Showing posts with label Praline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Praline. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Mitchelstown's Praline Bucks The Trend. Expanding Its Café Business In Mitchelstown, Co. Cork With The Opening Of Eye-Catching New Confectionery Concept


press release

Mitchelstown's Praline Bucks The Trend 
Expanding Its Café Business With Eye-Catching New Confectionery Concept
 Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café's award-winning Praline Opera Pastry. All pics: Kirsty Lyons


Award-winning chocolatier, Norma Kelly, has bucked the trend and expanded Praline - her flourishing café business in her hometown of Mitchelstown, Co. Cork - with the opening of a striking new twenty-seater confectionery concept.

Named Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café, the mecca for dessert lovers on Lower Cork Street flips the traditional café menu on its head in celebration of all things sweet. 

The focal point of the sleek new space is an eye-catching chocolate counter from where customers can choose their own selection of Kelly’s hand-crafted creations to sit down and savour alongside a speciality coffee, or decadent hot chocolate.


Meticulously made and individually hand-painted, Norma’s chocolates showcase her favourite ingredients from some of Munster’s top artisan producers. The café’s signature Praline & Coffee chocolates comprise a ganache made with 35% single-origin milk chocolate from Papua New Guinea infused with coffee from Mean Bean’s roastery in neighbouring Co. Waterford, that is topped with a crunchy hazelnut praline layer. 

Other flavours include Ivy Heather Honey from Galtee Honey Farm in Burncourt, Co. Tipperary, which is complemented by a homemade Orange gel, and a Vanilla Salted Caramel seasoned with O’Neill’s Irish Atlantic Sea Salt from the beautiful Beara Peninsula in West Cork. 


The newest addition to their offering is a collaboration with Mitchelstown-based craft brewer, Eight Degrees Brewingfeaturing their Knockmealdown Irish Stout - a beer whose dark malt characteristics and distinctive espresso aroma pair perfectly with rich chocolate.

As you’d expect from a chocolatier of Kelly’s standing and reputation, each filling comes delicately encased in the finest sustainably sourced Cacao Barry chocolate.

And, in homage to all things chocolate and keen to minimise their impact on the local environment as much as possible, Praline’s take home gift boxes are crafted entirely from cacao pods - by-product of the chocolate making process - which ensures that they are 100% compostable. 

As the café’s name suggests, on any given day you can also expect to find its impressive pastry display brimming with freshly baked and individually-portioned patisserie, many of which are inspired by Norma’s regular research trips back over to her beloved France.

Hazelnut & Chocolate Mousse 

Visitors will have their heads turned, tempted by TiramisuHazelnut & Chocolate MousseRaspberry & White Chocolate CheesecakePear & Almond Tart, and their Blas na hEireann award-winning Praline Opera Pastry, amongst many other delectable delights.

The menu also includes a slightly shorter than usual selection of homemade sandwiches and soups, along with some savoury pastries, including sausage rolls from Hanley’s Butchers next door.

Sausage rolls aside, everything served at Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café is handmade daily at Praline’s production kitchen, located a three minute drive away on the site of the business’s original premises just off Brigown Road. From here, the fast-growing corporate catering element of Norma’s operation is fulfilled, with the location also doubling up as a customer collection point for bespoke celebratory cake and chocolate orders, as well as offering takeaway teas and coffees.

Chocoholics living further afield than Co. Cork will be pleased to hear that Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café’s entire range of delectable handmade chocolates and other delicacies are available to order online for nationwide delivery via their website, www.praline.ie

Commenting on the opening of Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café, owner & chocolatier, Norma Kelly, said: “I am very excited to see the concept brought to life and have a space that showcases our handmade pastries and chocolates in a way that allows our customers to see and appreciate the work that goes into creating them. Pastry and chocolate have always been my first love, and it was always my dream to make them the headliners in my own café business.”

Since opening Praline seven years ago, busy mum of three, Norma, has successfully pivoted her business in order to overcome all of the obstacles that the COVID-19 pandemic put in her way. Despite more recently also having to battle rising costs and an uncertain business landscape, she has thankfully been able to buck the hospitality industry trend and expand her operation, when many others are being forced to close their doors, with the opening of her second premises. Future plans also include the opening of a Praline Pastry & Chocolate School.

Kelly attributes Praline’s success not only to the staunch support she has received from local customers from the get-go, but also that of her fellow café owners in Mitchelstown, who actively support one another - something which she feels has helped build a greater sense of community and togetherness in the close-knit Cork town.

Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café is located at 53 Lower Cork St, in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, and is open Monday to Friday, 8am - 4.30pm, and on Saturdays from 9am - 4.30pm. The café is closed on Sundays.


Thursday, March 9, 2023

CORK BUSINESSES DOMINATE THE SHORTLIST AS THE GOOD FOOD IRELAND® AWARDS RETURN

press release
CORK BUSINESSES DOMINATE THE SHORTLIST 
AS THE GOOD FOOD IRELAND® AWARDS RETURN
Margaret Jeffares, Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland, and Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment at launch of highly-coveted Good Food Ireland Awards. 



 

Good Food Ireland® is delighted to announce the shortlisted finalists for its highly-regarded awards. County Cork was revealed to have an impressive 14 finalists shortlisted – the most of any county in Ireland.

The winners are due to be revealed at a high-profile business lunch taking place on Monday 17th April at The K Club, County Kildare.

The awards are unique in their cross-sector approach and core criteria around commitment to local Irish produce and the organisers are delighted to have them back after the Covid enforced gap. They aim to enhance linkages between agriculture and tourism and present significant opportunities for stimulating local production, retaining tourism earnings in the local area, and improving the distribution of economic benefits of tourism to the four corners of the island.

An independent panel of Irish and International leaders including Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland® Margaret Jeffares, journalists John Wilson and Amii McKeever, IFAC Consultant Stephanie Walsh and Executive Chairman and Owner of Odyssey International Kevin Shannon, shortlisted the nominees from those businesses approved by Good Food Ireland®, subject to meeting strict criteria through onsite inspection. The expert panel will select the overall winner following mystery inspections and assessments.

The winners are due to be revealed at a high-profile business lunch taking place on
Monday 
17th April at The K Club (above), County Kildare.


Featuring across 10 different categories, the County Cork businesses who made the shortlist are:

Hotel Of The Year – Hayfield Manor and Celtic Ross Hotel

Culinary Haven Of The Year – Ballymaloe House Hotel

Restaurant Of The Year – Fishy Fishy

Pub Of The Year – The Lifeboat Inn

Shop Of The Year – The Roughty Foodie

Food Truck Of The Year – The Garden Cafe Truck at Ballymaloe Cookery School and CRAFT West Cork at The Celtic Ross Hotel

Excellence In Food Tourism Award – Ballymaloe Cookery School Organic Farm & Gardens

Producer Of The Year (Fish & Seafood) – Ummera Smoked Products and "K'O'Connell Fish Merchants”

Producer Of The Year (Bakery & Chocolate) – Koko Kinsale and Praline

Producer Of The Year (Drinks) – Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur


The public also has the opportunity to cast their votes for their favourite places across the island of Ireland in the Food Lovers Choice Award. The shortlist will be drawn from the finalists in all other categories. Online voting will commence on Tuesday 7th March and remain open until Monday 20th March.


Other awards of recognition will include Outstanding Contribution to Food Production, Outstanding Contribution to Irish Food/Drink Internationally and Lifetime Achievement Award.


Returning for the first time since pre-Covid, the awards – proudly sponsored by Kerrygold, Irish Farmers Association, Bord Bia, Tourism Ireland and National Dairy Council – will be opened by guest of honour, Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and attended by some 300 guests including business owners, Irish and international chefs, buyers, food and drink writers, media and industry leaders. Anita Mendiratta, Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, will deliver the afternoon’s Key Note speech.


Margaret Jeffares, Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland® says: "There is great excitement around the return of The Good Food Ireland® Awards this year to celebrate the successful collaboration of cross-sector businesses working together for inclusive economic growth.


“All of those wonderful businesses who have made the shortlist are a committed collection of passionate and driven people who genuinely capture the essence of Ireland's food and drink, setting it in a cultural context to inspire travellers, international consumers and locals to seek out real authenticity and Irish provenance. All the judges would like to extend our congratulations to them all and wish everyone the best of luck for the 17th April."


See the full shortlist of finalists below. For full details on the individual awards, tickets to the event, and general information about Good Food Ireland® visit goodfoodireland.ie

 


 

About the Awards:

The 2023 Good Food Ireland® Awards are proudly sponsored by Kerrygold, Irish Farmers Association, Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia, IFAC and National Dairy Council.

All businesses approved by Good Food Ireland, subject to meeting strict criteria through onsite inspection, are eligible for the awards. An independent panel of industry experts will create a shortlist of finalists in each of the award categories. Following further onsite mystery inspection and assessment the winners will be selected. The public will also have an opportunity to vote from a shortlist of finalists for their Favourite Place to Eat, Favourite Food or Drink Producer or Favourite Place to Shop in each of the tourism regions across the island of Ireland.

 

Norma Kelly of Mitchelstown's Praline displays some of her delicious sweet things!

FULL 2023 GOOD FOOD IRELAND® AWARDS FINALISTS

Hotel Of The Year

Grand Central Hotel Belfast

Hayfield Manor, Cork

Celtic Ross Hotel, Cork

Anantara The Marker Dublin Hotel, Dublin

The Merrion, Dublin

The Europe Hotel & Resort, Kerry

The K Club, Kildare

The Dunraven Adare, Limerick

 

Culinary Haven Of The Year

The Bushmills Inn, Co Antrim

Killeavy Castle Estate, Armagh

Ballymaloe House Hotel, Cork

BrookLodge & Macreddin Village, Wicklow

Killeen House Hotel & Rozzers Restaurant, Kerry

Cashel House Hotel, Galway

Rathmullan House, Donegal

Ghan House, Louth

 

Restaurant Of The Year

Fish City, Antrim

An Port Mor, Mayo

Prime 74, Tipperary

The Lemon Tree Restaurant, Donegal

Potager Restaurant, Dublin

Woodruff Restaurant, Dublin

Aniar, Galway

Fishy Fishy, Cork

Hugo's, Dublin

 

Pub Of The Year

The King's Head, Galway

The Glyde Inn, Louth

The Tavern Bar & Restaurant, Mayo

Harte's of Kildare, Kildare

Mikey Ryan's Bar & Kitchen, Tipperary

The Lifeboat Inn, Cork

The Oarsman, Leitrim

Rusty Mackerel, Donegal

 

Café Of The Year

Sweet n Green, Clare

Kelly's Kitchen Café, Newport

Farmhouse Café & Bakery, Dublin

GROW HQ, Waterford

Fennelly's of Callan, Kilkenny

The Hungry Bear Café, Wexford

Barrons Bakery & Coffee House, Waterford

Kelly's Café, Wexford

 

Shop Of The Year

The Roughty Foodie, Cork

Country Choice, Tipperary

Buddy's Farmers Market, Dublin

Brogan's Butchers, Meath

Cavistons Seafood Restaurant & Food Emporium, Dublin

Leaf & Larder Delicatessen & Bakery, Kerry

Firecastle, Kildare

 

Food Truck Of The Year

The Garden Cafe Truck at Ballymaloe Cookery School, Cork

CRAFT West Cork at The Celtic Ross Hotel, Cork

Koha Street Kitchen, Sligo

SEABISCUIT at The Strand Cahore, Wexford

 

Sustainability Award

GROW HQ, Waterford

BrookLodge & Macreddin Village, Wicklow

Connemara Smokehouse, Galway

Oriel Sea Salt, Louth

Fish City, Antrim

Atlantis of Kilmore Quay, Wexford

O' Shea Farms, Kilkenny

 

Excellence In Food Tourism Award

Long Meadow Cider, Armagh

Burren Smokehouse & Visitor Centre, Clare

Ballymaloe Cookery School Organic Farm & Gardens, Cork

Wilde Irish Chocolates, Clare

Vintage Tea Trips, Dublin

The Glyde Inn, Louth

Coppenagh House Farm, Carlow

Producer Of The Year – Fruit & Vegetables

"Garryhinch Wood Exotic Mushrooms", Offaly

The Apple Farm, Tipperary

O'Shea Farms, Waterford

Kearns Fruit Farm, Wexford

 

Producer Of The Year - Meat

Coppenagh House Farm, Carlow

Market House Ennistymon, Clare

Calvey's Achill Mountain Lamb, Mayo

Jane Russell's Original Irish Sausages, Kildare

Kelly's of Newport, Mayo

Donabate Dexter, Dublin

 

Producer Of The Year - Fish & Seafood

Burren Smokehouse, Clare

Ummera Smoked Products, Cork

"K'O'Connell Fish Merchants ", Cork

Realt na Mara Shellfish, Kerry

Atlantis of Kilmore Quay, Wexford

 

Producer Of The Year – Bakery & Chocolate

Koko Kinsale, Cork

Praline, Cork

Jinny's Bakery & Tea Rooms, Leitrim

Walshe's Bakehouse, Waterford

Ditty's Bakery, Derry

 

Producer Of The Year - Drinks

Armagh Cider Company, Armagh

Jackford Irish Gin, Wexford

Western Herd Brewing Company, Clare

Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur, Cork

Dew Drop Inn & Brewhouse, Kildare

 

Producer Of The Year - Dairy

Glastry Farm Ice Cream, Down

The Village Dairy, Carlow

Freezin Friesian, Waterford

Killowen Farm, Wexford

Boyne Valley Farmhouse Cheese, Meath

 

Producer Of The Year - Jams & Savoury

Wexford Home Preserves, Wexford

Leahy Beekeeping, Galway

Achill Island Sea Salt, Mayo

Wild Irish Foragers & Preservers, Offaly

Harnett's Oils, Down

Keogh's Crisps, Dublin

 

Producer of the Year

Supreme Award

Outstanding Contribution to Food Production

Outstanding Contribution to Irish Food and Drink Internationally

Lifetime Achievement Award

Good Food Ireland®

goodfoodireland.ie

@goodfoodireland

Monday, February 28, 2022

Praline Launches Locally-inspired ‘Signature Selection’ Chocolate Gift Boxes And Lavish Homemade Afternoon Tea

Praline Pastry & Chocolate Shop Launches Locally-inspired ‘Signature Selection’ Chocolate Gift Boxes And Lavish Homemade Afternoon Tea In Time For Mother’s Day.




Praline Pastry & Chocolate Shop in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork has launched a sumptuous new signature range of handcrafted gourmet chocolates and a lavish homemade afternoon tea just in time for Mother’s Day (Sunday 27th March) - gifts guaranteed to put a smile on your mammy’s face!

Praline’s Owner and award-winning Pastry Chef & Chocolatier, Norma Kelly (pictured above), has produced a ‘Signature Selection’ Chocolate Gift Box comprising six specially created fillings, each one inspired by some of her region’s top artisan food producers. Meticulously made and individually hand-painted, each flavour comes encased in the finest sustainably sourced Cacao Barry Chocolate.

Available for delivery nationwide pre and post Mother’s Day, Praline’s ‘Signature Selection’ range includes Vanilla Salted Caramel, Heather Honey & Orange, Raspberry & Passionfruit, Toffee Apple, Praline & Coffee, and Jasmine & Poppy Seed flavoured chocolates.

Praline’s Vanilla Salted Caramel in a 41% Cacao Barry milk chocolate shell showcases pure and natural gourmet salt flakes produced by O'Neill's Irish Atlantic Sea Salt on the beautiful Beara Peninsula in West Cork. For the Heather Honey & Orange flavour, Norma has paired raw Irish Ivy & Heather Honey from the hives of the Galtee Honey Farm in Burncourt, Co. Tipperary with a flavoursome homemade orange gel.

Raspberry & Passion Fruit features locally grown freeze-dried raspberries sourced from Ballyhoura mushrooms in Ballylanders, Co. Limerick - where Norma was born - combined with a zingy passion fruit purée and a Cacao Barry white chocolate ganache. Praline’s classic mouth-watering Toffee Apple is filled with caramel-flavoured white chocolate ganache and topped with an apple jelly created using award-winning pressed juice from the Traas family-run, The Apple Farm, in Cahir, Co. Tipperary.

The shop’s signature Praline & Coffee flavour - a ganache made with 35% single-origin Cacao Barry milk chocolate from Papua New Guinea infused with freshly roasted coffee from Mean Bean Coffee Co. in Waterford - is topped with a crunchy hazelnut praline layer. And, Jasmine & Poppy Seed sees 55% Cacao Barry dark chocolate ganache flavoured with Belfast-based Suki Tea Makers naturally infused Jasmine dragon pearls perfectly complemented by a crunchy poppy seed layer.

A ‘Signature Selection’ Chocolate Gift Box containing all six flavours (one of each) in 100% biodegradable packaging is available to pre-order online at www.praline.ie for €13.00 (plus €10.00 for delivery nationwide), with a larger version containing twelve chocolates (two of each flavour) priced at €25.00 (plus €10.00 for delivery nationwide). To ensure delivery in time for Mother’s Day on Sunday 27th March, orders must be placed online before 5pm on Monday 21st March 2022. The ‘Signature Selection’ range will then continue to be available to order online for delivery nationwide for the remainder of the year.

Commenting on the launch of the ‘Signature Selection’ range, Praline Pastry & Chocolate Shop’s Owner & Chocolatier, Norma Kelly, said: “Running my own pastry and chocolate shop has been a dream come true for me. When the pandemic hit it gave me the opportunity to evolve the business from being a sit-down café to one which is now focused on takeaway, freeing me up to pursue my passion for chocolate. When I first started working with it during my training for the UK and Irish World Chocolate Masters, I discovered just how versatile it is. There are so many different flavour dimensions, perfect for pairing with the fantastic local larder that I'm lucky enough to have at my disposal. In creating the ‘Signature Selection’, I wanted to produce a range of chocolates with a real sense of place to the Ballyhoura region and I think these six flavours really showcase the local ingredients and do justice to the incredible producers that I get to work with.”

In addition to Praline’s assortment of chocolates, the shop, which first opened its doors in 2017 as a patisserie & cafe, is also offering you the chance to spoil your mother with their own take on a luxurious Afternoon Tea Box, full of tempting homemade treats.

The Afternoon Tea Box contains Araglen Free Range Egg Mayonnaise (on Praline’s signature Brown Soda Bread) and Baked Ham & Homemade Tomato Relish (on Stapleton’s Sourdough) sandwiches (x2 of each flavour). These are accompanied by Homemade Fresh Fruit Scones (x2) with Vanilla Cream and Folláin Raspberry Jam, Iced Coffee & Walnut Tea Cake (x2), and a Raspberry Mousse on a crispy White Chocolate base (x2). And if all of that doesn’t already have you licking your lips in anticipation, lucky recipients will also enjoy Praline’s hand-rolled Milk Chocolate Truffles (x2).

The homemade Afternoon Tea Box comes in fully recyclable packaging and is priced at €32.00. It is available to pre-order online at www.praline.ie for local collection only from Praline's premises at Mitchelstown Shopping Centre, Co. Cork on Saturday 26th March (between 9am and 4pm).


Press release

Monday, July 3, 2017

Killavullen Farmers Market. Old Butter Roads Food Trail Highlighted

Killavullen Farmers Market

Old Butter Roads Food Trail Featured
Country kitchen. Norma's demo

A little mist, a little sun, lots of good local produce and a friendly face at every stall was the impression from Saturday’s visit to the Killavullen Farmers Market, a market held, by the way, mostly in a large growing tunnel! So, well capable of dealing with the rain if need be.

Aside from the usual contributors, the market took the opportunity last Saturday to highlight the newly formed Old Butter Roads Food Trails with a couple of related demos. Food Trails chairperson Maire Ní Mhurchu filled us in on the reasons behind the venture which has “brought together producers, eateries, visitor attractions and associations” from the general North Cork region covering Muskerry, Avondhu and Duhallow.


Stefan's delicious honey
 “We are doing it to support one another,” said Maire (who has her own local business Activity Days). Mary Sleeman, chairperson of the Killavullen Market, had a big welcome for us all and gave us a brief history of butter in the area saying Ireland, and Cork in particular, “is ideal for dairy”.


All the while, John was getting on with making butter and it turned out very well indeed, the audience delighted with the taste. “Do your own,” encouraged John. “There are lots of home separators available.”

Another demo followed, this by Norma, from the newly opened Praline, a Pastry Shop and Cafe in Mitchelstown. She picked up a few ingredients around the market for her Knickerbocker Glory. “Easy to make,” she said. Easy to eat also, as it vanished in no time!

Mary Sleeman welcomes all (top left). Maura and Ciaran (top right) and, below, John shows his newly made butter.

The market, held every second Saturday (check the calendar here), takes place in the grounds of the Nano Nagle Centre, just outside the village on the main Mallow-Fermoy road, about forty minutes from the city. You may also take a walk through part of the centre and down by the river.

But we’ve come mainly for the stalls and have bags to fill. First of all though, an ice-cream, hard to resist!

There is a great variety of produce here: plants, including herbs, organic produce, jams and chutneys, home-baking, bread (Arbutus), honey, tea, coffee, cookies and more. You may also get natural soaps and oils, healing therapies, secondhand books and so on; you may even throw your own clay pot. It changes seasonally, of course, and do watch out for special events.
Fruit skewers
 After that ice-cream, we had a chat and a tasting of her honey smoked salmon with Sue Parsons of Lyreen Smokehouse. Got some honey direct from the hive and had a few words with the interesting man selling it, healthy living supporter Dr Stefan Buzoianu.


No shortage of bites for lunch and, among other things, we got a couple of slices of quiche from Noreen O’Brien who was also selling organic veg. 

One of the tastiest bites was a sausage roll made with Derryvillane Free Range Pork. Here we were talking to Ciaran and his mother Maura who gave us a bit of background on the family business. Bought some of her free range eggs too and just couldn't resist, for old times sake, a pot of the Crab Apple Jelly from Maura’s Kitchen.
Lunch from Noreen

No shortage of choice here, no shortage of chat either, in this lovely friendly market set in the corner of a field. A sheltered corner, by the way!

Here is a list of the stallholders, including some of the newer ones at the bottom. But it does change from time to time, from season to season.

Peter Rafferty - Flowers, Vegetables & Floral Gifts
Simon Treacy – Apples
Nano Nagle Centre - - Organic Produce
Mossie Buckley – Chemical Free Vegetables
Little Acre Plants
Paddy Walsh Plants
Rosemary Callanan – Natural Soaps & Organic Essential Oils
A Brush with Nature – Buckwheat Salad, Gluten & GMO Free Honey, Pro Biotic Smoothes, Super foods & Vegetables
Maura’s Kitchens – Jelly’s, Jams, Chutney’s & Cordial  
Deirdre’s Home Baking 
Nora Creed Healing Therapies 
Killavullen Organic Buyers (KOB) 
Bring & Buy Charity Bookstall 
Ron Hulshof – Selection of Fresh Breads
Ciara’s Fair trade Tea, Coffee & Cookies

New stallholders include Johnathon Owens , raw milk and yoghurt from his own herd; Hegarty's cheddar; Breda's gluten free baking;  artisan ice cream by Liam Cotter.