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Orange Cinnamon and Lemon Cardamom Meringue Nests

Meringue Nests

Does this happen to anybody else ever? You have left over egg yolks so you make pudding, but then you end up needing more egg yolks than you had so you end up with left over egg whites. Now you’re just stuck in an endless cycle of using up leftover parts of eggs! It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it means you end up with super yummy meringue nests you wouldn’t have made otherwise! And aren’t unintended desserts the best kind? I’m sure they don’t have as many calories in either 😉 

Meringue Nests

When I have egg whites to use up my first thought is always meringue, it’s one of my all time favourite sweets. There’s just something about the way it crunches and melts in your mouth all at the same time that is just irresistible to me. I thought about making some meringue to crush up and put in an Eton Mess, but then I decided I should make the meringue a dessert all by itself, it deserves to be the star of the show after all! 

Meringue Nests

As a baker I always like to make sure I at least have lemons and cream in the fridge and a well stocked spice cupboard, there are few things you can’t spruce up with the right citrus and spice (plus lemons are insanely useful for so many things around the house) and cream makes everything better and more decadent. As luck would have it, I also had some oranges in the fridge. Orange and cinnamon are natural partners, their familiar dance on your tongue is traditional but still exciting as the first time. Lemon and cardamom may not be as familiar to some, but when they take to the dance floor it’s clear they were always meant to be. And that has to get an award for the weirdest metaphor I’ve written… this week anyway! So I’m no shakespeare, but I think I got my point across – these are flavour combinations made in heaven! 

Meringue Nests

So with those strange metaphors swimming around my head, I added lemon zest to half of the meringue and orange zest to the other half. Baked them and filled the lemon ones with cardamom cream and the orange ones with cinnamon cream. The food colouring added the meringue is technically optional, but I really do think it’s what makes this dessert look so fun and inviting! So unless you have an allergy or an aversion to food colourings, I would definitely keep them in! 

Meringue Nests

 

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Neapolitan Pudding

Neapolitan Pudding

“What are you making?” my mum asked me. “Pudding” I replied. “Yeah, but what are you making?” she said “pudding!” I responded. “But you can have anything for pudding! Cake, ice cream, pie…” Now I see where our wires are getting crossed “It’s just pudding, actual pudding. It’s its own thing” I tell her. “Oh, okay” she says “but what is it you’re making”. I don’t think she’s gonna get it you guys!

That conversational circle went on for quite a while. Pudding in the UK is a synonym for dessert (if you read the Harry Potter books and wondered why they always ended meals with “pudding”, now you know they weren’t just overly fond of this custard like dessert!), we don’t have pudding like the US does either – the closest we have is custard which isn’t all that dissimilar really. We do have a type of dessert referred to as pudding and those are usually sponge based and steamed in a basin. However, I love America’s pudding – and not just in my cookies. It was only a matter of time until I made my own!

Neapolitan Pudding

I love neapolitan ice cream, who doesn’t? We were one of the houses where the vanilla would somehow be the only flavour left though – oh the disappointment of opening up the ice cream tub only to see vanilla left! These days I’d be happy to eat up that vanilla ice cream, vanilla is not as boring as young me thought (if it’s done right anyway!). Did anybody else mix up their neapolitan ice cream to make a brown, gloopy mess though? Oh, to be back in those simpler times! Of course, in my adulthood, I can make as much neapolitan yummyness as I want! So when I was trying to decide what flavour pudding I should make with some left over egg yolks, I thought to myself “why settle for just one?” and so neapolitan pudding it was! Being an adult is swell! 

Neapolitan Pudding

I know neapolitan is normally made with strawberry, but I prefer raspberry plus I had some fresh raspberries just itching to be used! Of course, you can make yours with strawberries, just do a straight switch. I do love the distinct layers in this pudding, it was fun to make and fun to look at – but I will admit, I couldn’t resist mixing it all up into dull brown mess when I ate it. There’s still a little kid inside of me after all! 

Neapolitan Pudding

I do love the little pudding packs you can buy in the grocery store, but you can’t beat the homemade stuff! It isn’t hard to make either, it doesn’t even take very long – you just have to be patient while you wait for it chill (which is usually the hardest part, for me anyway!). Then you just spoon it into your presentation glasses – or just mix it all up in a bowl and cut out the middle man 😉 Either way, it won’t take you much effort to get to the point of yummy goodness! And you really will notice the difference in flavour and I think you’ll agree it was worth it. 

Neapolitan Pudding

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Chocolate Magic Cake

Chocolate Magic Custard Cake

Magic cake you guys! It’s actually magic! Or it’s science, which is kind of like magic to those of us who don’t understand science (i.e. me). You mix up one cake batter, pour it into a pan, bake it and voila – you have three separate layers when it’s done. A dense, chewy layer. A creamy custard layer. And a light sponge layer. It’s magic!! I’m very excited about it!

Chocolate Magic Custard Cake

 

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Blackberry and Elderflower Entremets

 

blackberry and elderflower entremet

 It’s week 9 of my GBBO Challenge, the semi-final! It was Pâtisserie week! I was originally planning to make macarons, a pâtisserie staple, but after seeing them make entremets on the show I knew I had to up my game and have a go at them, so I made blackberry and elderflower entremets!

blackberry and elderflower entremet

 

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Chocolate Orange Eclairs + a Giveaway

Chocolate Orange Eclairs

 These Chocolate Orange Eclairs are for pastry week of my GBBO challenge. I went with eclairs because because they were a challenge for me. I don’t know why but I always get into fights with choux pastry, I can make perfect danish pastry but choux pastry is a challenge for me… I’ve always been a bit backwards!

Chocolate Orange Eclairs

 I did manage to defeat these eclairs though! What defeated me though was a roll of parchment paper, I dropped it onto of the eclairs when I taking photos, which is why some of the chocolate glaze looks the way it does… I have nothing to say about my clumsiness other than oops! 

Chocolate Orange Eclairs

 

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