Desserts (sweets and puddings)
I only teach what I know, so this chapter is short! If you are into sweets and
puddings, try Delia online.
The only cooked sweet I do is baked apple. Bramleys are good for this. Using an
apple corer if you have one (an ordinary potato peeler is a good substitute) remove
the core from the apple without going all the way through. Stuff the hollowed out
centre of the apple with large raisins (soak them in sweet sherry if you like) and soft
dark brown sugar. Bake 1 hour at mark 4 in a roasting tin with a little water in the
base. Serve with custard or cream.
Dessert apples segmented and fried in butter are good too.
Any meal can be nicely rounded off with fruit and/or cheese. Or do as the French
do, buy a cake. Or some quality chocolate, Calvados and nuts…or ask your wife,
girlfriend, sister, flatmate, guests or mum to produce a sweet. I rarely eat sweets,
except on special occasions.
This dessert recipe, the last recipe in the book, is from my friend Andy Schulkins
who also kindly proof read this book.
Syllabub serves 4
½ pint Double cream
3 oz Castor sugar
6 tbs Sherry
Grated zest (rind) and juice of a large lemon
Sponge fingers
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold in the castor sugar. Add the zest and
¼ of the lemon juice and sherry. Beat the mixture until the liquid has been
absorbed. Continue to add the lemon juice and sherry a little at a time beating in
between. When all the sherry and lemon juice has been absorbed put the mixture
into 4 large wine glasses and refrigerate for at least one hour. Serve with sponge
fingers.
A ripe dessert apple is a fitting end to any meal. Admittedly I am biased as I grow
apples to sell. English grown apples with names like Beauty of Bath, Worcester
Pearmain, Devonshire Quarrenden, Ribston Pippin, Chiver’s Delight, Margil,
Blenheim Orange, Ashmead’s Kernel, Sturmer Pippin, Kidd’s Orange Red, Pitmaston
Pineapple, Cornish Gillyflower, May Queen, King of the Pippins…I could go
on…These apples are (or should be) in season from August until May, and what
could be a nicer end to a meal, or this book?
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