It’s been a busy for years for food entrepreneur, Sophie Morris. Her company Kooky Dough is now a household name not only in Ireland, but in the United Arab Emirates, the UK and France.
Not only that but she’s also debuted her own cookbook, Sophie Kooks: Quick and Easy Feel Good Food which is jam-packed with great and simple recipes for home cooks to try out.
But what’s this innovative cook doing now? Her.ie caught up with the cookie dough queen, to find out what adventures she’s been getting up to.
“We literally started in farmers markets in 2009, and I was making it [Kooky Dough], in my Kenwood mixer at home, in my kitchen” said Sophie.
“It’s four years on and we’re in all of the major retailers here in Ireland. It’s been a mad few years but really exciting.”
Partners in dough! Graham and Sophie.
Nowadays, Morris is also a Kerrygold Ambassador for their “Best for Baking” campaign which is tied into the Great Irish Bake Off.
“I was absolutely honoured and delighted to be asked,” she said, adding that for her, the dairy company represented what Irish products should be all about. “It symbolises all natural, really good-quality, clean food” said Morris, which is “what makes us [the Irish] so special.”
She also put emphasis on Irish produce saying that we should be championing the quality of our food to the world.
“I think we take it for granted how good our butter is – when you go to other countries, and taste the butter, it doesn’t compare.”
Because of the standard of our dairy she said, that’s the reason why her company has been so successful.
“We when go to buyers meetings, or retailers, one of the biggest things we’re selling is that Kooky Dough is all-natural […] and they’re really impressed by that.”
Given the success of her cookbook, and her incredible love for baking, we wondered if there was anything that she still finds tough to put together.
“Making your own puff pastry,” she said while adding that she loved cooking both sweet and savoury dishes.
“I’ve a real sweet tooth, so I do love baking! I can’t resist baked goodies.”
Can there ever be too much cookie dough? Sophie admitted that there are sometimes phases she goes through where she doesn’t eat it for a period of time but there’s always a batch in her fridge!
When it comes down to baking, is there anything she thinks is the most important thing to know?
“It’s so different to cooking, in that you can’t really improvise” she said. “You have to be really rigid with the recipe and stick to the right quantities. There’s a science behind it.”
“Stick to the right ratios. You can’t really vary that […] If you want to make a special dessert or a special cake, it’s worth investing in nice ingredients.”
Does she think that the Irish are progressing as nation of foodies?
“Definitely people have gotten more interested in food and cooking. I think people have become a lot more aware of what they’re putting into their bodies and aware of processed food. I think it’s great to see people looking at the back of packets.”
“For me the rule is, ‘if it’s natural, then it’s good for you’” she concluded.
Our thanks to Sophie for taking the time to chat with us. Sophie Morris will be answering your baking queries from fams of the Kerrygold Facebook Page during the Great Irish Bake Off ad breaks. Get those baking mitts out!
