Last night I was too overcome by the thought of making dinner, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. If I had "help"--someoned name Jolly or Mrs. something or other, this would never happen. I told my husband, Doctor Moose Stueve van der Harr, that I had heard of some people having cold cereal for breakfast. He nodded and gave up hopes for dinner. Then one of the kids asked for scrambled eggs, and I fried up some frozen hash browns and suddenly I felt like cooking. I didn't make dinner however, I made 7 layer dip, homemade ice cream and Queen of Puddings.
Betty Keira was agog when I called her and told her to prepare for me to come over with Queen of Puddings.
I used milk because I had used up all of my cream in the homemade ice cream and didn't have any half and half to hand.
The custard didn't set. I don't know if it was supposed to or not but it was little curdles of custard in liquid not a custard or any sort of solid form.
Minjeer Dominguez van Injk and Betty Keria were polite and Dr. Moose Stueve van der Harr ate it but the reviews were only so-so. Myself, I don't particularly care for meringue and I would have liked it better had the custard been solid.
With a name like Queen of Puddings I expected more. It did, however, LOOK like a queen.
[Betty Keira] And you came dressed in a hand-knitted 'scootie' that looks most suitable for ice skating on canals. Tres' awesome.
I like my desserts to be fairly foolproof...otherwise I don't bother to make them again. There are a few variables to this recipe that I am not used to working with. I don't know if the half and half or maybe the type of bread made a difference. I wasn't sufficiently enamored of the dessert to keep experimenting with it (although I may try the "king of puddings").
ReplyDeleteThanks for trying...I too like fool proof puddings. The meringue is pretty impressive though.
ReplyDeleteI made Summer Pudding earlier this summer for the first time ever because it has always struck me as just so peculiar. While Queen of Puddings is pretty much what Americans call bread pudding, but with meringue on top (and bread pudding is nearly ubiquitous at high-end restaurants, usually with bourbon sauce or something), Summer Pudding is just white bread soaked in berry juice. Seriously. Stew some berries with a bit of sugar, and then pour them on white bread and put a weight on top and shove in fridge for a few hours.
ReplyDeleteThey were fantastic.
I'm pretty sure The Venerable has Summer Pud in a novel or two. Certainly the Earl of Emsworth (PG Wodehouse) likes his Summer Pud.
I got my Summer Pud recipe from a thin book of English desserts translated to American measurements and lavishly illustrated. About 80% of the recipes seem to be for whipped cream with something added (nuts, chocolate, fruit in some form) or cream plus eggs (viz, custard) with something added (nuts, breadcrumbs, fruit in some form). It reminds me of the books of Yorkshire recipes my bro-in-law gets each Christmas from relatives Back Home. Each recipe runs something like: "line a dish with bacon, pile in beef and pork and sausage, and pour on cream and eggs and cheese, then cover with more cheese and more bacon and cook."
Presumably if one spends 12 hours/day tromping across muddy fields, hanging out laundry and taking the stairs because the Sisters' elevator is off-limits, one can eat like this without getting plump anywhere but the bosom.
-Betty van den Betsy