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Ten Perfect Desserts for the Holidays

Thursday, 16 December 2021

Hi everyone! I thought it would be really fun today to share a few simple ideas and recipes for desserts for the holidays. These are all very easy desserts to make. Delicious and yet uncomplicated!

You know me, I am all about getting in and out of the kitchen as quickly as I can with the least amount of mess and fuss necessary. We are all very busy during the holiday season but we all also want to serve food that looks and tastes good to our families!

These desserts are perfect for this time of year. Simple to make. Most can be made ahead of time and all are quite delicious. Whether you choose to serve them on the festive day itself or on the days surrounding the big day, one thing is certain, everyone of these is engineered for your utmost pleasure and enjoyment!!!

PEAR AND GINGER TRIFLE - This is a really simple dessert to make. You can increase the numbers or decrease very easily as desired. You want to use a good store bought ginger cake/loaf for this.

Layered with tinned pears, Eau de Vie (pear brandy, optional), custard and whipped cream. It doesn't get tastier or easier than this simple dessert.

SALTED CARAMEL PAVLOVA - I think Pavlova's have to be one of the easiest desserts going! This one is no exception. Its incredibly lush and rich and delicious.

With its crisp meringue base with that lovely marshmallow-like insides, topped with billowing whipped cream and topped with a mix of caramel and chocolate drizzles as well as caramelized almonds, this simple dessert elicits oohs and aahs every time I serve it!

MINCEMEAT AND APPLE PUDDING - A layer of sweet cooked apple is topped with a rich mincemeat cake batter prior to baking to perfection.

Served warm with either warm custard sauce, lashings of heavy cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this always goes down a real treat!

BABY STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING CAKES - This is a personal favorite and something I baked often for dinner parties when I cooked at the Manor.

One of the reasons I love it so much is that you can totally bake the cakes ahead of time, simply napping them with the sticky toffee sauce and reheating when it is time to serve. Of course you will want to serve lashings of cream with these for the ultimate taste experience!

CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD ROLL - What could be nicer than a sweet spiced gingerbread cake rolled around a lush lemon and cream filling.

Your kitchen will SMELL like Christmas while the cake part is baking. Don't let the idea of making a rolled cake intimidate you. This is very easy to make and soooo delicious!

FESTIVE APPLE DUMPLINGS WITH SPICED CREME ANGLAISE - Mincemeat stuffed apples are baked in a wrapping of puff pastry until nice and soft.

Served warm with a lush spicy custard sauce, these always go down a real treat, and they are very simple to make as well. These are simply beautiful.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING SUNDAES - Crumbled Christmas pudding, warmed up with some mulled wine and layered in glass dishes with a good Vanilla Ice cream. Toasted almonds are sprinkled on top.

Don't let the simplicity of this fool you into thinking its not something special!

VANILLA, LEMON & CARDAMOM PUDDING - Something incredibly beautiful happens to a simple vanilla pudding when you add the flavours of cardamom and lemon. It becomes WOW!

Served with a waffle cookie or two and this is a really special dessert that you can totally make ahead of time as you wish. The less stress involved on the day the better I say!

VANILLA SAUCED BREAD PUDDING - This is a delicious pudding. Its studded with plenty of fruit and nuts.

Included is the recipe for a deliciously rich vanilla sauce which you spoon over when serving. Recipe can be doubled easily.

TRADITIONAL ENGLISH TRIFLE - This is what I think I am making this year. My family have never had it and I think its something they would enjoy!

You can totally make it the day ahead, ready to serve, chilled from the refrigerator on the day. I have never had anyone turn down a bowl of this!

So there you have it. Ten deliciously perfect desserts to serve during the holidays, be it on the big day itself, or just a day when you have cause for celebration! All simple and easy to make. All very festive, and all delicious! It doesn't get much better than this!

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!

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A Traditional British Christmas Dinner (for two)

Monday, 6 December 2021

When I first moved over to the UK in the year 2000 I was thinking I was moving to an English speaking country and that things would not really be all that different. Oh how wrong I was.

Nothing would ever be the same for the next 20 years! And I say that in the nicest possible way! It was not just the accent that was different. Things had totally different names and the foods and traditions were vastly different than what I had grown up and lived with throughout my whole life.

I have to say that I came to embrace and love everything and there are many, many things that I am missing and will continue to miss in the coming years. The UK really holds a special place in my heart and always will.

One thing which I loved and totally embraced were their Christmas foods and traditions! The Christmas Cake, Christmas Pudding and Mince Pies were only a very small part of it all!

I adored the Christmas dinner, with Christmas Crackers, funny hats, jokes around the table and all the fixings. The dishes served in some ways were very similar to what I was used to eating at Christmas in Canada, but at the same time very different!!

Nobody does Christmas like the British. The whole month is a beautiful feast for the eyes, ears and palate! I really miss it.

To that end I decided to cook myself a little mini Christmas Dinner in the British Tradition, sized perfectly for two, with turkey, roast potatoes, sausage stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, parsnips, sprouts and all the other trimmings!! Minus the crackers, party hats and jokes, sigh . . .

And the whole thing was cooked in pretty much an hour and a half and all on one tray for the most part! It was also delicious and very much enjoyed by myself. I am really going enjoy the leftovers today!

If you are only one or two and are up for it, or for trying something totally new this year follow along!

I had bought a couple of bone-in, skin-on split turkey breasts back in October. I cooked one then and I used one yesterday.

(source)

It weighed .588kg/1 1/4 pounds. The perfect size for just two people and took approximately 45 minutes according to the above chart.

To prepare it I placed it onto a baking sheet, patted it dry with some paper towels, rubbed it all over with butter, and seasoned it with salt, pepper and some Bell's seasoning.

I had preheated my oven to 375*F/190*C/gas mark 5. I popped it onto a foil lined baking sheet and added some potatoes for roasting at the side.

I used one large baking potato, which I had peeled and cut into large chunks. I par-boiled these chunks for 5 minutes in boiling water and then drained them really well, returned them to the saucepan. Banged them about a little bit, drizzled with about 1 TBS of oil, turning them to coat them.

These then got added to the end of the baking tray and I popped the whole thing into the oven.

While that was roasting, I got on with the business of preparing the remaining sides and turkey garnishes which is what the pigs in blankets and sausage stuffing balls, etc. are often called.

One thing you will note is that the British Christmas Dinner, or Christmas Lunch as it is also called is very heavy on the meat. Typically there is sausage meat in the stuffing and there are pigs in blankets (chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon) served on the side as a tasty garnish.

In fact you will often find that the turkey itself, if being roasted as a whole, will be blanketed with bacon strips to help to prevent the breast meat from drying out.

The stuffing is an easy one to make. I used Delia Smiths recipe from her book, Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course, the classic edition, for Pork Sage and Onion stuffing.

Of course I had to cut it back substantially as the original made enough to stuff a 12 to 14 lb. turkey! I did not quite need that much!

Pork, Sage & Onion Stuffing

Yield: 2 - 3

Author: Marie Rayner

This is a small portion designed to serve only a few people. It lacks none of the deliciousness of the full version!

Ingredients

1/2 a largish stale Ciabatta roll (70g) (The roll was 6 inches square in size)
2 fat banger sausages, skinned (about 1/3 pound/about 115g)
1/2 cooking onion, peeled and minced
1 TBS dried sage leaves
salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Make your bread into coarse crumbs. Place into a bowl along with the onion and sage and some seasoning. Mix together well and add about 2 TBS of hot water.
Add the sausage meat and mix well together with your hands. The mixture should hold together well. If you find it is crumbly or falling apart, you can add a tiny bit more water or an egg yolk.
Shape into balls using wet hands.

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Once I had made the stuffing and shaped it into balls, I set them aside on a plate. It made about six 2 inch balls.

I then got on with making the pigs in blankets.

Pigs in Blankets

Yield: 2 - 3

Author: Marie Rayner

This is a small portion designed to serve only a few people. It lacks none of the deliciousness of the full version!

Ingredients

6 chipolata sausages (in North American use breakfast sausage links)
3 slices of streaky smoked bacon, cut in half crosswise

Instructions

Once you have cut your bacon in half crosswise, stretch each piece a bit and wrap one piece around each sausage link. Place onto the plate/oven tray seam side down.

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These were also placed on a plate and then I popped the plate into the refrigerator to keep the meat chilled while I prepped the other vegetables.

I trimmed the brussels sprouts and cut them in half.

I peeled one carrot, one parsnip and a 1-inch thick slice of a small rutabaga/swede/turnip. I cut each vegetable into evenly sized batons/sticks, and then par-boiled them in some boiling water for about 5 minutes.

I then tossed them together with 1/2 TBS honey, 1/2 TBS melted butter and the finely grated zest of 1/2 unwaxed lemon. (Or a waxed one scrubbed in warm water. In any case I scrub my lemons anyways.)

I then removed the tray from the oven. I tested the breast meat and it was done. (Internal temp of 165*F/75*C. Note that if you cook it to just short of that (162/73), it will continue to cook while it rests and your meat won't be dried out.)

I set the meat aside, lightly tented and kept warm while the rest of the dinner cooked.

As you can see the potatoes are starting to get a nice golden crust on them. I flipped them over and then added the sausage balls, pigs in blankets and roasting vegetables to the tray, and increased the oven temperature to 400*F/200*C/ Gas mark 6.

I then returned the tray to the oven to cook at the higher temperature for about 35 minutes, flipping everything over halfway through the cook time.

While they were cooking I got on with making the gravy and cooking my brussels sprouts. I used my Perfect Gravy from Scratch recipe, and then steamed my brussels sprouts for about 5 minutes. (They were large and cut in half.) Those I cooked right at the last minute.

The stuffing balls and pigs in blankets were done when no longer pink inside and the vegetables were nicely caramelized as you can see.

You can also see how nice and crispy my roasted potatoes were.

Everything was simply cooked to perfection, and I wasn't long sitting down and enjoying my beautiful traditional British Christmas Dinner/Lunch for Two!!

TIMELINE FOR COOKING THE DINNER

Place the turkey and prepped potatoes onto a foil lined baking tray. Put the turkey in about 1 1/2 hour prior to you wanting to serve the meal along with the parboiled potatoes for roasting, at 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5.
While they are cooking make your sausage stuffing and pigs in blankets. Prep any other vegetables needed.
Remove the turkey about 45 minutes to one hour later. The exact time will depend on the size of your piece of meat. Remove it, tent and set aside to keep warm.
Turn over your potatoes. Place the stuffing balls, pigs in blankets and prepped parsnips/carrots and swede the baking tray. Increase the oven temperature to 400*F/200*C/gas mark 6. Return the baking tray to the oven and cook for a further 30 to 35 minutes until everything is cooked through, golden brown and the vegetables are just beginning to caramelize.
While the stuffing, etc. is cooking make your gravy and then steam your brussels sprouts at the last minute.
Carve the turkey and serve.

And there you have it! The perfect Traditional British Christmas Dinner, perfectly sized for just two to three people from start to finish.

I have not included the dessert. Most people will have mince pies, Christmas Pudding, Christmas Cake and often a Trifle. You can find my recipe for a Traditional Christmas Trifle here. Its delicious and very traditional. It is also full sized.

For the smaller family I would cut recipe in half, but set it up in individual dessert glasses, You will have enough dessert for two days, but I don't think anyone will be complaining!

All in all this is a lovely meal. I really enjoyed it and am contemplating doing a full sized one for my family come Christmas time. My oldest boy is supposed to come over with his wife and two sons. I am not sure they would appreciate all the extras however, so I will ponder on that!

If you would like full sized recipes for the stuffing or anything else just ask and I will happily give them to you!

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Lemon Biscuit Pudding

Sunday, 21 November 2021

There are more than a few things that my family loves to eat, flavors that we find impossible to resist and favorite dishes.

We all LOVE Fish & Chips for instance. Its not something we would only ever rarely cook at home so when we go out to eat, even ensemble, every one of us will order Fish & Chips! Its a given.

And any time we try to break from tradition, we are hugely disappointed and wishing we had gotten the Fish & Chips! Its like a sickness with us. Must have Fish & Chips.

Other things we absolutely love are cabbage rolls, wieners in any way shape or form, mom's homemade baked beans.

Then there is the pizza from my cousins restaurant, mom's ham and pea soup, blueberry pie, savory pies, chicken wings, and absolutely anything made or flavored with lemon!

Yes, we have our firm favorites when it comes to what we like to eat.

This Lemon Biscuit Pudding is a real favorite and at the top of the list when it comes to easy lemon desserts.

Dessert was not something we had very often when we were children. Occasionally mom would make a lemon or an apple pie. Basically desserts were reserved for special occasions and holidays.

Lemon Biscuit Pudding was one of the rare exceptions. Quick and easy to make, and oh so delicious! It is a real comfort dessert.

It is not a pudding in the sense of the North American idea of a pudding. It is more like a British pudding.

Its basically lemon biscuits partially baked, and then topped with a lemon custard and baked again. Simple and lush.

I have downsized this recipe today to feed only two to three people, but will be happy to share the amounts for a larger recipe with anyone who asks.

Lemon! Biscuits! Custard! Count me in, especially if you serve it warm with lashings of cream spooned over top, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream!!

This might be simple, but the flavors are anything but simple. This is one very lush and delicious dessert! Simple ingredients done incredibly well.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE LEMON BISCUIT PUDDING

Nothing extravagant, unless you consider lemon zest extravagant, and I guess there are times during the year when it might be considered so.

plain all purpose flour
granulated sugar
baking powder
vegetable shortening (or butter if you are so inclined)
salt
milk
finely grated lemon zest
whole milk
whipping cream
egg

So nothing fantastically outlandish. You will need the lemon zest of approximately 2 large lemons and not the juice.

The good news is your lemons will not go to waste. You can freeze them, or the juice. To freeze the lemons themselves, simply slice or halve and place into zip lock baggies.

They will keep for up to three months. and you can use them for anything cooked, or drinks.

To freeze the juice, squeeze and pour into ice cube trays. Freeze until solid and then pop out into a zip lock baggie and return to the freezer.

Most ice cube trays hold at the very least a teaspoon and at best a tablespoon. Once frozen you have premeasured lemon juice ready to use at a moments notice!

Just thaw and use as you would fresh lemon juice. Or if you are cooking with it (ie. sauces, etc.) just throw it in frozen. It will soon thaw out.

HOW TO MAKE LEMON BISCUIT PUDDING

You start by making a very simple biscuit dough. Just whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and some sugar together in a bowl.

Into this you drop some white vegetable shortening. If you want you can use butter instead. Its actually very good made with butter. (Just saying) Richer.

You will need to rub/cut the shortening/butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir in some lemon zest.

Some milk is stirred in and then the mixture it dropped into a buttered baking dish. Make sure your dough has a droppable consistency.

If you think it is too dry, add a bit more milk.

Some additional sugar is sprinkled over top before popping the dish into a hot oven, where it bakes until it is beginning to turn golden brown.

While it is baking, you will need to mix together the custard mixture. Its a simple mixture really.

Just measure everything for the custard into a small bowl and whisk it all together with a small wire whisk or a fork.

To measure the egg, I beat the whole egg together and then just weigh it (easiest) or simply pour in half of what you end up with. You could use just the yolk, but by beating it together you get a bit of each the yolk and the white.

Once the biscuits have browned a bit and risen, you remove them from the oven and turn the oven down to a moderate temperature.

You then pour the custard over top and return it to the oven where it needs to bake for a further 20 minutes or so.

It is done when the pudding is set, golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Easy peasy.

This is best spooned into bowls and served warm, with lashings of cream to pour over top or a with a scoop of vanilla ice cream placed on top of each serving.

You can also vary this by stirring some dried cranberries into the pudding mixture before you pour it over top of the hot biscuits.

Raisins are also very nice.

I love homey, comforting desserts like this. Grandmotherly. Home style. Nothing fancy, but incredibly satisfying.

I really hope that you will be inspired to want to try this out for yourself, and like I said, if you want to make it for a larger crowd, just let me know and I will give you the amounts to serve six people.

In the meantime, enjoy!

Lemon Biscuit Pudding

Yield: 2-3

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 40 Min

Such a simple thing and yet incredibly delicious. You can add dried cranberries if you wish. Beautiful lemon flavors and delicious served warm with lashings of cream poured over top!

Ingredients

For the biscuits:

3/4 cup (105g) flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 TBS sugar plus 3/4 tsp to sprinkle
2 TBS vegetable shortening
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk

For the pudding:

1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk
1/4 cup (60ml) whipping cream
1/2 TBS finely grated lemon zest
1/2 large free range egg (about 1 1/2 TBS or 25g)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450*F/230*C/ gas mark 7. Butter a small baking dish (1 quart) well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, 1 TBS sugar, and salt. Drop in the shortening and cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs, using a pastry blender. Stir in the lemon zest and the milk. Drop by spoonsful into the baking dish. (About 4 equal sized dollops) Sprinkle evenly with the 3/4 tsp of sugar.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown.
Beat all of the pudding ingredients together in a bowl with a wire whisk until well combined.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4.
Pour the pudding over the hot biscuit mixture. Return to the oven and make for 18 to 20 minutes until the pudding is set ad a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Serve warm, spooned into bowls, with cream on the side for pouring over top. Vanilla Ice Cream is also good with this dessert.

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Ten Perfect Desserts for the Holidays

Thursday, 16 December 2021

A Traditional British Christmas Dinner (for two)