The Dinner Party Pudding – the finishing line!

I chose the following pudding because it ticks all the boxes. It's delicious, it looks amazing and three of the four elements I made ahead – boom!

My pudding is Gateau a l'Orange - Orange Cake if you prefer. Despite its French title it's actually Jewish.

2 oranges

6 eggs

250g sugar

2 tbsp orange blossom water

1 tsp baking powder

250g ground almonds

Wash the oranges and boil them whole for 1 – 1 ½ hours or until they are very soft.

Beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the orange blossom water, baking powder and almonds and mix well. *Cut open the oranges, remove the pips and purée in a food processor. Mix thoroughly with the egg and almond mixture and pour into a 23cm cake tin – lined with baking parchment, preferably non-stick and with a removable base. Bake in a pre-heated oven 190c/170fan/Gas 5 for an hour. Let it cool before turning out.

What put me off baking this cake was the boiling of the oranges so to bring it up to date - instead of boiling the oranges, microwave them for 8 minutes on high. I used 3 medium sized oranges (as a guide 67-74mm) and turned after 4 minutes. Make sure your fruits are in a covered vented microwave container. Continue with the recipe at *.

The Orange Cake is moist – moist is good but, to use the northern vernacular, it can be claggy. This calls for “drizzle” to serve with so here's my orange syrup (or drizzle if you prefer).

Orange Syrup

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.

You'll then have a syrupy drizzle ready to dress your cake.

I made a vanilla ice cream ahead so the final pudding would be a slice of gateau a generous drizzle of orange syrup and a scoop of ice cream on the side. Ordinarily that would be enough, however, I chose to top the gateau with a small scoop of clotted cream. I wanted to showcase a quintessentially English tradition which I thought lent itself to the pudding – a pudding should after all be an indulgence it was also an opportunity to serve an ingredient that I thought my American guests had never tasted – flying the flag as it were!

If you'd like to see a photo guide of the Gateau have a look at My favourite cake 6^th May 2018 which gives photos of the Gateau and the drizzle. You can find the ice cream recipe on the ice cream label 26th May 2018 Ritzy Rhubarb Ripple along with other no churn ice creams.

Coming next … the aim of this game and then the verdict!

On the night – the appetiser

I mentioned right at the start that I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my guests. The sure fire way that I can is to choose dishes that I know work and that my guests will enjoy.

I also said that the only dish to be cooked from scratch on the night is the appetiser, which is why I chose the following recipe. I've served this dish three times now and it has never let me down, in fact it has very been well received - so - stick with what you know!

Scallops and king prawns in black bean sauce

for 5 as a starter

3 scallops per person (defrost from frozen)

5 cooked king prawns per person (defrost from frozen)

drop of rapeseed oil

salt and black pepper

Romano peppers – one orange, one

yellow, de-seeded and finely chopped to a similar

size

1 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped

200g black bean sauce – make your own

or buy a good quality ready-made

This is a dish that you pull from your freezer – the scallops and the king prawns and from your pantry/store cupboard - the black bean sauce.

You need to remember to take the scallops and king prawns out of the freezer the night before and fridge them. Make sure you drain any liquid and pat dry with kitchen roll before cooking.

I always use the clock face method when cooking scallops – heating the rapeseed oil until hot and beginning at 12 o'clock and forming an outer circle in your pan, sealing and seasoning with salt and black pepper. When you return to where you began turn each scallop again to seal on the other side. Set them aside on a baking sheet and cover with foil.

Stir fry the peppers and onions for 2/3 minutes, then add the king prawns, season and toss together for 2 minutes to warm the prawns through, add the scallops and the black bean sauce tossing to cover thoroughly. Serve immediately in small bowls with small flat breads to mop up the sauce.

My final tip – prep the peppers and onions ahead then bag and fridge!

Last up – pudding ...

Now for the Calvados cream sauce

Once again you can make the sauce ahead, leaving only the last step – adding the cream and the pork steaks and gently warming through, 20 minutes into the 30 minute finish time, on your hob, in a large frying pan.

I made my “base sauce” in a small saucepan which is much easier, when cooled, to fridge.

You'll need approximately 200ml of stock from the cooked pork steaks which you've already strained. Freeze the remainder of the stock.

Calvados cream sauce

15g/¾ oz unsalted butter

15g/¾ oz plain flour

1 tsp garlic paste or 1 clove, crushed

glug of Calvados

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

200ml/7 fl oz stock

300ml/½ pint/10 fl oz double cream

salt and black pepper

Melt the butter, take the pan off the heat, add the flour and whisk. Return to the heat and cook out the flour for 2/3 mins, stirring continuously – add the garlic paste and mustard and then, on a high heat, add the Calvados and cook for 1-2 mins. Add the cold stock straight into the sauce and whisk until smooth, then cook on a low heat for 10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

At this point cover and set aside to cool, then fridge.

On the evening, tip the base sauce – carefully – into a large frying pan - whisk and warm gently - add the cream and simmer for 5 minutes then add the pork steaks – simmer gently for 20 minutes as mentioned above.

P.s. Calvados is an apple brandy produced in Normandy, France.

Pp.s. Just in case you needed “glug” defining – about two tablespoons.

Appetiser up next!

Now for the pork …

This dish is perfect for slow cooking and ideal to cook ahead for a dinner party.

Slow cooked pork loin steaks with

Calvados cream sauce

600g/1lb 5oz pork loin steaks – 6 steaks, trimmed

glug of rapeseed/Canola oil

salt and black pepper

generous sprinkle of dried herbs – sage or

thyme

2 tsps of garlic paste – optional

500ml/1 pint approx vegetable stock – use a stock pot if you're

not using your own stock

Heat the oil in a large frying pan until hot. Seal the loin steaks on both sides, add salt and black pepper, garlic and herbs. Set aside the steaks in the slow cooker then add your stock to the residual juices in the frying pan, bring to the boil, pour over the steaks and slow cook for 3 hours.

At the end of the cooking time remove the pork steaks from the stock and set aside, covered, to cool.

Pass the stock through a sieve and set aside, covered, to cool.

Fridge the steaks and the stock.

Now for the Calvados cream sauce!

The best Apple Sauce!

I found this recipe by accident and it is truly the most delicious apple sauce. Even if you decide you haven't the time on this occasion stick it in your pending tray and try it when you do have time – you won't be sorry.

Eliza Acton's Apple Sauce – with Bramley apples

Pre-heat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Grease a glass dish with butter.

This sauce is so easy – the only emphasis is on the preparation of the apples. All the peel and core must be removed. There are no amounts here, you can cook as much sauce as you desire – it freezes well!! So, peel, core and slice your apples – if you can slice them a similar size they will cook more evenly.

Place your apples in your dish and cover with a lid or foil – NO WATER, SUGAR OR ANYTHING ELSE!!

Bake for 20-30 minutes. Check after 20. Apples should be soft. Here's the satisfying bit – whisk the apples until they begin to break up, sprinkle with caster sugar plus a generous knob of unsalted butter, whisk again – enjoy.

You can use this sauce for loads of recipes – I use it as an addition to my Chestnut Roast at Christmas.

If you're not feeling so well I can recommend the sauce as the sweet alternative to chicken soup.

Enjoy!

P.s. The books … if, like me, you're interested in food history you might like to add the following to your list. Elizabeth David's “An Omelette and a Glass of Wine” which is a compilation of articles and is where I found “Big Bad Bramleys” which in turn lead me to “Eliza Acton Modern Cookery”.

The roast – step by step photo guide and method

the breadcrumbs and the blitzed chestnuts

season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper

with the apple, onion and two knobs of butter

fold the apple, onion and butter through the

breadcrumbs and chestnuts

here's the oval cast iron ovenproof dish

the roast in the dish – if you want to cook ahead

part bake, covered in foil for 20 minutes, 180fan/200c/Gas 6

cool and fridge

take the roast out of the fridge two hours before

finishing to allow it to reach room temperature then

bake, uncovered, for a further 20 minutes (10 minutes

in to the 30 minute finishing time)

cooked and served in an individual cast iron pot

The best apple sauce up next!

The Chestnut and Apple roast

Over the years I've tried lots of vegetarian roasts. The archetypal “nut roast” makes my blood run cold - for me it conjures up a dried tasteless mixture that you could use to lay a crazy paving! I've treated myself to a luxury version where the name has been changed to make it sound appealing when it's really appalling. Hence my own version.

Tried and tested, here it is :

Chestnut and Apple roast

170g/6oz of dried breadcrumbs

2 tsps dried sage

100ml/3fluid oz boiling water

or

1 packet of sage and onion stuffing mix – 170g/6oz

1 packet – 180g/7oz of vac packed chestnuts, blitzed to a

crumb – not dust!

300g of chunky apple sauce – preferably Bramley apple

or

Portion of apple sauce, a la Eliza Acton – 225-350g/8-12 oz

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Drop of rapeseed oil and knob of butter.

2 additional knobs of butter

I used an oval cast iron oven proof dish measuring 25x17x5 cms – 10”x7”x2” in old money.

For your dried breadcrumbs, remove the crusts and tear up into chunks – weigh to achieve 170g/6oz. Pre-heat oven 150fan/170c/Gas 3. Blitz the bread in a food processor until you get an even crumb. Spread the crumbs onto a baking tray and bake for 6 minutes until they are golden. You can make a finer crumb by blitzing again when cooled. Add dried sage to taste – I'd suggest 2 tsps.

You don't have to make your own breadcrumbs, you can buy them dried.

Alternatively if you're short of time, use a sage and onion stuffing mix.

There's a step by step photo guide and method coming next along with the Eliza Acton recipe for the apple sauce.