Darina Allen: Every dish has its day — including classic Quiche Lorraine and these adorable cupcakes

Pic: iStock

Today, I took a little ramble through the Internet to check out the World, National and International Food Days in May. Can you imagine there is one for virtually every day of every month of the year?

Several captured my imagination - May 13 was International Hummus Day, just missed that, but Sunday 19 is World Baking Day, Monday 20 is Quiche Lorraine Day. 

Fancy that and wait for it, Tuesday the 21st is National Strawberries and Cream Day, that’s the next three days sorted.

So what to bake? Well, tomorrow is Sunday, so if there are kids around, how about making some cupcakes together to share? 

Can you believe National Give Someone a Cupcake Day is also a thing - that was on May 8, but still, it’s never too late to have fun, pass on skills and spread some delicious joy.

So how about Lemon Meringue Cupcakes? 

There are three elements to this recipe, just the thing to make on a wet afternoon to keep several of the family gainfully employed. (1) The cupcake mixture, (2) lemon curd, and (3) tiny meringues. 

Although they are super cute and delicious the cupcakes will be delicious alone or with a little homemade lemon curd. The little bakers will have learned three skills plus the joy of gifting to grandparents, neighbours and their friends.

Can you imagine that there’s a National Quiche Lorraine Day…Well, here’s my favourite recipe for Quiche Lorraine, which I think is based on a recipe from Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking from the 1960s.

Here again, there are several techniques how to make a delicious, buttery, shortcrust pastry, line a flan ring and excellent proportions for a quiche. 

But the secret of a memorable quiche, which has been so debased and pedestrian from overuse, is really good eggs, lots of cream and excellent streaky bacon, I like it a little smoked… (Quiche was certainly never meant to be made with milk or, perish the thought, low-fat milk…)

And finally, for Strawberries and Cream Day on Tuesday, how about Ballymaloe Almond Meringue with strawberries and cream? 

‘This Break all the Rules’ meringue was the very first dessert I tasted from the famous sweet trolley when I arrived in Ballymaloe House in 1968. Plus, it was also the very first dessert I learned to make in the kitchen, it’s still one of my favourites. 

Also brilliant for entertaining and for birthdays. The discs can be stored in an airtight tin for several days and it’s a really brilliant way to showcase the first of the early Irish strawberries.

Enjoy…

Quiche lorraine

recipe by:Darina Allen

This is my mother's recipe, and the one I use as a basis for all quiches

Servings

12

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the shortcrust pastry:

• 175g (6oz) plain white flour

• 75g (3oz) butter

• 1 egg yolk, preferably free-range

• 2 tsp cold water, approx

• For the filling:

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 175g 6oz) streaky bacon cut into 1cm (1/2 inch) lardons

• 100g (4oz) chopped onions

• 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks

• 300ml (½ pint) double cream

• 1 scant tbsp chopped parsley

• 1 scant tbsp chopped chives

• 110g (4oz) Gruyère cheese, grated

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

2. For the pastry, sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl.

3. Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour and then rub in with your fingertips. Keep everything as cool as possible; if the fat is allowed to melt, the finished pastry may be tough. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, stop.

4. Whisk the egg or egg yolk and add some water. Using a fork to stir, add just enough liquid to bring the pastry together, then discard the fork and collect it into a ball with your hands, this way you can judge more accurately if you need a few more drops of liquid. Although rather damp pastry is easier to handle and roll out, the resulting crust can be tough and may well shrink out of shape as the water evaporates in the oven. The drier and more difficult-to-handle pastry will give a crisper, shorter crust. This will make the pastry much less elastic and easier to roll.

5. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured worktop and line the 23cm (9 inch) diameter baking tin, the pastry should come up just above the top of the tin. Line with kitchen paper and fill to the top with dried beans. Rest for 15 minutes in the fridge.

6. Blind bake the tart shell for 25 minutes. Remove the beans and paper. The base should be almost fully cooked. Remove the parchment paper and beans, brush the base with a little beaten egg white and replace in the oven for 3-4 minutes. This will seal the base and avoid the “soggy bottom” effect.

7. Brush the prebaked tart shell with a little beaten egg and pop back into the oven for 3-4 minutes or until almost cooked. Cool.

8. Heat the oil in a sauté pan and cook the bacon over a medium heat until crisp. Remove to a plate and cool. Add the chopped onions to the pan and sweat gently on a low heat in the same oil for a further 10 minutes - covered.

9. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a medium-sized bowl, add the cream, herbs, cheese and cool bacon and onions. Mix well and add seasoning. Taste or otherwise, heat a frying pan, cook a teaspoon of the mixture on a gentle heat for 2 or 3 minutes until it coagulates – taste and if necessary correct the seasoning.

10. Pour the filling into the pastry base and return to the oven for 30–40 minutes or until the centre has just set. Serve warm with a green salad and relish.

Lemon Curd Meringue Cupcakes

recipe by:Darina Allen

These cupcakes are absolutely adorable and really delicious, the way to everyone’s heart.

Servings

24

Preparation Time

 25 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 5 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• Cupcakes

• 225g (8oz) butter (at room temperature)

• 225g (8oz) caster sugar

• 225g (8oz) self-raising flour

• 4 organic large eggs

• Zest of 2 lemons

• Lemon Curd

• 2 ozs (50g) butter

• 4 ozs (110g) caster sugar

• Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

• 2 organic eggs and 1 organic egg yolk whisked (keep white aside fo meringue)

• Lemon Curd Cream

• 110ml (4floz) mascarpone

• 4 tbsp lemon curd (see recipe)

• 2 tbsp sieved icing sugar

• Meringue Kisses

• 2 egg whites

• 4½ ozs (117g) icing sugar

• Garnish

• Sprig of Lemon Balm or Lemon Verbena

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.

2. First make the cupcakes

3. Put all ingredients into a food processer, whizz until smooth. Divide mixture evenly between cases in muffin tin. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden.

4. Meanwhile, make the lemon curd

5. Melt the butter on a very low heat. Add the caster sugar, lemon zest and juice and then add the whisked eggs. Stir carefully over a gentle heat with a straight ended wooden spatula until the mixture coats the backof it. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

6. To make the meringue

7. Line a baking sheet with silicone paper. Mix all the sugar with the egg whites at once and beat until the mixture forms stiff dry peaks.

8. Drop little ‘blobs’ of the mixture on to the baking sheet and flatten slightly with a teaspoon. Bake immediately in a low oven 150°C/ 300°F/regulo 2 for 10-15 minutes or until set crisp.

9. To assemble

10. Mix the lemon curd into the mascarpone and add the sieved icing sugar. Put into a piping bag with a medium sized plain nozzle.

11. Put the remainder of the lemon curd into a piping bag with a small plain nozzle. Insert the nozzle into the top of the cupcake and squeeze in a small teaspoon of lemon curd.

12. Pipe a blob of lemon cream over the top. It should almost cover the top of the cupcake. Top with a little more lemon curd and pop a meringue kiss on top, garnish with a sprig of lemon balm or lemon verbena. Eat as soon as possible.

Ballymaloe Almond Meringue with Strawberries

recipe by:Darina Allen

We use this all-in-one meringue recipe for birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines Day, or simply for a special dessert - it’s particularly delicious with fresh strawberries.

Preparation Time

 40 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 25 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 90g whole unskinned almonds

• 240g icing sugar

• 120g egg whites, preferably free range

• Filling

• 300ml whipped cream

• 225g fresh Irish strawberries in season

• Garnish

• little sprigs of mint or lemon balm

• 6-8 crystallised rose petals (optional)

Method

1. Blanch and skin the almonds. Grind or chop them up. They should not be ground to a fine powder but should be left slightly coarse and gritty, (you could cheat and use nibbed almonds!). Toast in a moderate oven at 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 8-10 minutes until golden. Keep an eye on them and stir occasionally.

2. Mark 2 x 18cm circles on parchment paper or a prepared baking sheet. Check that the bowl is dry, spotlessly clean and free from grease. Mix all the icing sugar with the egg whites in the bowl, whisk until the mixture forms stiff dry peaks. Fold in the almonds quickly. Divide the mixture between the two circles and spread evenly with a palette knife. Bake immediately in a cool oven, 150°C/Gas Mark 2 for 45 minutes or until crisp. Turn off the oven and allow to cool. The meringue discs should peel easily off the parchment paper.

3. To Assemble

4. Slice the strawberries. Sandwich the meringue discs together with the fruit and whipped cream. Reserve a little fruit and cream for decoration. Decorate with rosettes of whipped cream and strawberries. Garnish with little sprigs of mint or lemon balm and crystallised rose petals.

5. Note: If you chill for an hour before serving it will be easier to cut.

6. The meringue discs will keep for several weeks in a tin.

Seasonal Journal

National Egg Month

May is National Egg Month, a time to celebrate one of the most versatile and nutritious ingredients in our kitchens - the egg!

Eggs are not only a breakfast staple but also an essential ingredient in a wide range of dishes – salads, sandwiches and wraps, salads, sauces, baking, cakes, desserts... so let’s champion the humble egg for the month of May and beyond!

I will devote a full column on eggs in June, so keep an eye out.

Irish Restaurant Awards - Best Café in Munster

Congratulations and super proud of Ballymaloe Cookery School alumnus, Dermot O’Sullivan of Greenwich Café on Caroline Street in Cork City, who recently won the Irish Restaurants Award 2024 Best Café in Munster.

Wild Foods

So many good things to add to salads as everything bursts into leaf. Pick a few fresh beech leaves, they still feel like tissue paper, white thorn leaves are also delicious to include in a green salad and are so good for our cardiovascular system. 

Look out for the young horseradish leaves also, they’ve got a delicious, spicy mustard flavour and have many health benefits including potassium, magnesium, vitamin C and calcium.