Pages, Pucks and Pantry

Russian Cherry Strudel

As I continue posting about the Russian foods we had during the Olympics I come to the strudel. Russian strudel? Who knew! We picked this up at the Russian deli because, well, Mr. L pretty much likes anything cherry flavored.

This was made locally at a place called the Cinderella Bakery & Cafe in San Francisco. Alas the strudel seemed to us to be a bit stale. Had great flavor, but I would love to try some fresh. I'm not a strudel connoisseur so I can't tell you if this is anything like regular strudel, but I'm willing to try more strudel to find out!

Ingredients for this were puff pastry, raisins, cherry filling, walnuts, lemon, sugar, and cinnamon. 1 slice was only 80 calories...made for a good little snack after dinner.

The Cinderella Russian Bakery and Cafe (the back of the packaging didn't have the "Russian" in the name) sounds like a wonderful place to go try out some new to us foods. It looks like they have some amazing Easter goodies. Hopefully Mr. L and I can stop by the next time were in San Francisco.

Tang Pie

I didn't see many of this years Oscar movies. In fact, I think in all the major categories, we saw only three of the nominated films. The annual Oscar party that we normally go to was cancelled. Which means my yearly cooking up Oscar foods and joining in the festivities of researching food from the movies wasn't a priority. On Oscar night I did make some Corn Chowder (sort of for Nebraska, not a movie I saw) and I made blue jello with whipped cream (for Frozen which I did see).

The one dish that I planned on making, if we had gone to an Oscar party, was Tang Pie, since one of the two movies we did see that was up for best picture was Gravity (the other movie was Dallas Buyers Club). I grew up with Tang being synonymous with space travel. Everyone wanted to be an astronaut growing up and everybody (yes adults) drank Tang just to be able to say that they were drinking what the astronauts drank. I can't remember really liking Tang back then, but I do know that I drank it.

I honestly didn't even know they still made Tang until my friend Pillownaut* who blogs for NASA came across a recipe last year and decided we should try it. She procured a container of Tang and we proceed to make Tang Pie which we figured was going to be too sweet and not that appetizing. Au contraire! The dang thing turned out to be quite tasty. Somewhat like an orange mousse with a tarter orange creamsicle flavor. And super easy to make. I think if anyone is having a retro party, a kids birthday party with a space theme or heck, just wants to make a conversational dessert, Tang Pie is the way to go! And congratulations to Gravity for it's many Oscar awards Sunday.

TANG PIE

1 can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup Tang powder drink mix
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (9 oz) tub Cool Whip
1 graham cracker pie crust

Mix condensed milk and Tang. Add in sour cream until well blended. Then fold in tub of Cool Whip. Pour into pie crust and refrigerate for 4 hours until set and cold.

Note: You can read Pillownauts post about Tang Pie here. She said that if she was to make the dish again she would "cut the sour cream to 1/4 cup (it was too tasteable), and replace with ditto amount of whipped cream, or light cream cheese".

Note: We used a standard 9" premade graham cracker pie crust you can buy at the store. I had no trouble using a premade crust. I figured if we were using Tang, making your own crust from scratch was a bit ridiculous.

Note: I think the Cool Whip containers come in 8 ounce tubs these days so you may have to buy two tubs to make this dish. Just think...you'll have leftover Cool Whip to decorate that Jello dessert you'll also make.

Note: Don't worry about all that leftover Tang you'll have from the container you buy. You'll find lots of recipes for desserts, drinks and yes, savory dishes that use Tang as an ingredient!

*If you are a space buff you should check out Pillownauts blog and Twitter feed!

Incredible Melted Ice Cream Cake

This really was pretty incredible. Yes, there is ice cream in this cake but it's not an ice cream cake. No keeping the cake in the freezer, no melting of ice cream if you leave a piece of cake out a minute or two. But there is ice cream in this cake. Genius I tell you, Genius.

I've been wanting to make this cake ever since I came across it in The Cake Mix Doctor Cookbook. It's pretty simple. You add your favorite ice cream to the cake mix. That's pretty much it. I suppose the flavor of whatever ice cream you add has a lot to do with the end results. I used Bananas' Foster Ice Cream from Hagen Dazz. I got this wonderful sort of banana bread flavor. Everyone asked for more.  But the genius of the recipe is that you can add whatever flavor ice cream is your favorite. Or whatever flavor ice cream you happen to have on hand.

Don't be put off by what might seem like a lot of instructions for this simple recipe. The Cake Mix Doctor Cookbook is pretty thorough on how it describes what to do. Be sure to follow the notes of the recipe to help get the best end product.

The looks of family and friends (not to mention kids) when you tell them you added ice cream to the cake is worth making this cake alone!

INCREDIBLE MELTED ICE-CREAM CAKE
(The Cake Mix Doctor)

Vegetable Oil spray for misting the pan
Flour for dusting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
2 cups melted ice cream, your choice of flavor
3 large eggs
Frosting or glaze (optional)

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.

Place the cake mix, melted ice cream, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrap down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula. increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 38 to 42 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a small rack, then invert it again onto a second rack so that the cake is right side up to complete cooling, 30 minutes more.

Store this cake in a plastic cake saver or under a glass cake dome at room temperature for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight on the counter before serving. Serves 16

Cookbook Notes: You must have 2 cups of melted ice cream for this recipe. For super-premium ice creams with little overrun, that's 1 pint frozen. But for less expensive brands with a lot of air piped in, you'll need to begin with more than a pint.

Cookbook Notes: This was originally made with Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. With cherry and chocolate pieces and the cream and the eggs in the ice cream, you need little else. Your liquid, your fat, and your flavorings are all in the melted ice cream.

Cookbook Notes: This recipe works well in a 13 x 9 inch pan.

Prep Time: 5 to 7 minutes
Baking Time: 38 to 42 minutes
Assembly Time: 10 minutes

NOTE: Though there isn't pudding mix added to this recipe, I still used a cake mix that did NOT contain pudding in the mix (again, there are a host of reasons listed in the cookbook). I used a Duncan Hines cake mix as it doesn't have pudding in the mix. I used the French Vanilla flavor as that was the only "white" version my store had.

NOTE: Make sure the ice cream is melted. Pour into a measuring cup and if you don't have 2 cups, and you don't have any more ice cream in the freezer because you ate that second pint thinking you really wouldn't need it for this recipe, add a little milk to get to that 2 cups measure. But be serious. Just buy 2 pints and eat what's leftover after you make the cake.

NOTE: I understand that some flavors of ice cream for whatever reason don't work. I've only made this with Bananas' Foster Ice Cream (Hagen Dazz) and the author said she used Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia. There are a ton of wonderful ice cream flavors out there so I say experiment!

NOTE: I baked my cake in a bundt pan.

NOTE: The original recipe calls for a frosting or glaze to be put on the finished cake. I didn't use the glaze as I wanted this to be eaten by hand and easily portable.

This went over really well. I gave a taste to one of my drivers and when I went to the other office the next day folks there were asking about it...I guess my driver raved about the cake to all!

 

Mini Oreo Halloween Cheesecakes

Every year, when the Halloween Oreo's first hit the store shelves, I buy quite a few packages. I always say I'm going to make some great Halloween edible with them. And I do. Halloween Slutty Brownies were a big hit. But I also know that most recipes don't call for every single Oreo in the package. You'll have some left over. It's nice to think you can use those leftover orange tinted Oreo's for some new Halloween concoction but you won't be able to. Because it's Halloween. And the Halloween ghosts and goblins make any leftover Halloween Oreo's disappear. Usually within a day of the package being opened. So again, I buy multiple packages. Just so I have enough Halloween Oreo's to bake with after the packages have been pilfered by the Halloween spirits. Yeah. That's the ticket.

These were, for lack of a better descriptive word, delicious. Basic cheesecake (with some Oreo cookie mixed in) baked on an Oreo cookie. Couldn't be simpler. Because they were bite sized, once you bit into one, you could see the inside of the orange Halloween Oreo  which made for some great reactions from those eating them.

You can find many versions of this recipe online. Some incorporate pumpkin into the cheesecake. Some call for milk instead of sour cream. The original basic recipe came from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook. My favorite version is by Big Mama's Home Kitchen where she topped the cupcakes with a small quarter of Oreo or little marzipan pumpkins.

MINI OREO HALLOWEEN CHEESECAKES
(Martha Stewart Cupcakes)

15 Halloween Oreos (left whole)
6 Halloween Oreos (for mixing in with the cheesecake)
1 lb cream cheese (Two 8-oz. packages)
1/2 cup sugar (granulated)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt
Orange gel food coloring

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line muffin tins with 15 paper liners. Place one whole Oreo in the bottom of each lined cup.

Pulverize the remaining six Oreos in a food processor. Set aside.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in pulverized Oreo's by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate (in tin) at least four hours or overnight. Remove from tins just before serving. Makes 15.

Note: I cut the original recipe in half as it made 30 cupcakes and I knew I'd eat half if I made that many.

Note: Some recipes called for just chopping up the Oreos that get mixed in with the cream cheese. I liked the look of them being a finer texture so I used the food processor. 

Note: Oreo's have a "basic" side and a "Halloween" side. I'd say to make sure you put the Halloween side down when you put them in the cupcake liners so the Halloween picture shows...but lets be serious, who is going to try to look at the bottom of the cupcake, it will be making it's way to your mouth much to fast for you to see the bottom.

Note: Marthas recipe didn't call for the orange food gel. I wanted the Halloween color to coincide with the Halloween Oreos orange middle. Some just added regular food coloring. I liked the color in the recipes I saw that used gel coloring so I used that instead (orange food gel can be found at Michaels. you don't need that much to get some nice color. Add a bit at a time until you get the color you desire).

Note: I didn't use paper liners, I used silicone cupcakes liners. It was kind of difficult taking the cupcakes out once they had cooled. I'd try paper liners next time.

Note: I tried eating one of these after only a few hours in the fridge. It really needed to set up more (they were still delicious but I kept thinking the cheesecake would collapse).

Note: I thought for sure the Oreo would be soft after sitting under the cheesecake mixture but it didn't. Of course we pretty much polished these off within a day of making so I'm not sure how crispy the cookie will stay if you let them sit for several days.

These were a big hit. And I can see using the different colored Oreo's to make different cheesecakes depending on the holiday or special event.

Halloween Slutty Brownies

I realize that the name for these brownies is not the best. But it wasn't something I came up with. They seem to be the popular Halloween dish that folks are making this year. And the blame for making these goes to Mr. L.  When I asked him if he wanted me to make "Knock You Naked Brownies" or "Slutty Brownies" he chose the slutty kind. I didn't ask why.

This is not the best photo of this dish. In fact, these are the "unphotographable" ends of the brownies. We were so busy eating the good stuff that I didn't realize I hadn't taken a photograph until the good stuff was gone and all we were left with were the ends. It's a good thing I remembered to grab my camera otherwise there would have been no evidence of these brownies.

I believe that the original idea came from The Londoner Blog (you can find her recipe and tips here along with step by step photos). Variations on this are rampant on the internet and Pinterest. Some folks make this entire recipe from scratch. I'm not one of those. I knew when I first saw this recipe last year that I would be making a version for pretty much every holiday. All it takes is the colored Oreo of your choice.

And these are good. Damn good. People raved. People swooned. People clamored for the recipe. I can't tell you though, if it made any of those people slutty. 

I will give you the basics of the recipe which couldn't be simpler and then the notes that worked for me.

HALLOWEEN SLUTTY BROWNIES

1 Box of Cookie Mix
1 Box of Brownie Mix
1 bag of Oreos
Ingredients called for on your boxes of mixes (this usually consists of some eggs but may also require butter, oil, water, etc.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Line an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with parchment paper so that a good inch of the paper extends over all four sides (it will make it easier to pull the brownie out of the pan).

Make the cookie mix. Press it into the bottom of the parchment lined pan.

Cover the cookie dough with a single layer of Oreos.

Make the brownie mix. Pour it over the layer of cookies.

Bake for the amount of time required for the brownie mix.

Remove the brownies from the oven and pull the brownies out of the pan and let them sit for twenty minutes (if you have the willpower). Cut into desired quantities (see below). You can eat these warm or room temp. You may serve with ice cream should you actually be able to spend the time getting the ice cream out of the freezer and on to the plate. Time which could be better spent eating a brownie.

Serves 4. Okay maybe more than four. Maybe six. And it depends if you eat them all in one sitting. You could get up to 30 servings if you really want to ration your friends of Slutty Brownies. But if you give them a tiny bite they will come stalk you for more. Be warned.

NOTE ON INGREDIENTS: Depending on what brand of cookie and brownie mix you use, the ingredients called for in them may be different. Just follow the directions on the boxes with one exception. Per The Londoner, since you are going to be cooking the cookie layer longer than normal, add some extra liquid to the cookie mix. Since her boxed cookie mix called for oil and water, she added an extra teaspoon of each.

The cookie mix I used was a box of Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix (17.5 ounce mix which said it made 3 dozen cookies).  The recipe on the box called for 1 stick of softened butter and an egg. I added another tablespoon of butter to make the cookie mix a bit wetter.

The brownie mix I used was Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix (my favorite) which had chocolate chips in the mix. (This box requires water, vegetable oil and an egg.)

NOTE: I used an 8x8 pan and was able to get in 16 of the orange center Halloween Oreos. There are more than 16 Oreos in a regular pack. I think you know what to do with the rest.

NOTE: The instructions on the brownie mix said to bake for 39 to 43 minutes. I baked these for the shorter time so they were a bit gooey in the center but you don't want to overcook the cookie layer. (The Londoner likes hers really gooey and she only bakes hers for about 30 minutes. I may try that next time). Even if these were cooked full time and had no gooeyness in them, they'd still be good.

NOTE: Though the edges of the brownies were much more cooked than the center they weren't tough or dry. But since they didn't fit the gooey photographs shown on many blogs I figured they were errors and ate them so no one would know I didn't have perfect Slutty Brownies.

NOTE: These look very cool when you cut them through the Oreos instead of around them. Makes a great presentation with the Oreo middle showing.

NOTE: You will need milk

NOTE: Oreos come in a variety of colors. Pink. Yellow. Green. Red. Orange. So this recipe can be converted to pretty much any holiday. As a last minute thought, I put some Halloween sprinkles on the tops of the brownies. Kinda of made them a bit more festive but totally not necessary.

Seriously, these couldn't be simpler to make and if you followed not one of my notes, these would probably come out just fine. Except the milk one. Trust me.

 

Crathie Crunch

Not sure what it is about green food that makes it mandatory to think of St. Patrick's Day. If you look at my St. Patrick's Day Pinterest board, it's full of food that isn't Irish at all...it just happens to be the color green. This is one of those dishes that is far from a traditional St. Patrick's Day dish, but none the less, I feel is perfectly suitable for the occasion.

The recipe came from the Eating Royally cookbook. This was originally to be made for the London Olympics since it called for two ingredients I had picked up for that occasion...McVities Chocolate Digestives and a Peppermint Chocolate Aero Bar (substitutes for these English goodies are listed). The recipe is considered a cheesecake but there is no cheese whatsoever in this dish so I'm not sure if that designation means something different in England than it does here. The dish was supposedly named after the village next to Balmoral Castle in Scotland where the Royals vacation from August until early October.

I'm not really a mint or peppermint person, but most folks that tried this liked it. My concoction didn't look nearly as nice as the photo in the cookbook...my filling didn't seem to be as fluffy as the authors, but it still looked okay.

CRATHIE CRUNCH
(Eating Royally)

1/2 pound (8 ounces) McVities chocolate digestives or 1 cup ground graham cracker crumbs mixed
      with 1/2 cup grated bittersweet chocolate
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons creme de menthe liqueur
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 packets unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 peppermint chocolate Aero Bar or 1/3 cup grated chocolate

Grind the cookies in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Place in a large bowl and stir in the melted butter. Firmly pack the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch tart pan and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Place the egg yolks, creme de menthe, and sugar into a large mixing bowl over a pan of boiling water, and whisk for about 2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat, and continue whisking until the mixture is cold.

Soften the gelatin in the 1 tablespoon water in a small pan, and place over low heat to warm and dissolve the gelatin. Whisk the gelatin into the egg mixture.

Whip the egg whites until stiff, and fold into the egg mixture. Spoon this onto the tart crust, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Whip the heavy cream in a large bowl until stiff, and spread onto the top of the now-set egg mix. Chop the mint chocolate bar, and decorate with it or the grated chocolate.

Makes 8 servings.

Note: I found the McVities Chocolate digestive biscuits and the Aero Bar at Cost Plus World Markets. Digestive biscuits is just the British word for thin cookie like crackers. Wonderful things. Buy extra of the McVities. Trust me, more will go in your mouth than in the crust.

Note: I had no idea if packets of unflavored gelatin are the same size in the US as they are in Britain. I just used two of the small ones that come in a Knox Gelatin box. A difference might explain why my filling didn't get as fluffy and set as I'd like. Of course it could just be my cooking technique but I'd like to be able to blame it on someone else.

Note: I slathered the whipped cream on which didn't make for the best presentation. I think next time a piping bag would work out better.

Note: The Aero bar is kind of interesting looking...lots of little holes in the green part of the candy bar (see below).

All in all not a bad dessert, but not sure I'd make it again. Though if I needed something green, this would be kind of cool to show up with. That is if there were actually any McVities Chocolate Digestive Biscuits to actually make the dish since they seem to disappear quite rapidly in my house.

Mint Oreos Dipped In White Chocolate

Currently that thing called work is still kicking my butt. I'd also like to point out that Murphy's Law has taken up residence at my job as we've had some of the busiest days on record. So though I'm cooking a bit (or at least providing Mr. L and I with food to eat when it's my turn), I'm still not finding time to try out all the great recipes I seem to be coming across. Or maybe it's just by the time I get home from work it takes all my energy just to push the on button for the television. Huge props go out to Mr. L who has taken up the daunting task of not only cooking every other week, but doing all the meal planning (and that's breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks), shopping and cooking for that week.

For St. Patrick's Day this year, Mr. L cooked our traditional Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage. He also scored some wonderful Irish Soda Bread from the caterer at his work. With this wonderful holiday meal, I figured I needed to come up with a dessert...something that was quick and easy. These White Chocolate Dipped Oreos fit the bill.

I have several "holiday" recipes that are basically the same, it's the color that changes. Cookie Bark and M&M Topped Brownies are two of the ones I've already posted here. Dipping Oreos in white chocolate and topping them with holiday coordinated sprinkles is another quick idea that makes for a festive (easy, quick) dessert. You only need three ingredients....Oreos, white chocolate, and sprinkles. The easy part is that Oreoss usually come out in coordinating colors around the appropriate holidays. Orange for Halloween, Peppermint for Christmas etc. In fact, I've taken the Peppermint Oreos, dipped them in white chocolate and then, instead of sprinkles, topped them with bits of crushed peppermints (you can get bags of the stuff at Trader Joes during the Christmas holidays).

I've had this link from Dandelions and Dust Bunnies pinned for a while. You can find lots of "recipes" out there for dipped Oreos if you look.

Note: You don't need specialty Oreo's, plain old white ones will do. You could even tint the white chocolate to the appropriate holiday color.

Note: To make these look more professional pay attention to the location of the logo on the cookie. I just dunked them in the white chocolate without even looking (or honestly, caring).

Note: You can find holiday sprinkles at Michaels. If you are local, Lunardis bakery area always has tubs of the stuff during holidays. Your local grocery store may do the same thing. I've already picked up Lunardis "Easter" version just in case. I think they'd go well on the Berry Oreos.

Note: I used a couple of mini muffin tins to stand up the dipped Oreos in so that both sides looked good.

Note: You can use sprinkles, colored sugar, Nonpareils, sparkle dust, edible paints, and sugar pearls as toppings on these.

 

Peanut Butter Football Dip

I loved this dip. And pretty much anybody who tried it also loved it. Did I mention it was actually quite easy to make? Dessert in an appetizer. My kind of food.

I made this for the SuperBowl. Which if you were a 49er fan, wasn't so super. I originally found the idea for this on Pinterest. I believe the original recipe came from the blog Crazy for Crust (though the recipe is not new, putting it into the football shape might be). I decided to go with her recipe for the dip as it sounded good. There are a ton of Peanut Butter Dip recipes online that you can use if the one from Crazy for Crust doesn't appeal to you.

I served this with football shaped pretzels that I found at Cost Plus World Market. Everyone liked the dip though some had to have it explained that it actually was a dip and that you used the pretzels to scoop up the mixture. My favorite reaction though was from one of The Men Who Drive The Cars. I brought the mixture into work and let my co-workers and drivers have a taste. I knew that I had a hit on my hands when the driver came back the next day asking if I had any of the football left. The success of the dip kinda (though not really) made the 49er loss just a tad bit less painful.

You can find the recipe for this here:

 

PEANUT BUTTER FOOTBALL DIP
(Crazy For Crust)

 

NOTE: Didn't add the extra half cup of powdered sugar. I wanted the dip to be easy to use since the football shaped pretzels I got were pretty flimsy. I think I might like it just a bit thicker next time and would add a bit more powdered sugar. I think regular pretzels would hold up just fine.

NOTE: I might draw a football shape on the wax paper before trying to shape the dip into a football since I sucked at the football shaping by hand. I definitely put this back into the fridge for a bit so that it made it easier to shape.

NOTE: I used a flat spatula to level the top and sides of the dip after it was shaped. Once I shaped the football to my liking I trimmed the rest of the wax paper so it didn't show so much.

NOTE: I found the Jimmie's at Cost Plus (couldn't find them in any of my local or gourmet markets). They had a milk chocolate and a dark chocolate...I used the dark. A bit tough to finagle the jimmies on...I used that small flat spatula to help adhere to the sides of the football shape.

NOTE: I used a tube bottle of white frosting to make the laces. You can check online for folks who really got creative and tried to make it all look like a real football...I figured an approximation would work.

I thought this was a very cool dish to bring to a football party. The dip itself was pretty good so if you are creative, you could shape it into just about anything you want. And you don't really need pretzels, you could use fruit (apples seems to be the thing). Or a spoon.

 

Eton Mess

When I first started looking at Nigella Express to see if there was a recipe I wanted to try to cook during the London Olympics, I decided I was going to make Goujons of Sole...for those Dr. Who fans, that's basically fish fingers, and for those non Dr. Who fans that's fish sticks (of course I was going to cook it without the custard). But I couldn't find any decent, affordable sole at my local markets so I put the cookbook away.

I then focused my attention on looking for a recipe for Eton Mess, a dish that I've run across in many of my cookbooks over the years. The problem was that most of the recipes called for making the meringue by scratch...something I just didn't have the time for during the Olympic festivities.

But then, by chance, I came back to the Nigella Express cookbook and saw that her recipe called for pre-packaged meringue nests. Eureka! Or so I thought until I couldn't find them at any store I frequented. So the cookbook went back on the shelf with a mental note to keep looking for some decent sole to try those fish fingers.

Fast forward to my foray at Cost Plus World Market picking up different British foods to try. Weaving up and down the isles, looking for anything that might be manufactured and eaten in London, low and behold, I came across a package of meringue nests! So back to the house and back to pulling out Nigella Express again. I think this was a sign I really needed to make something from this cookbook.

Eton Mess is really simple to make. It is also really simple to eat. Lots of. I don't know if it's the sweetness of the dish coupled with the nice crunch of the meringue, but we really enjoyed this. And even the next day when the mixture kind of went soft, I found myself stealing spoonfuls out of the container in the fridge.

This photograph doesn't do the dessert justice (my kingdom for some natural light in the house and instructions on how to use my new camera). I tried to layer the Eton Mess in a tall skinny glass and I wasn't very successful. I did take some to my Mom where I layered it in a small plastic drinking cup and it looked much better. Visions of a picnic or BBQ where I serve this in those plastic cups ran through my head.

ETON MESS
(Nigella Express)

4 cups strawberries
2 teaspoons vanilla or granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pomegranate juice
2 cups whipping cream
4 small packaged meringue nests

Hull and chop the strawberries. Put into a bowl, add the sugar and pomegranate juice, and leave to macerate while you whip the cream.

Whip the cream in a large bowl until thick but still soft. Roughly crumble in 4 of the meringue nests - you will need chunks for texture as well as a little fine dust.

Take out about half a cupful of the chopped strawberries, and fold the meringued cream and the rest of the fruit mixture together.

Arrange on 4 serving plates or glasses or in a mound, and top each one with some of the remaining macerated strawberries. Serves 4

NOTE: I used superfine sugar as it was mentioned in another Eton Mess recipe that the superfine would incorporate into the mixture better. I always have some superfine sugar on hand anyway to make simple syrups for drinks.

NOTE: This recipe is similar to many except for the pomegranate juice and the fact that it uses pre-made meringue. If you were to leave out the pomegranate juice and maybe add a bit more sugar, I don't think it would matter much.

I think this is one of those great little dessert recipes to have in your repertoire...tastes good and is simple to put together for a quick dessert after dinner. Will make this again. Will make a double batch and keep one just for me...

 

Treacle Sponge Pudding

This can of Treacle Sponge Pudding wasn't bought at a local British Food Store or the local Cost Plus World Market. This Treacle actually came all the way across the pond from England. It was lovingly brought to me by the sister of Mr. L's boss who came visiting from the UK. She also brought me a can of Bird's Custard Powder, so I no longer have an excuse not to make my own. I can't tell you how cool it was that my husbands boss knew I was eating "British" during the Olympics and had his sister pick me up something.

I originally thought "treacle" was a made up word. But it's actually any syrup made during the refining of sugar and is defined as "uncrystallized syrup produced in refining sugar". I've read and heard about Treacle Tarts for ages....it's mentioned in Harry Potter...and it was actually on my list of things to make during the Olympics, but I ran out of time. We ended up having this during the Closing Ceremonies which made a perfect end to my British Food Fest.

Alas, this didn't turn out the best. We actually liked Spotted Dick better, though it might be because of an error in cooking. We cooked this the same as the Spotted Dick, dropped the can in some boiling water for 35 minutes. The "treacle" I believe was supposed to melt and become like a sauce on the sponge cake. Alas, it never melted...not sure if it was because we didn't cook it long enough or too long. It actually didn't taste bad, Mr. L and I scarfed it down with smiles on our face, so I'd love to make one from scratch sometime.