A couple of posh deserts

Here we are at the end of week 9 and heading into week 10. I know it sounds odd but the weeks seem to have marched along but that may be because I am a keyworker and still going to work. I know there have been days when D has asked me what day it is as they are all starting to merge into one.

There are a lot of us celebrating birthdays and anniversaries during lockdown and although it means we can't celebrate the way we normally would it doesn't mean we can't make the effort and have a nice meal. If folk are dressing up to take the bins out then there's no reason why you can't get dressed up and have a nice meal in the comfort of your own home especially if the weathers nice as you could always eat alfresco.


I had a desert like this in a restaurant many years ago and thought I was really decadent.  I then saw something similar again in a magazine and I thought I'm going to have ago at doing that can't be that difficult can it??

On my second attempt I cracked it and boy doesn't it look posh.  

Now I have to tell you apart from the getting the angle bit right the actual ingredients and the are not that difficult to come by.

Have you guessed what it is yet??

Well let me tell you. It is pannacotta  and raspberry jelly.   My pannacotta receipe you can find here and the raspberry jelly, couldn't be simpler it is of the cubed variety which thankfully isn't on the rare breeds list at the supermarket.

Of course the most important piece of equipment and crucial for the success of this recipe is the humble egg box.

I tried other ways of balancing the glasses but this turned out to be the most effective way of getting them at the right angle and preventing them from moving and they will fit in your fridge whilst everything sets.

I tried adding the jelly first which worked and set but when I added the panacotta is wasn't quite cool enough and we had a bit of a lava lamp situation going on with the jelly.  Whether you put the jelly in the glass first or the pannacotta the key is that everything is cold before you add it to the glass.

You only need to have it balanced at an angle with the first addition once this is set you can stand the glasses up right to add the second half and then put the glasses back in the fridge to set. You can then go on to decorate the top if you want to by adding some berries or a sprig of mint or lemon balm if you have some in your garden. I'm thinking it would be nice at Christmas as an alternative to my usual mum's trifle. You could even add a few berries to the jelly and possibly a little edible glitter and really make it sparkle. I found the way to make this work was to make the pannacotta the night before and add the jelly the following morning so it has time to set between each addition..  It will depend on how big your glasses are as to how many servings you will get.  Mine are a medium sized wine glass and I got 3. Of course you don't have to use wine glasses you can use any glass as long as you can get it to rest at an angle.


My second posh desert is a butterscotch tart and whatever the occasion this is definitely something you can make in advance as it goes in the freezer until needed. It looks a little like a cheesecake but actually its more like a butterscotch ice cream sitting on top of a biscuit base.











Ingredients needed are:

For the base

150g/5oz ginger biscuits crushed.
50g/2oz unsalted butter melted

For the filling

300mls/1/2 pint evaporated milk
150g/5oz dark muscavado sugar
1 egg white
150mls/1/4 pint of double cream

Place the crushed biscuits in a bowl and add the melted butter and mix together until all the biscuits are coated in the butter.

Add the mixture to a loose bottom cake spring clipped cake tin and place in the fridge until needed.






For the filling

Whisk together the evaporated milk and dark muscovado sugar in a large bowl until the mixture becomes pale and thick

In a separate grease free bowl, whisk the egg white until stiff.

In a separate bowl whisk the double cream until it forms soft peaks.

Using a metal spoon, fold the cream into the evaporated milk mixture then the egg white. Pour the mixture over the biscuit base. Cover and freeze until needed.


When ready to serve take out of the freezer and release the spring clip and allow to stand for 5 minutes before trying to remove from the cake tin.






So there we are two delicious deserts both calorific of course but hey there has to be some treats during this time doesn't there.

Enjoy

Mx