the pastry dough out to about half a centimetre in thickness and line a fluted tart tin with it. Make sure to cut out little stars from the pastry to decorate with later! Prick the base with a fork and fill with baking paper and ceramic baking beans. Place in the oven and blind bake for 10 minutes, remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes. Fill the pastry base with the apple and mincemeat mixture and top with the pastry stars and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the pastry turns golden brown. Serve cut into slices with a drizzle of cream!

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