8 down 1 to go – the Pets Photos

or should it be “fart fotos” - I'm so sorry.

Usually photos that appear in fancy cook books bear no resemblance to reality – in this case - dare I say it - they were even better!

Of all the recipes in The Little Book of Chocolat that we've road tested I think this is both the easiest and has the “wow factor” - not that I'm that bothered about the “wow” but it has to be said if you're wanting an impressive dessert for a supper/dinner “do” this is the one for you. It's easy, can be made ahead and served with whatever takes your fancy.

The test run was served with apricots in liqueur and was a roaring success.

As you would expect hints and tips on the pets up next.

8 down 1 to go

Cast your mind back to 7 down … I mentioned separating your egg whites into two boxes - two in one and the remaining four in another and all you needed to remember was to freeze them.

Here's why - the penultimate choice from The Little Book of Chocolat, Pets D'Ange.

“Meringues have existed under various names since the seventeenth century. In the Loire region of France they are still sometimes known as pets or pets d'ange (angel farts) for their fluffy, cloud-like consistency. They are doubly angelic for being entirely fat-free – even a tiny trace of fat can cause the beaten egg whites to collapse. For this reason, my grandmother always wiped the mixing bowl with a piece of lemon before adding the egg whites – although her explanation was more fanciful: she said that the lemon juice was to squirt into the Devil's eye, to keep him out of the cooking … “

Defrost the box containing 4 whites and lets have a go :

Pets D'Ange

Takes 4 hours/serves 6

4 large egg whites

200g unrefined caster sugar

10g cocoa powder

Pre-heat oven to 120fan/140c/Gas 1. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Whisk the egg whites with an electric whisk until stiff and standing in peaks. Add half the sugar, whisk again, then add the remaining sugar and whisk once more. Sieve in the cocoa powder and stir just once with a metal spoon to create a marbled effect – it should not be too evenly blended.

Spoon out on to the baking sheet into six large meringues. Place in the middle of the oven and cook for 3 hours for gooey, soft middles or, if you want the meringues dry all the way through, switch off the oven when cooked and leave them in overnight to dry out. Serve on their own or with whipped cream and seasonal berries.

Looking good …

Crumble photos and hints and tips too

Here are the cherries and conserve mixed

and with the crumble topping, ready for the oven

and fresh from the oven

As a guide the ramekins measure 9cms x 5cms.

If you decide to make your own crumble then anytime will do - then freeze it – preferably in portions that are practical for you – you can always take out two bags if you need to!

The crumble recipe given makes a shed load so you'll have loads left over – you've guessed it – freeze it. You can always halve the recipe if you don't want to bother.

Serve with whatever is your guilty pleasure – custard, cream or ice cream – or all three!

In the style of … the muddle

or, as it is now known, “the muddle principle”.

It is so cold and miserable at the moment, even by February standards, we still need comforting treats.

To cheer you up after a cold journey home from a days toil, here's another contender for your dessert store cupboard, which as you know includes your store cupboard extension, the freezer. Check out “Frazzled” and “Stock the store cupboard” for reference. I mentioned then that frozen cherries are an essential part of your freezer store cupboard – here's an emergency dessert using them.

This has to be the fastest crumble ever.

Cheery Cherry Crumble

Makes 6 individual ramekins

500g Dark Sweet Cherries – defrosted

370g jar of Black Cherry Conserve

Add the conserve to the cherries and mix together

Top with crumble of your choice

Bake in a pre-heated oven – 170fan/190c/Gas 5

for 25 minutes

You don't even need to make the crumble topping – you can buy it ready-made with a decent shelf life and keep it in your store cupboard. A step too far for me – my favourite crumble recipe is one of Nigella's and at the risk of repeating myself but to save you time, here it is again :

150g unsalted butter, diced

250g self-raising flour

150g demerara sugar

200g pecans finely chopped

Using a large mixing bowl, rub the butter into the flour – you can use a mixer if you want but I don't think it's worth the washing up – by the time you've arranged the equipment you could have rubbed the butter into the flour! Mix in the sugar and the pecans. I blitz the pecans – I like the nuts to be of a similar size and it's quicker – personal choice as always.

An added bonus – the cherries count as one of your five a day.

I'm doing my best!

Sorry to have kept you waiting!

Remember the marquise? As promised here's the end of the story.

The original recipe suggests you blend the raspberries to make your coulis, reserving some for decoration. You don't need to use a blender to achieve this is if you're using frozen raspberries. Once defrosted they are really easy to “mash” with a fork and then pass through a sieve. I transferred the coulis to a squeezy bottle – much easier to control when serving.

To serve - get yourself organised. I took half of the marquise (remember I froze it in two pieces) and placed it in the fridge as I served the main course.

Have your serving plates ready. You'll need a jug of boiling water and a chef's knife. Dip your knife into the water, wipe the knife and then cut a slice (portion size to suit your guests). The knife is HOT – use dry kitchen roll to cover the sharp end of the knife and slice through the marquise evenly using both hands – this way you'll protect yourself and get a perfect slice.

No need to worry about the freezer life of the remaining half – an impromptu visit to Son and Dil (much nicer than the mouthful of “daughter-in-law” and the nickname has stuck). I always try and take something nice - I must have known - I packed a small cool bag and transported the marquise and frozen raspberries, ready to eat or stay frozen. It stayed frozen.

I left instructions for serving and the feedback, two days later … “Well, the choccy wokky doo dah was loverly – not too rich at all. Sliced well which made it easy to dress with sauce … loverly!”

You might realise that the feedback is a verbatim quote – two “loverlys” is a good score, I'll take that any day of the week.

I've just realised that it proves that the marquise travels well too. A candidate for your next posh dessert whether at home or away.

Vollie Alternatives

If you don't fancy the puff pastry option, you have alternatives. You could try a wholemeal pastry – the following recipe is one that I use all the time and it's great.

Pastry case

200g plain wholemeal flour

100g unsalted butter

pinch of baking powder

ice cold water to bind

Rub the butter into the flour and baking powder until it resembles breadcrumbs, then gradually add a glug of water and use a round bladed knife to bring the pastry together.

You can use a processor to reach the breadcrumb stage if you prefer – I'd then tip the pastry into a mixing bowl and add the water by hand.

Rest the pastry in the fridge for 30 minutes then roll out and use to suit your preference – a bottom and a top or just a top.

You could make individual pies or pasties – the world is your lobster.

You could add grated cheese to the pastry for extra flavour – add 60g of grated mature cheddar cheese to the recipe or 25g finely grated Parmesan. Add at the breadcrumb stage.

You don't have to go to the bother of making a sauce supreme. You could call upon our favourite Alfredo or, make a quick onion sauce – another perfect partner for roasted veggies.

You can use whatever veggies you want – for example potatoes, parsnips, turnips and beetroot to name but four would be great – the more the merrier. All you need to remember is that your veggies are of a similar size dice so that they roast evenly.

Part roasted veggies resembling bullets are not good at all – particularly when you're trying to impress those not enamoured to begin with!

Vollie Assembly

Unroll the puff pastry sheets. Remember that the sheets should be removed from the fridge before use to enable them to reach room temperature – this will avoid the pastry sheet breaking up at the edges.

You want 16cm squares – each sheet will give you two cut from the sheet and a third rolled from the remaining pastry, so six squares from the two sheets. Egg wash the edges of each square and place 2 generous tablespoons of the roasted veggie filling in the centre. Pinch each side together so that you can see the filling in the centre. Egg wash the vollie and place in the fridge to chill for at least 10 minutes.

Here they are, chilled and out of the fridge ready to bake.

If there is a trick to this recipe it is in the chilling. I made mine in the morning and fridged to chill, ready to bake early evening. It gives the pastry, filling and egg wash a chance to glue together and it won't split and spill all over the baking tray and into a real disaster.

Bake in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 25/30 minutes until golden brown.

They look like this :

Not too shabby I hope you'll agree!