The finale – dessert

I had to put on my thinking cap and consider the lactose intolerance.

Every now and again you strike it lucky and a dessert you've served in the recent past comes up trumps. At the end of last year I gave you “Sticky Toffee Orange”. The downside is that I couldn't serve the sticky toffee sauce, the upside – there's always an alternative!

My alternative was the sticky toffee loaf cake, fresh orange segments, an orange drizzle and a praline sprinkle.

If you'd like the recipe for the cake and a photo guide segmenting an orange check out Saturday 1 December 2018 Radio Recipes- 3rd December 2018 – How to segment an orange and Resourceful and creative desserts. Check out 13th December 2018 for the Praline recipe and a photo guide.

The orange drizzle is a piece of cake – sorry!

Orange Drizzle

200g icing sugar

250ml orange juice – no bits

Put the sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan and heat gently so that the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.

All four elements I made ahead and all perfect for the lactose intolerant! I served my Dil her bowlful with Arla Lacto Free Cream suitable for whipping, cooking and pouring – suitable for vegetarians too.

My Dil loved it, particularly the cake which she could not believe contained dates. You can always tell how well your food is received when people remember what they've eaten. I received a message from my Dil after she had arrived home … here's a snippet “… the cake was ****** lovely … actually the past two days have been ****** lovely”.

If you want a gem of an addition to your treasure trove then may I suggest you make a sticky toffee loaf cake and freeze it, preferably in half, just in case you don't use a whole cake – very funny. Actually you can make and freeze the drizzle and praline too!

I think you'll be glad you did.