The ultimate …

… sticky toffee sauce.

If I have a favourite dessert combination it's warm with cold – i.e. a good ice cream with a warm sticky toffee sauce. I say warm since its temperature should be hot enough to begin melting the ice cream but not hot enough to burn the inside of your mouth!

It should be said that, as usual, you can buy such a ready-made product easily – usually in 260g jars (it may vary). Personally the recipe that follows is the most rewarding 15 minutes you'll ever spend – on a dessert element that is.

Here goes :

Sticky Toffee Sauce

110g/4oz unsalted butter

225g/8oz soft dark brown sugar

50g/2oz chopped stem ginger (optional)

10 fl oz double cream (heavy USA)

Heat the butter, sugar and ginger – gently. When dissolved add the cream.

Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring.

One batch of the recipe produces 540g of sauce, or, over two portions – one to fold through a batch of home-made vanilla ice cream – based on the ice cream recipe which is on the blog.

It freezes too!

This is an excellent recipe and I'd wager that you'll not be buying a ready-made version once you've sampled this one.

Hmm – another element you could add to the “muddle”?

Frazzled …

… dictionary definition “the state of being worn out”.

I get so carried away with making sure I've got enough food - cooked or otherwise, that I completely forget that you have to eat in the lead up to the holidays – whether it's Christmas or New Year.

It seems so unreasonable that you have to provide food when you're so stressed!

Last weekend friends were coming for supper and cards. I thought I'd got it covered and, to be fair I had, for the main – I just didn't give dessert a thought – eek!

Then I remembered I'd made a batch of Rocky Road, some of which I'd taken as a gift for my hairdresser. The previous weekend I'd made a batch of ice cream when other friends were visiting. Hmm, then I remembered the fruit compote I'd made for the Traffic Lights dessert. Then I remembered I'd a decent sized portion of chocolate pudding in the freezer.

Here's my “muddle” recipe – if you can call it that :

Choose a dish or bowl that's not too large

Warm the chocolate pudding, one large dessert spoon

in each bowl

One scoop of vanilla ice cream

3 or 4 pieces of Rocky Road

Drizzle with a small ladle of compote

Alternatively you could choose from your secret chocolate stash in place of the Rocky Road.

The photos to back up my “muddle” are coming shortly!

Stock the store cupboard ...

… especially from a dessert point of view. If I have visitors at the last minute I want to be able to offer them a dessert but I may not have the time to make one from scratch or even to pop out to buy one.

When I say “store cupboard” I include the freezer too. Top of my list is a batch of vanilla ice cream – it cannot fail.

Earlier this year I gave you three different versions of a “Hodgepodge”. If you'd like to have a look at each of the recipes, you'll find them on the blog Easter Emergencies A Hodgepodge, Hodgepodge – take 2 and Hodgepodge … again. The Compote Compilation will give you the recipe for Blueberry Compote.

You don't have to spend a fortune and you can make bits and pieces yourself if you feel inclined or, more to the point, if you have time – for example meringue kisses or either of the curds – lemon or orange.

Frozen raspberries and cherries are essentials for the freezer.

The added bonus with this “stock” is that if it isn't used over the holidays it'll still be there and not committed to the food waste mountain because it's out of date.

Add a bag of hazelnuts and almonds to your shopping list too.

Choose a secret location and stash a selection of favourite chocolate bar(s). Note to self – remember where you stashed them! Nowadays you can buy bite sized versions of your favourites – very useful fridged and then chopped or bashed in their wrapper to add to ice cream, add fruit of your choice and decorate with a sprinkle of nuts.

Dessert any one?!

Running out of steam?

Feeling a little frayed around the edges? To make matters worse you've more guests staying over for New Year and whilst you might be out for the evening and have the food covered you've still got to think about breakfast, or, in reality brunch, on New Year's Day.

The following recipe may appeal.

BBB

(Bread and Butter Brunch)

Serves 8-10

French stick (225/250g) stale and sliced -

discard the heel ends

6 large eggs

200ml milk

200ml sour cream (or double will do – add a squirt

of lemon juice)

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

salt and black pepper

Bunch spring onions, finely chopped

100g mature cheddar, 175g Gruyere and

100g Red Leicester, grated and mixed together

Chopped chive to garnish

You will need a oven-proof serving dish approximately 24cm square – greased if not non-stick.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, mustard and salt & pepper. Stir in the spring onions.

Arrange half the bread in the dish, overlapping the slices to fit. Pour over half the egg mixture and sprinkle with two thirds of the grated cheese. Cover with the remaining bread, again overlapping the slices. Pour over the remaining egg mixture and gently press down to help the bread absorb the mixture. Sprinkle the top with the remaining grated cheese.

Cover with cling film and put in fridge over night.

The following morning take the BBB out of the fridge and uncover so that it can come to room temperature.

Pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Bake for 40/50 minutes or until puffed and golden. Set your timer for 40 minutes and check.

Let it stand for 10 minutes to set the “custard” before serving. Garnish with chopped chives.

The good news is that you're prepping this dish the day before and all you have to do is remember to take it out of the fridge the following morning – I suppose it does depend on how sore your head is!

It's exactly what's required as part of a hangover cure – serve with whatever you want, bacon and sausage are the obvious candidates. The beauty of this dish is that on its own it's vegetarian so you've all the bases covered - that's that sorted!

Happy New Year!

Traffic Light photos

Here's the proof of the pudding …

The lemon pots

– just add raspberries

The compote

– a deep rich colour and it tastes as good as it looks – however you use it.

The assembly

– it's almost a shame to dig in – oh well someone has to.

Lots of choices to suit you – hope you find it useful.

Traffic Lights – Versions 2 and 3

OR, you can … omit the raspberries and make :

Cherry and Raspberry Compote

350g cherries, stoned – can use frozen

150g caster sugar

juice of 1 lemon

150g raspberries – can use frozen

4 tbsp water or juice from defrosted fruit

Pour the water into a pan and add the cherries, sugar and lemon juice. Place the on a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Cook the cherries over a low heat for 5-10 minutes until they have released some juice but are not overcooked. If you are using frozen cherries you will have the fruit juices when defrosted – use this juice instead of the water.

Add the raspberries to the pan and cook for a further 1-2 minutes until they start to soften. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the mixture to cool, then chill it well before serving.

You can keep the compote as is or blitz in a processor and pass through a sieve – purely a matter of personal preference – some people aren't fond of raspberry pips.

The compote in itself is versatile – you can use it as a topping over vanilla ice cream, over breakfast cereal – great with granola!

Here we're using the compote as the next tier in the “Traffic Lights”.

For version 3 I'm using Amaretti biscuits – more available at this time of year they are delicious Italian biscuits, crush two per shot glass – approximately 23g – the size of the biscuits will vary.

Pour a layer of compote onto the lemon pot – after it has had time to set – complete with crushed Amaretti biscuits.

Photos next!

Traffic Lights …

… in reality the only similarity to traffic lights are the three tiers. A definite possibility for any New Year entertaining, since I'm sure by now you're wilting a little after all that hard work and deserve an easy recipe or three.

Another three versions,

Version 1 :

Lemon Pots

Makes 6 x 160ml glasses

600ml double cream

150g caster sugar

finely grated zest and juice of 3 lemons **

Raspberries to serve

small glass dishes or shot glasses

Heat the cream, sugar and lemon zest in a wide-based pan over a low heat until at simmering point. Stir continuously for about 3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly until lukewarm.

Mix the lemon juice with the cooled cream in the pan and stir.

Pour the lemon cream into the glasses – two thirds full - transfer to the fridge to set for a minimum of 2 hours. This is based on a shot glass of 160ml.

When set and ready to serve arrange the raspberries on top.

** If you don't have fresh lemons you can use juice and omit the zest – 4 tbsp of juice is equivalent to one and a half lemons – 8 tbsp for this recipe.

OR, you can …