Puddings & Desserts

From Celebration Rum Torte to Marbled Mocha Cheesecake

The 114th Bake: Summer Pudding Alaska

The last bake and this was one of the scariest looking bakes in the book. So after 13 months and 13 days I have finally baked all the recipes out of the Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking as well as 30 of my own recipes. Exhausting, but fun, fun fun!!! 🙂 I have learnt so much about baking and time management too. And it just shows me that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. I have loved all the baking, it’s been so much fun, though stressful at times, but well worth the effort. I’m really pleased I did it.

I had already done a Baked Alaska so I knew this was going to be a big bake, but this recipe which was Nancy’s Showstopper, involved making your own ice cream, not one, but three different ice creams!!! Eeeekkk

I needed a bit of time for this one, it took about 24 hours!! No kidding, because each time I made an ice-cream and placed it in the mould I had to leave it to set for 4 hours. It was fun making ice-cream, in fact each ice-cream used different ingredients and a different process. My challenge was that I didn’t have an ice-cream churner but I got away without one, I used my electric beater with the paddle attachment, hey improvisation is a great thing, saved me money and having to acquire another appliance for the kitchen. So I made the forest berry ice cream with frozen mixed berries, caster sugar and cream. Not having any creme de cassis in the house I used Pacharán made from blackthorn berries (close enough to blackcurrant in my book).

  • berries and sugar
  • cream
  • and pacharan! 🙂
  • combined
  • churning in the mixer!!

I whizzed the mixed berries with caster sugar, added cream and Pacharán liqueur, then put it into the mixer to churn until firm. (well, mine didn’t really go firm so to speak, but nothing that the freezer couldn’t fix). So I poured this into the mould and placed another smaller bowl on top to make the hole for the next ice cream. Fun, fun fun. ;/

  • berry ice cream into the bowl
  • making a dome

Time to go to bed and have another crack at the next layer in the morning! For the next ice cream, which was strawberry and mint, I needed an unusual ingredient which I had never bought, a can of

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By Denise, ago

The 113th Bake: Black Forest Chocolate Fondants

There’s nothing like the smell of fresh herbs and freshly blended tea. I recently bought some tea from the market. One brand appealed to me from Grow Eat Heal. It was called heart & soul, and was full of rosebuds and camomile. Sounded yum and smells delicious. hhttps://www.groweatheal.co.nz/ The other I bought for my husband, called Anxietea. Who doesn’t need a bit of de-stressing in their lives? https://www.bettertea.co/

These teas are the perfect accompaniment to my very rich chocolate fondants which I am very excited to say is my second to last bake. Woohoo.

It’s not that I haven’t loved doing this challenge, but challenge it has been, don’t get me wrong. It has been a huge commitment and a lot of work, fun as it was learning and baking my way through a text book of recipes. But all good things must come to an end and I am looking forward to being free and moving on to the next thing/challenge, whatever that may be. I will still bake and post when I get the chance, or see/make a great recipe that I want to share.

For this bake, Richard’s Signature Bake, I knew I was in for more than one process, they are always a bit more complicated these signature bakes. First I made the coulis. Cherries being out of season, I had to use preserved cherries, never mind. So I boiled together cherries, sugar and lemon juice, and then blended this in a food processor.

  • coulis
  • macerate cherries in brandy

I then added brandy to a dozen or so cherries and left these to soak it up! If you’ve never made fondant, you should. It’s not hard or complicated, it’s just the timing of the cooking that’s the important thing to get right. Here’s the recipe in case you are keen! 🙂 https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/richards-black-forest-chocolate-fondants There’s also a link to buy the cookbook in case you are really keen!! So to make the fondants, I

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By Denise, ago

The 101st Bake: Flourless Walnut Torte


You would think making sponges is hard. Well I did. There was always a fear and anticipation of impending failure at the thought of making a sponge, but I have come to realize that it is the sequence of the process, not the ingredients that leads to its success.

The ingredients are simple; eggs, sugar and flour usually. But it’s what you do with them that matters. And this sponge didn’t even use flour. It used ground walnuts, interesting. I browned the nuts in the oven, then pulsed them in a food processor to make a fine crumb.

  • browning the nuts
  • Whizzing the walnuts to
  • a fine crumb

I then separated the eggs, and after adding a pinch of salt, beat the whites to stiff peaks. I added the sugar to the yolks and whisked until the

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By Denise, ago

The 95th Bake: Ginger Tuile Sabayon Baskets


I had a count up yesterday and I have 20 recipes left to go!!! Woohoo. Actually, I thought I had less. I know the recipe book says 120 recipes and 95 + 20 doesn’t add up to 120!! but I’m assuming its because there have been chutneys and lemon curds etc along the way which probably all add up to 120 recipes. Maths is definitely not my strong point.

I have taken up a new Sport and am thinking about taking up a new hobbie. It’s such a fun time of year for planning and figuring out what you are going to achieve this year. Thank goodness for New Year, fresh starts, new things, as well as letting go of old stuff too. Change is good and worthwhile and welcome, sometimes. I am also planning a trip to Europe for the end of the year so I can do some research on my next novel. Have just managed to arrange two house swaps, for the south of France and Germany. So exciting.http://www.homeforexchange.com It’s such a a great way to travel, free with amazing locations and accommodation. I am so looking forward to going to Lyon where the large outdoor markets of La Croix Rousse and St Antoine offer a huge selection of traditional and gourmet food including dishes ready to eat. Can’t wait. Maybe I should make it a food trip too, now that wouldn’t be hard.

I didn’t know what a tuile basket was, had never made one and certainly didn’t know what sabayon was.

  • Tuile baskets 🙂
  • Sabayon whisking! 🙂

So this bake was interesting and educational. You come to the realization that all this fancy stuff is not actually hard to make, it’s just fiddly and time consuming. This dessert was light and yummy, but it would take a very special occasion to make it again!!

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By Denise, ago

The 93rd Bake: Mary’s Neapolitan Baked Alaska

There are two baked Alaska in this cookbook and I have been holding off, knowing I had to do it, eventually. I figured a late family Christmas function was the perfect opportunity. It was scary, using three litres of ice-cream, (that’s why I needed a crowd) and enigmatic, putting all this ice-cream covered with peaks of meringue into an oven at 240ËšC!!! Eeeek. But I’d have to say it worked and the result was fascinating and delicious.

Our cat recently and very suddenly got sick and passed away. The house is so empty without her. It’s so sad. The only consolation is that she was 15 years old, so had lived a good life and a long life. Watching Bohemian Rhapsody last night, (great movie, one of the best ever!), it was very poignant watching Freddy carry on despite his diagnosis and listening to the lyrics of his songs, “who wants to live forever.” He was so creative, and very inspiring, especially how he carried on wanting to fulfill his dream of making music until he died. In his words, when he is singing to a large audience, “I’m exactly the person I was always meant to be. I’m not afraid of anything.” Oh to find that special place where we belong in the world. What a dream, come true. Making Baked Alaska might not fall into that category!

  • putting ice cream in layers into a dome shaped bowl
  • Whisking the meringue and adding sugar syrup at 115 C
  • piping the meringue onto the dome of ice cream sitting on the sponge

So first of all, what is a Baked Alaska. Well it’s actually a sponge base covered by a dome of ice cream, topped by meringue that is then

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By Denise, ago

The 89th Bake: Paul’s Chocolate Volcanoes

delicious ooze with cream

It’s getting close to Christmas, only 7 days to go.  A bit frightening really with so much to do.  It’s a good time to put your feet up, take some time out for yourself if you can, take a bath, take a deep breath, take a walk, because all this stress isn’t good.  I like to try to do everything well in advance because I know just before the big day I’ll be making the dishes I’ve been assigned which this year are: trifle, cheese loghttps://thebakersdozenbakeoff.com/2018/11/21/cheese-log/ and cevichehttps://thebakersdozenbakeoff.com/2018/09/10/ceviche/ and be caught up in the mad rush.  Being organised hopefully will help but well rested too, hopefully. 
        Anyway this decadent little treat popped out at me from the page and not having any specific reason to make it didn’t stop me.  If you’ve never made a fondant, give it a go.  It’s fun though stressful waiting those 8 minutes for the puddings to cook and then pulling them out at just the right moment to get the gooey centre. Here is Paul’s recipe https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/chocolate_volcanoes_37330

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By Denise, ago

The 77th Bake: Hot White Chocolate Sponge Pudding

I’m a little behind on my bakes this month, so I’m trying to whizz through them.  Hence these puddings. I whipped these up while dinner was cooking, potato bake (made with sliced potatoes, cream, garlic, grated tasty cheese and salt, mmmmmmm) and baked salmon (salmon covered in honey and capers,mmmmmmm).  Well anyway, while all this was going on in the oven, I ventured to whip up the puddings, multitasking not always necessarily fun but necessary all the same.  Speaking of being organised, I recently bought a book called the life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo (it’s sold 6 million copies!!)  Her method, the konmari method, is based on only keeping items in your life that “spark joy” and focusing on discarding first before you tidy or store.  I have found this book revolutionary!!!  It works.  Here’s a link to the basics.https://www.drnorthrup.com/7-tips-to-organize-your-home-using-the-konmari-method/  Now back to the bake, I melted white chocolate, no gas, so had to do it in the microwave, no worries. It sat there waiting while I
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By Denise, ago

The 68th Bake: Mary’s Tiramisu Cake

This Tiramisu Cake looks decadent and delicious and takes four packets of mascarpone cream so it’s got to be good!!   I read the recipe the night before and as it involved a large sponge roll tin, (which I didn’t own) I made one to measure out of tinfoil, 35 x 25cm. Tick.  Now I’ll have to make it!

Have just been to the National Writers Forum all weekend, very enlightening.  Great to be around other writers, talking, learning and getting inspired.  I saw a Youtube video at my daughter’s school assembly the other day in which a small boy expounded about practicing joy, practicing what you love. Great advice  🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Lwc_Crxv4

So the next morning, I made the sponge which involved  (more…)

By Denise, ago

The 66th Bake: Celebration Rum Torte

I had an excuse to bake a big flash layered cake as family are visiting from Australia.  This took most of the afternoon, although I have to say, having been through these steps before it does make it easier somehow.  I needed two baking tins, so moulded one out of tinfoil to save having to bake the second sponge after the first. It was Maori language week and I went for coffee with my family to Crave, a local cafe.  They were getting right into the spirit of things. If you ordered your coffee in Te Reo, you got it free.  So I ordered “He rate pÄ©ni nui koa” Large soy latté please.  It’s great to see the Maori language encouraged as although my Te Reo is wanting, it’s good to give it a go.  Funnily enough “Kei te pÄ“hea koe?” was in my head from childhood, don’t know how, but it’s there.  So much better and more effective to learn a language as a kid, when we can soak up information like a sponge without having to think about it.  Now for the baking,  I first made (more…)

By Denise, ago

The 61st Bake: Sticky Apple Sponge Pudding

Sticky Apply Sponge Pudding was simplicity and goodness at it’s best.  Using Braeburn Apples for a bit of a bite, I sliced and sauteed the apples in demerara sugar and butter until they were golden brown, then placed these on the bottom of a baking dish covered in maple syrup.  Quite sweet!  I did this step before heading to the supermarket to get a couple of things.  While in the public toilet which has recently been renovated at the mall, I overheard an elderly couple waxing eloquent about how wonderful the new toilets were.  It went something like: (more…)

By Denise, ago