St Stephen’s Pudding

The Feast Day for St Stephen falls on 26 December (Boxing Day), hence the Christmas Carol, Good King Wenceslas:
“Good King Wenceslas looked out
on the feast of Stephen, …” 
I have no idea why this is called St Stephen’s Pudding.  There is no reason given with the original recipe, where it is suggested as an alternative to [...]

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Pear Dappy

Some years ago the BBC Food and Drink television programme featured a dining club in the Cotswold region of the UK, where the diners sampled and then voted on a huge variety of desserts and puddings.  The Pudding Club, as it is called, is still going strong and has published two books, both of which I own. 
Apple Dappy was [...]

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Autumn Pudding

I was delighted to discover that you could make a version of my favourite Summer Pudding (usually raspberries, strawberries & currants) with Autumn fruits (plums, blackberries and apples) and that it was equally delicious.  This, along with Lemon Meringue Ice Cream, was the dessert course for a special family meal. 
The original version of this recipe is from [...]

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Lemon Meringue Ice Cream

For a special family birthday meal I was planning to serve Autumn Pudding as dessert, but also wanted to please the ice cream loving members of the family! I like the mixture of lemon and blackberry so thought this recipe sounded ideal. It was very sweet and very rich, in some ways rather overpowering the Autumn Pudding, but [...]

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Raspberry Bakewell Pudding

I first served Raspberry Bakewell Pudding when my parents came to lunch (after all the recipe had come from their newspaper) and we all thought it was absolutely delicious. I love the buttery-almondy ‘frangipane’ Bakewell Tart filling, or Bakewell Pudding, if you prefer, to give it its proper Bakewell, Derbyshire name.  (Frangipane is the term commonly used for a filling either made from or flavored like almonds.) This is [...]

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Tarte au Citron

One of our favourite French desserts is Tarte au Citron or French Lemon Tart and it is surprisingly easy to make.  It is one of those food items that we cannot leave France without having at least once. Tarts of varying quality can be found across France in supermarkets and patisseries and often have the word ‘Citron’ drizzled on top in chocolate or gold [...]

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Melon & Ginger Ice Cream

My husband loves the combination of melon and ginger (anything and ginger, actually!) so when I found this recipe I knew we had to try it.  A jar of stem ginger in syrup is a stock cupboard item in our house as it makes a delicious addition to lots of desserts, including fresh chopped fruit and baked [...]

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Blackberry Ice Cream

This year promises a bumper crop of blackberries in our somewhat overgrown garden. What to do with a glut of fruit, especially as it comes free of charge!? Well, lots of things actually, but this recipe is well worth the effort. The most complicated and messy part is the cooking and sieving of the blackberries. (Do [...]

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Lemon Sorbet

Nothing is more delicious on a hot day than a serving of cooling, refreshing lemon sorbet. It was the first type of ice I made when I bought my Ice cream machine some years ago and every year it is usually the first to be made. This recipe is one of the simplest I have [...]

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Shrikhand with Strawberries

I was delighted to hear about Shrikhand, a delicious and very simple Indian dessert, in a recent repeated episode of the Hairy Bikers Ride Again, a television cookery series I missed first time around. Shrikand is one of the main desserts of Gujerati cuisine. I always find these programmes worth watching, being part travelogue and part food, all delivered with the [...]

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