There are two dishes called alabaster: one is English and one is American. Both are very simple dishes. The American version of alabaster is a simple, savoury Shaker dish made from boiled and mashed potatoes, turnip, and cream. The two root vegetables are cooked separately, to avoid the turnip flavour overwhelming the potato, they are…
Puddings
Chocolate Sauce Sponge Recipe
This is so easy that the package mixes for these kinds of puddings really don’t save you much work.
Cranachan
Cranachan is an easy-to-assemble Scottish dessert. In concept and execution, it is a bit like a trifle. You fold toasted oats, honey and Scotch whiskey into very thick cream (double cream). Ideally, you let it sit overnight (refrigerated) for flavours to marry before dishing out. Then you put into dishes, garnish with fruit, and serve….
Eton Mess
Eton Mess is an English dessert. It consists of whipped cream, sweetened with a little sugar, that has crushed meringue cookies and mashed strawberries folded in. Usually, a small amount of kirsch or port is mixed in with the strawberries before they are folded into the mixture. It is served at Eton College in Berkshire,…
Hasty Pudding
Hasty Pudding was a British dessert that also spawned a simpler, but none-the-less popular, New England version. It is a porridge, sweetened to be served as a dessert. The liquid it is made with can be milk or water, and the thickener can be flour, oatmeal or tapioca. In the New World, cornmeal was often…
Lemon Puddle Pudding Recipe
A puddle of lemon sauce will form under the sponge cake part of the pudding during cooking.
Syllabub
Syllabub is (now) a dessert made of whipped cream, white wine, and sugar. It may be flavoured with something such as lemon or fruit. Whether it is a drink or something that you spoon depends on how much white wine you use, and how you handle the cream. If you want a spooning version of…
Trifle
The word “trifle” means something of little consequence, insubstantial. In actual food terms, it’s anything but. It’s custard and / or cream layered with fruit over cake that has been doused with alcohol, usually Sherry, and usually served at the end of a very heavy meal when you look at it and groan. Trifles always…
Vanilla Pudding Day
The 22nd of May is Vanilla Pudding Day. You could celebrate by whipping up a vanilla pudding from scratch, or by cheating and using a powdered mix, or by just whipping open a “pudding cup” on the run.