So Jack is sounding mighty serious about his baking plans. THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF 2020 SUMMER PICNIC seems to have brought the competitive side out of him. I have to warn you, Jack’s sister is pretty much a celebrity baker. She owns a chain of bakeries, makes guest appearances on TV shows and has a couple of books published.
Please don’t worry, the baking genius does not seem to run throughout the entire family. However, Jack is hard to discourage. Now he is talking millefort. He is not going to be able to make millefort where he is. He does not have an oven, he has a stove.
I am trying to persuade him to think PICNIC, but he keeps saying he wants to win STAR BAKER. Yikes! I told him it is not about winning. It is about taking part. I have to warn you all though – Jack means business.
I foresee a baking disaster unfolding!!! I have tried to warn him!
Here is another post to inspire you with ideas for THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF 2020 SUMMER PICNIC!
All because the lady loves chocolates and cherries! The lady in question being my sister Mandy. Everybody knows that Mandy’s favourite dessert is any kind of Black Forest entity. It could be a gateaux, it could be a roulade, but today…it is a trifle!
And it really is an incredibly easy recipe!!! Perfect for feeding the masses during the holidays. The recipe came from the BBC Food Website, and I believe it was first published in the BBC Good Food magazine in December 2010.
But to bring this easy peasy recipe to life, I invite you to join me on a journey into Caramel’s kitchen cupboards. Are you ready???
Here we go!!! First of all let’s talk about the chocolate custard layer:
100gr plain chocolate, 500ml tub of ready-made chilled custard (preferably with real vanilla seeds)
The recipe says to gently (and please note – gently does it!) heat the custard and the chocolate in a pan. It is a joy to see the pieces of chocolate disappear and transform into a yummy chocolate custard!
Once all the chocolate has melted (we don’t want lumpy custard), the recipe says to cover with clingfilm and cool. So I just stuck the clingfilm over the pan and put it to the back of the stove until I was ready to use it.
Now the recipe says to use 400gr of chocolate brownies. I am sure it means shop-bought brownies, but as I was catering for someone who needs a gluten free pudding, I made some brownies using a gluten free chocolate brownie mix.
Whether you use shop-bought brownies or home-made brownies, just arrange a layer in the base of a a large trifle bowl.
2 x 390gr jars of cherries in kirsch
Now…I searched every supermarket nearby and I could not find cherries in kirsch. I could not even find Kirsch in the liquor section. So I decided to use a tin of black cherries (they come in a cherry syrup) and a jar of cherry and kirsch compote.
I found a cherry brandy in Sainsburys supermarket the other day, so if I make this recipe again, I am tempted to add a few splashes of cherry brandy to soak into the brownies (yes, I am a fan of boozy puddings!)
The cherries I bought did not really need draining, I just threw the contents of both the jar and the tin over the brownies.
Over the top of my cherry layer, I added the chocolate custard. I popped it in the fridge to chill, while I turned my attention to the next layer of the trifle.
I used my electric whisk to whip the cream with crème fraîche and icing sugar. I think the idea is not to over-whip it! Soft peaks the recipe says. It needs to be nice and soft to dollop nicely onto the other layers of trifle.
I must admit sometimes I over-whip cream, but in this case over-whipped cream would be baaaaad!!!
Dollop your lovely softly whipped cream and crème fraîche over the chocolate custard layer…and you are nearly finished!
Grated chocolate for decorating
The recipe also said you could decorate with some fresh cherries. I did not buy any fresh cherries, so for me it is just a generous layer of grated chocolate. Amazing!
Et voilà !!! All because the lady loves chocolate and cherries!!! My sister Mandy will be a very happy girl!
So Jack is sounding mighty serious about his baking plans. THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF 2020 SUMMER PICNIC seems to have brought the competitive side out of him. I have to warn you, Jack’s sister is pretty much a celebrity baker. She owns a chain of bakeries, makes guest appearances on TV shows and has a couple of books published.
Caramel 