Tag: pudding

Baked Alaska with oat crisps, raspberries and passion fruit

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Two New Year’s Eves in a row I’ve made the same fabulous dessert and even though i love it, it’s fun to change things up a little, so this New Year’s Eve I decided to make a Baked Alaska. The base is oat crisps, as well as the decoration and the centre is homemade vanilla ice cream topped with passion fruit and wrapped in Italian meringue. Raspberry coulis, fresh raspberries and half a passion fruit to serve. It was delicious and looked just as impressive as I had pictured in my head.

Baked Alaska with raspberries and passion fruit, serves 4

1 batch oat crisps 

1 batch vanilla ice cream 

Italian meringue:

4 egg whites

150 ml caster sugar

Syrup:

150 ml caster sugar

100 ml water

Raspberry coulis:

1 litre frozen raspberries 

a little sugar (to taste)

100 ml water

1 tbsp potato flour 

To decorate:

1 punnet fresh raspberries 

4 passion fruits

Make the oat crisps using the link above. These can be made a few day in advance, just store in an airtight container. Use a dessert spoon to measure the oat crisps for the base and half a teaspoon for the small decorative oat crisps. Still bake them for the same amount of time. 

Make the ice cream and divide between four ramekins lined with cling film, freeze until needed.  

Make the raspberry coulis: place all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, sieve to remove the kernels and leave to cool. Can also be made ahead of time. 

Montage:

Make the Italian meringue: Add the egg whites and sugar in a bowl and beat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the water and sugar for the syrup to the boil in a saucepan. Pour the (very) hot syrup into the meringue mixture and beat for another 15 minutes until you have a thick, glossy meringue.

Place a large oat crisp on each plate. Remove the ice cream from the ramekins and cling and place on top of the oat crisps. Scrape out the seeds from half a passion fruit on top of each ice cream block. Cover the whole lot (apart from the base) with the meringue using a spatula. Use a cream brulee torch to torch the meringue until golden brown. Decorate the plate with the raspberry coulis and fresh fruit. Top each dessert with a small oat crisp and maybe a sparkler. Serve immediately.

Elderflower crème brûlée with biscotti

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The pudding at the crayfish party was one of my favourite puddings; homemade crème brûlée. This one was flavoured with my homemade elderflower cordial and served with crispy biscotti (and some chocolates and Swedish pick ‘n mix) and went down a treat with ice-cold homemade limoncello.

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Fläder crème brûlée, serves 4

300 ml double cream

150 ml elderflower cordial

50 ml caster sugar

6 egg yolks

some more caster sugar 

Bring cream, cordial and sugar to the boil, Leave to cool a little. Beat the egg yolks lightly and add first some of the cream mixture and then the rest. Divide between pots/ramekins and bake in 100C fan oven until just set, about 35-40 minutes. Leave t cool completely and keep in the fridge until serving. Before serving cover the top with a thin layer of caster sugar and use a crème brûlée burner to create a crisp sugar layer on top. Serve immediately, decorated with a strawberry, and biscotti on the side. 

Biscotti, makes about 20

Adapted from Delia’s recipe.

110 g plain flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

a pinch salt

25 g ground almonds

50 g whole almonds (skin on)

75 g golden caster sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add ground and whole almonds and sugar. Mix thoroughly and add the egg. Mix with a wooden spoon/using your hands to a smooth dough. Place on a floured surface and roll into a 28 cm long roll. Place the roll on a lined baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes in 170C oven. Leave to cool completely.

Reduce the heat to 150C. Use a serrated knife to cut the biscotti into slightly diagonal slices about 1 cm wide. Place on the lined baking tray and bake for another 30 minutes, until golden and crisp. Leave to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.  

Lemon posset

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So I finally got around to trying lemon posset – this – in my mind typically British pudding.

Tt is basically a pannacotta without gelatin; instead the acid in the lemon juice helps the fat in the cream to solidify so the mixture sets. The texture is even better than that of pannacotta and the sharpness from the lemon makes the dessert feel lighter than it actually is.

I served mine with blueberries for added freshness but Tom Kerridge’s fennel biscotti seems like a divine pairing. After watching his BBC series on proper pub food I completely trusted his recipe to be perfect – and it was.

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Lemon posset, serves 6

After Tom Kerridge’s recipe.

425ml double cream

125g sugar

2 lemons, juice only

Bring the cream and sugar to the boil in a pan. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and mix thoroughly. Pass through a fine sieve and set aside to cool for five minutes.

Skim off any air bubbles from the surface and pour into six serving glasses. Transfer to the fridge for at least two hours, or until set.

Chocolate pots

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When I grew up my mother didn’t really use shortcuts in the kitchen, apart from the odd stock cube here and there, so I was fed wholesome food made from scratch. My grandmothers were equally good cooks and cooked in the same way, so I was a very lucky child.

But then I started preschool and although we had our own cook I got exposed to new foods (some of them processed) and then in school it was almost a traumatic experience eating the often processed food made hours before lunch time and kept warm that whole time.

I definitely preferred the food my mother cooked and she would always pack my school bag full of homemade snacks to keep me going if the school lunch was awful (which was more often than not). But certain processed foods I got used too; like this type of dessert. The most common version of this chocolate dessert was a prepackaged powder in sachets to be mixed with milk and put in the fridge to set. It was tasty, but in a very artificial way and then I actually preferred it to my mother’s homemade additive free version that I just wouldn’t eat as it to me tasted wrong.

Nowadays I certainly don’t fancy the sachets anymore but because they were part of my childhood and teenage years I never learnt how to make these lovely chocolate pots myself. Which is why I had my sweet mother on the phone while I tried this recipe, courtesy of Swedish TV-chef Per Morberg. The instructions were quite sparse I thought, so I have provided a few more details below.

And the result?Absolutely lovely and eons away from the prepackaged sachets. Hurrah!

Chocolate pots, serves 4 

Translated and adapted from Per Morberg’s recipe.

800 ml whole milk
100 ml maizena
100 ml light brown sugar
2 egg yolksr
50 ml cocoa
1 tbsp vanilla sugar or 2 tsp vanilla essence

Mix all the ingredients in a sturdy saucepan. Start whisking from the start while heating up the ingredients. When the mixture starts to thicken, lower the heat and keep whisking. It mustn’t boil but let it thicken as much as you dare, then remove from heat. Pour into serving bowls and leave to cool. Then refridgerate until serving. It is nicely served with lightly whipped cream and sprinkles.  

Vanilla ice cream with blackberries in lime sugar

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One thing I have in common with my mother, is that the worst thing that could happen when having people over is if they were to leave still feeling hungry. On Friday, however, there was no chance of that happening. We were so full that I had to rethink the pudding.

My plan was to make molten chocolate cakes served with homemade vanilla ice cream, but instead we opted for a more refreshing approach; the same ice cream served with blackberries in lime sugar.

Although I love berries I think they can be a bit bland on their own which is why I like to serve them like this, with some caster sugar, fresh lime juice and zest.

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Vanilla icecream, makes about 1 litre

400 ml double cream

200 ml whole milk

1 tsp vanilla 

4 egg yolk

150 ml caster sugar 

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy. In the mean time heat up the cream, milk and vanilla in a saucepan. Pour the warm cream mixture into the sugar mixture while whisking. Place the bowl in a bain marie and whisk while the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes). Leave to cool in room temperature, then place in fridge to cool, preferably over night. 

Make the ice cream using an ice cream maker, about 40 mins. In the mean time place the intended container in the freezer to cool down. Freeze for at least 45 minutes before serving. 

Blackberries in lime sugar, serves 4

300 g blackberries, washed

1/2 lime, zest and juice

1-2 tbsp caster sugar

Mix the zest and juice with the sugar and mix with the berries. Serve straight away. 

Rhubarb crumble

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When visiting my parents this past weekend it was (as usual) a lot of focus on food and seasonal produce.

My mother loves gardening and even though she doesn’t grow as much as she used to when I was younger, there is still plenty of fruit and vegetables to pick in the garden throughout the summer. Around this time of year it is only really the rhubarb that’s ready for picking, so that’s what we did.

And for me, there is nothing better than making a crumble out of the first fruit of the season, and this crumble recipe (a modified Delia-ism) is absolutely divine, especially when served still warm with either vanilla icecream or homemade raw custard (N.B. contains raw eggs so not suitable for everyone).

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Rhubarb crumble, serves 4

ca 250 g rhubarb, washed and cut into smaller pieces

100-120 g soft brown sugar (to balance the acid from the rhubarb)

Crumble:

100 g softened butter

200 g plain flour

135 g soft brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

Butter an ovenproof dish. Place the rhubarb pieces in the bottom. Scatter the sugar on top. Combine the ingredients for the crumble in a mixing bowl using a wooden fork. Pour on top of the rhubarb. Place in 175C oven for about 30 minutes or until the fruit is soft and the top golden brown. 

Muscovado pannacotta with whisky

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Last Thursday I found myself in the supermarket buying ingredients for a dessert to bring to my friends for supper the following in day. I wanted to make a nice almond cake with custard, but I just didn’t have the energy. Instead I settled for the one pudding I can probably make blindfolded and asleep – pannacotta.

To make it more interesting I opted for light muscovado sugar instead of caster and a little hint of whisky. Served with fresh raspberries this was a winner with the girls.

I like when you get rewarded for being lazy…

Muscovado pannacotta with whisky, serves 3

300 ml cream (single or double is up to you)

2,5 tbsp light muscovado sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cap whisky

1 gelatine leaf

Soak the gelatine leaf in water. Add cream, sugar and vanilla to a saucepan and heat up while stirring. Bring to the boul, then remove from heat. Add the whisky. Squeeze the excess liquid out of the gelatine and let it dissolve in the hot cream. Leave to cool a little for about 15 minutes, then pour into cups/glasses. Leave to cool completely, then let it set in the fridge, preferably over night or for a minimum of four hours. Serve with fresh raspberries.