dessert

Christmas Sweets

- Alex Leave a comment

Christmas pudding '09photo by Simon Pearson

Last night I chatted to Peter Godfrey about Christmas sweets and treats (yes, for a change I’m not posting the best part of a fortnight later but there wouldn’t have been too much point to that, would there?).

This Christmas I’m doing dessert and while I have decided to do a pavlova I’m still umming and ahhing about my second choice. I think the key with a Christmas dessert, more so than any other time of year, is that it’s something you can have ready in advance. As much as possible when you’re feeding a horde, Christmas should be about spending time with your guests rather than hiding in the kitchen. Of course, you might also have had a few too celebratory drinks so it’s best not to heap pressure on yourself with fiddly last minute finishing touches.

If you have plenty of time you might want to try your hand at making a trifle. Making one from scratch takes a pretty long time (especially if you need to make the sponge twice like I did!) but none of the steps are particularly hard and there’s ample pauses for cups of tea while you’re waiting for things like the jelly to set!

Other great prepare ahead desserts are cheesecake and chocolate mousse. We have cheesecake quite often during the year so it’s not that special, but chocolate mousse definitely is! Buy the best chocolate you can afford and treat yourself to a splash of brandy or rum. Be sure to serve with lashings of cream.

Finally, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without shortbread. If you make nothing else this Christmas, make these easy biscuits yourself – and the recipe is even gluten free.

Post celebrations I’ll be sure to post my pavlova and whatever else it is I end up making!

What sweet treat is always on your Christmas table?

Chocolate Mousse

- Alex 1 Comment

Chocolate Mousse

Have you noticed how many bad chocolate mousses there are around the place? Even if you order mousse in a restaurant it is invariably tough or claggy (or, if you’re really lucky, both) and tastes vaguely of artificial chocolate.

This recipe for chocolate mousse is simple AND solves all those problems – all thanks to Julia Child’s vital kitchen manual, the grandly named Mastering the Art of French Cooking. If you’re a keen cook and you don’t yet own this book, I urge you to buy it because it is a brilliant, step by step manual. Even long winded recipes are so clearly spelled out that they are not intimidating.

Child’s chocolate mousse recipe isn’t long winded (it took me under an hour to put it all together, and that was with 3 people in the kitchen, including a toddler). As usual, read the recipe a couple of times before starting and have everything ready and it will be painless. I promise.

Begin by beating 4 egg yolks with ¾ cup of caster sugar. Do this in a bowl you can set over a pan of just simmering water. Beat well – until the mixture is thick and pale and forms a ribbon which dissolves back into the mixture slowly. If you’re inclined, add a splash of your favourite spirit or liqueur (in our case, ⅛ cup Cognac, but Child suggests ¼ cup of orange liqueur).

Now set the bowl over the water and beat until the mixture is foamy and too hot to touch. Child says 3-4 minutes which I found was nowhere NEAR enough time. Then sit the bowl over cold water and beat again until the mixture is cool and forms a ribbon again. It will now be roughly the consistency of mayonnaise. Don’t fret if it’s slightly loose mayonnaise – a lot of mayo that you buy in jars is miles too stiff!

You can now relax – the tedious part of the recipe is over and done with.

Melt 6 oz (170g) of best quality dark chocolate with 4 tbsp of strong coffee and 6 oz (170g) of unsalted butter. As usual – I did this in the microwave.

Allow this to cool a little and then beat the chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar mix.

Finally, beat 4 egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks. When starting to form peaks, sprinkling over 1 tbsp of caster sugar and beat until you have stiff peaks.

Stir a little of the egg whites into the chocolate mix and then fold in the rest. FOLD. You don’t want to knock out the air because the egg whites are what is going to give the mousse its super light, creamy texture.

That’s it! All done. Now you just need to tip the mousse into whatever you’re serving it in. I put a little in a martini glass (for quality control purposes, and the fact that it might take a nice photo) but poured the majority into a large serving bowl.

Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours so that the mixture can set. Overnight is perfect.

This is the type of dessert where you could be quite happy to just plant your face in it. However, if you have company, serve, passing some fresh cream. Absolutely delicious.

Custard

- Alex Leave a comment

Apple Crumble & Custard
apple crumble drowned in custard

I would have been perfectly happy to have cream with our apple crumble, but Andy was not and as I had a brand new milk pan that needed trying out, custard seemed like it was on the cards.

A lot of people seem to think that custard is hard or difficult or scary. Well, it’s not though if you approach anything with that attitude, why then, yes it will be.

This recipe is a James Tanner one that I first discovered in 2006 but the original link no longer works. It is super easy – no separating of eggs or anything. All you need is a heat proof bowl, a pan and a whisk.

Begin by beating 2 eggs with 55g of caster sugar. When this is pale and creamy, heat ½ pint (that’s 285 mL) of milk (full cream, naturally) to just on boiling (this is called ‘scalding’ the milk, if you want to be technical) and then slowly pour the hot milk onto the eggs and sugar, whisking all the time. You need to keep on whisking otherwise the heat of the milk will scramble your eggs.

Return the mix to the pan, on a lower heat, and continue to beat or stir until the custard reaches the right consistency for you. I find this takes about 15 minutes. Two tips here: do make the effort to hang around doing the stirring and most certainly do NOT crank the heat up and wander away. Secondly, ensure that your stirring or whisking gets into the corners of the pan – if you don’t work your way around the pan solidly you’ll end up with lumps of cooked egg in your custard!

If you’re not planning on using your custard straight away, cut a circle of baking paper (a cartouche) and cover the custard with that. You can then gently reheat it when you’re ready.

You’ll note that homemade custard is distinctly paler in colour than anything commercial or made from a packet. Eggs, milk and cream is never going to come out bright yellow.

And, if you wish to jazz your custard up, you can infuse flavour when you scald the milk. Pop in a split vanilla bean, or a crushed cardamom pod or two, for example.

All too easy – and to be honest, not actually that unhealthy either!