Why do trend makers feel the need to reach into my childhood for ideas and trend for the forthcoming culinary year? Cupcakes - Check! Mexican Food - Check! Well that's two that have made it big in recent years so I may be exaggerating it a little but...

Reading through the Guardian's Hot List for 2010 I had a enlightening flashback when I read that a childhood treat of yore was going to trump the cupcake as the ultimate must have baked good of 2010. And sure enough with my recent visit to the Soho outpost of the Hummingbird Bakery, there they were at £3 a piece! Yes thats right! £3 a piece!

Yes the humble whoopie pie. First of all a whoopie pie is not a pie at all, more of a miniature sandwiched cake. It's the lovechild of a cake and a cookie which has suffered the same identity crisis as the beloved Jaffa Cake. You can trace the roots of the whoopie pie back to the Pennsylvania Dutch of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

The basics of a traditional whoopie pie are two moist palm sized chocolate cakes with a gooey marshmallow filling sandwiched between. Knowing that my Uncle was a huge fan of Pennsylvanian Dutch cooking, I had a look through his cookbook stash that was bequeathed to me. I found a newspaper cutout recipe with some notations on it and thought that it would be a great starting point.

MMMM doughnuts. I would like to proclaim my belief that there would be allot less conflict in this world if everyone would take a step back, relax and have a doughnut break. I swear it would work! I believe Homer Simpson would agree!

Every country on the planet has their own distinctive take on the humble fried bit of pastry. The french have the beignet. The Chinese have their Youtiao. In Turkey they have Tulumba Tatlısı. In Egypt they have cheese stuffed Katayef. In The US they have about a billion different types of doughnuts with a doughnut shop on every corner!

But possibly my favourite doughnut of all has to be the humble churro from Mexico. The Churro originated in Spain. They are also popular in Latin America, France, Portugal, the United States, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands. The snack gets its name from its shape, which resembles the horns of the Churro breed of sheep reared in the Spanish grasslands of Castile.

In my take on the churro, I've made it a really egg rich and vanilla seed studded indulgent treat. The dough itself is a variation on the French Choux Pastry.

All hail mother nature! Today, for the second day running, London has seen it's first glimpse of proper spring. I can hear birds chirping, the faint buzz from lawns being mowed and I bet that fruit bearing trees are beginning to bud. Yes people, spring is on it's way! It's not all jubilation, there still a while for the great British fruit season to come into season.

There is one saviour of this winter into spring time lull in fruit desserts, namely the citrus desserts. I've fallen in love with this citrus steamed pudding. I've given it a rather generic title of citrus because there is not a citrus fruit that does not shine in this dessert. I've tried it with lemons, I've tried it with limes, sampled it with satsumas and even took a stab at them with blood oranges. Each member of the citrus family performed to gold medal standards in this dessert.

These little puds have a lovely spring like texture that quivers when you come at it with a spoon. My favourite part of the the puds is the little layer of curd that magically appears during the steaming process. If you serve these to friends let them think that you painstakingly layered the curd in. Keep the culinary mystery alive!

Cooking is like magic. I’m not referring to the Master Magicians of Gastronomy like Blumenthal, Adria or Achatz, but more of the simpler use of magic in cooking. Specifically taking an inedible object and if by magic making it utterly divine and moorish. Quince when cooked turns from a hard and bitter fruit into a fragrant silky puree. Animal bones when simmered produce an elixir that has amazing mouth feel!

The first magical products that fascinated me at a child was Popcorn. The magic trick goes like this.- start off with a hard golden nugget that are impossible to eat. Then apply some heat. PRESTO! POP! BANG! Fluffy puffed bites of creamy goodness appears. If you are a seasoned popcorn magician there will be no smoke or burning smells!

I love popcorn in all of its guises be it buttery and salty or sweet. Combining both sweet and salty with popcorn is heaven in my books. To add a little magic of my own I like to add a bit of chilli to give a little heat on the tongue.

Buttered Popcorn Ice cream you ask? Yes I Say.

I have a long-standing love affair with the puffed kernels of maize. When ever I go to see a film at the cinema, I make sure that I'm completely ravished so I can eat the biggest tub of salty-buttery popcorn on offer. I do make the polite offering to share with my Bear, but thankfully he most often declines leaving the whole tub to be wolfed down in solitude.

I was somewhat saddened when I discovered that the cinemas had stopped offering the additional squirty butter option. Health - Smealth, we're after a bit of escapism at the cinema, surley we can throw health cautions into the wind?

So back to the Buttered Popcorn Ice Cream, it really does taste of buttered popcorn. I've served this with a caramel apple tart, playing on the toffee apple/caramel corn duality. The ice cream is just as good as the star of the bowl!

When I was clearing out the freezer the other day, I found a rather pleasant surprise. a bag of frozen raspberries, in fact the last of the Summer Berries of 2008. I thought - i want something fresh, fragrant and quick.

It does not get much quicker that 90 seconds nor much more fragrant that roses. behold the 90 Second Raspberry Rose Sorbet!

This could only be improved with some crushed rose meringues!

Christian asked me to make that 'Berry and Custard dessert I did for Masterchef a few years ago'. So I obliged!

It brings back many memories. This is what I whipped up for my first cook-off on my first appearance in Masterchef Goes Large. John Torrode said the use of Frangelico was inspired!

Make sure the sauce is whisked long enough for it to become the consistency of double cream.

You could use other liqueurs, such as Grand Marnier, kirsch, or marsala.