Victorian Desserts - WTF is this bullshit

I'd happily devour the entire bowl if they hadn't doused it with brandy.

One can tweak it many ways. If it's built carefully, it's pretty. What's your problem OP. Trifle is tasty and not very complex.

WOW! right up my alley. Too bad I'm 5 years into recovery thru AA!

That is quite disgusting

This woman seems like she would beat a starving orphan and lock him in a cupboard.

They are REALLY delicious.

Good old English puddings. Can't beat em.

Don't forget to save some for me and Darfur Orphan!

If you don't want the alcohol make a flavored light simple syrup and add various extracts. There are non-alcoholic versions of some liqueurs, Amaretto comes to mind.

86 the spongecake and the biscuits, use chunks of orange chiffon cake.

Raspberry jam is awfully good in trifle.

Up the vanilla content in any custard or whipped cream you use. Have extra whipped cream on hand to pass around.

Leftover trifle, should you be lucky enough to have any for the following day, is terrific.

Are you trifling with my confections, R9?

I've seen that video in YouTube before. Recently actually.

I'm not really into it. But I was still interesting to watch.

No, Rachel, you weren’t supposed to put beef in the trifle.

It did NOT taste good.

You’re kidding. How old are you, OP?

A trifle was considered the king of British puddings - even the French were impressed and acknowledged its fabulousness!

OP - think tiramisu. The alcohol and fruit juices soak into the sponge cake or cookies and transform it into something wonderful. You can use many different types of alcohol - one of my favourites is nigella lawson’s Anglo-Italian trifle with limoncello (and blackberries!)

Personally I hate the use of jelly/jello in trifles - but that’s a long standing aversion I have to jelly.

The main thing I’ve found important is the resting time. You can’t just make it a few hours before required - it really needs to be able to sit overnight for everything to meld.

And i’ve rarely seen brandy used in recipes for trifle - usually it’s sweet sherry or something along those lines. Face your fears OP - you might be pleasantly surprised!

You don't need booze to make it.

I've neer had that particular recipe, but English trifle and Scottish shortbread are the only two legitimately great desserts to come from the British Isles.

Oh, and Christmas pudding with brandy butter/ hard sauce! (How could I forget that?)

[quote]but English trifle and Scottish shortbread are the only two legitimately great desserts to come from the British Isles.

Shortbread is a cookie, not a dessert.

Oh R17 - no love for ‘spotted dick’? ;)

Truly, a nation of alchies.

Why must we eat Yorkshire Pudding?

I am known throughout the county for my delicious cream sponge.

No love for my soft, sweet moistness?

Needs more jam.

ARL-MONDS?

Trifle is pretty common as a dessert in Europe. Cadbury makes some packaged seasonal trifles that are delicious. They're much less sweet than they'd be in the US though - even basic things like cookies are sweeter in the US.

This thread reminds me of the aspics I've seen people make on shows. Egads!!!

Ew, those are disgusting. I remember trying to make one once and it wasn't setting so I added a lot more gelatin to the mix. Most horrible thing I've ever tried.

Ick. What foods did you put in it R27?

I like trifle but I don’t care for candied fruits. I made a delicious Meyer lemon trifle this summer. Lemon curd layered between the sponge. No alcohol.

Alcohol ruins it.

There are many more desserts than shortbread from my wee country, R17. There's the delicate gorgeousness of cranachan (which is simply layered soft fruits - usually raspberries - alternating with layers of whipped cream and oats soaked in whisky, all the way up to the mighty clootie dumpling (think a super-dense boiled fruit sponge) and the horrors of the Black Bun. Caution: Black Bun should only be served with a cannon. Yeah.

My mother makes a variant on trifle known as a Tipsy Laird - instead of dousing it in sherry, she favours chucking in a few mugfuls of Drambuie and raspberries. I have to say: Scotland grows the finest raspberries in the UK, mostly in Perthshire, but you can use whatever soft fruit you like in a Tipsy Laird. The point of trifle is literally to indulge and to show off, hence why proper trifles like the one in the video were only really created for big dinners and banquets.

Isn’t it basically mush by the time it’s through marinating?

My mother used to make a non alcoholic trifle with traditional 70s ingredients - blancmange, jam swiss roll and tinned fruit.

Victorians loved rich food... lots of cream, butter, meats, elaborate dishes. The heavier they were, the more prosperous they appeared. It was a sign of wealth. They could afford to eat these foods.

Blancmange plays tennis

How do you cut up that thing? O do you just dive in with a spoon?

It looks like it would collapse, if cut into. Like an inflated balloon.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Turkey stuffed with sausage and slathered in mayo.

I love spotted dick!

Lol.. and put out by Goblin, too.. eat 'em up..

I know it sounds mean, but trifle seems like a way to use up random leftovers. So does bread pudding. I realize people like these desserts. The textures (all soft) are just boring to me. Just my opinion.

Victorian households used up every scrap. It was a sin to waste food.

The Italian version of trifle is called zuppa inglese, literally "English soup," and also supplies a gelato flavor.

That trifle featured in the first video clip looks lavish. She is going “all out” with the butter & sugar crust on her sponge cake, for texture. I’d have preferred raspberry jam or black current. These clips are interesting. Very good production values and lighting. I’d like some of those ironstone or creamware jugs she uses for the liquids, in several sizes. I wish we had those in the States here.

The turkey gallatine in the white enamel pan looks vaguely forensic, but in the final segment it looks appealing. The meat looks poached and really tender. I’ve seen this done with a Venetian dish made with veal loin (I know many people won’t eat veal), and a tuna sauce, with capers and lemon. They serve it as a starter at Cipriani in NYC. It’s delicious.

Look out, it’s the posh Weegie @ R31.

Is it me or does that chick look Downsy?

Spotted him too r46. You can hear the droning voices of that ex Glasgow High/ St Aloysius type boring and killing the mood in pubs actoss the West End of Glasgow and Edinburgh. On and on they go in loud-mouthed monologue. Do love trifle though. Every Scottish family has their own celebration recipe.

^across

That mass and morass she calls custard is a lumpy nasty mess.

Yuck.

We used to call it "dotted sick" at school and, without fail, laugh uproariously.

Eton Mess is another trifle like variant made with Strawberries, Merengue and Double Cream.

^^meringue^^ Stupid fucking spellcheck

Trifle (without alcohol) and chocolate mousse are my two favorite desserts.

Spotted dick sounds like something which you need to see a doctor... asap!

Years ago, the Garden Court at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco used to have a spectacular Sunday buffet brunch with featured an enormous trifle at the end of a huge dessert table. No matter how much we had gorged, there was always room for that marvelous trifle.

The hotel closed for renovation and when it reopened, the brunch returned but without the trifle. Now I hear the buffet brunch is gone too.

Spotted Dick anyone?

These heritage videos are really nice,

[quote]A trifle was considered the king of British puddings

And this is the QUEEN of puddings.

Fanny "Tranny" Craddock makes Christmas cakes. And a mess.

Just a bit of trifle, dear, nothing to get worked up about.

As a young cook I found it discouraging to have the recipe start out with "leftover spongecake," like that was something that I would have around, and it seems like too much bother to make a cake, let it get stale and then douse it with whipped cream and jam. More calories than it is worth as a rule.

Now, tiramisu might be worth all the trouble.

the candied ginger I could do without.

I used to make the Silver Palate Cookbook's trifle -- you little cubed sandwiches out of pound cake (your own or store-bought; I sometimes used Sara Lee's frozen version) and raspberry jam, then add the usual accoutrements.

I just watched the video and feel as if I had a whole toke of smoke blown up my ass. Is she for real, or is she just making this shit up as she goes along?

r12 "It tastes like feet!"

How is one exactly supposed to eat the dessert as the English Heritage lady prepared it? It makes no sense, you can just scoop the layers out and serve it.

*can't

Never heard of trifle, OP?

Bless.

Trifle is delicious, if there isn't too much alcohol in the mix. A touch of sherry adds richness, a shit-ton of brandy makes it inedible. Heavy doses of brandy should only be used in deserts that are allowed to age for weeks or months, such as fruitcakes or plum puddings. With sufficient aging the alcohol in the brandy evaporates, leaving the sugars and flavors behind.

The one kind of Victorian deserts I don't understand is the steamed puddings, like Spotted Dick. They're sort of a icky steamed sweet bread that's served with custard sauce, how anyone who's ever had a proper dessert could like those is beyond me.

R60 thank you for this clip. It’s fascinating. I read up on this Fanny Cradock and her story is really interesting. I never heard of her before this thread. She was rough!

Fanny Craddock is a beloved DL supervillainess. I'll be forever grateful to British DLers for introducing me to this compellingly loathesome character.

Soggy cake is disgusting.

So is a soggy bottom.

Can we get some more trifle videos, something chocolate; something less doused in alcohol?

Chocolate pudding with breadcrumbs.

Did semi-ho Sandra Lee ever make a trifle? Could find no crime scene on YouTube.

We also need to bow down before the wondrous thing that sticky toffee pudding is.

Sticky toffee pudding was invented by a Canadian.

r77-- for you.

And again.

And once more.

Sounds good to me

I wish the local restaurants served Pavlovas! I've always wanted to try this odd mixture of crispy meringue, whipped cream, and fruit, but without having the cook the meringues to crispiness and whip the cream myself.

Of course that's more of an Edwardian dessert than a Victorian dessert, but close enough for an anonymous forum.

R77 I think I recall some form of semi-Ho trifle. I sometimes misremember ingredients that she substituted in place of edible things, likely PTS from watching her program. She was always using the packets of taco seasoning and crap like that. Yet I’m glad she found Gov. Cuomo and glad that she is recovering from cancer. She looks like a sweet gal whose food is really awful, like her legendary Kwanza cake with canned apple pie filling. Blech! (She is actually Cordon Bleu-trained and allegedly a really successful entrepreneur, but ugh her cooking is outright menacing).

R84 Crispy meringue is really easy to make if you have a mixer, It's just powder sugar and egg white whisked to peaks and left on the lowest setting of your oven (possibly with the door slightly open, it depends).

Same with cream.

If I want to make Pavlova here in the UK I can buy the Meringue Nests ready made and tubs of cream ready whipped, it takes longer to open the packets than it does to construct it..

Or I can just buy one ready made

Alcohol was used because they didn't have refrigeration. It has an antiseptic quality, preventing the growth of some mold & bacteria.

I hate dried/candies fruit bits. And jelly. The only jelly I ever eat is cranberry jelly at thanksgiving. And that's that

I've watched the Great British Bake Off and they seem obsessed with meringue, marzipan, dried fruit, rhubarb,,ginger, passion fruit, frangipane and custard.

R88 They're also obsessed with soggy bottoms.

Should a Pavlova meringue be quite crisp, or should it have a little give in the middle, a little chewiness among the breakage?

R90, my mum always made pavlova with a bit of marshmallowy chewiness beneath the crisp exterior. The cream and fruit were piled on top just before serving.

too much booze in that one but I have made trifles, my version, modified, and they are delicious especially for Christmas or Thanksgiving.

I LOVE this thread.

R64 - I used Sara Lee frozen vanilla pound cake as the base for my trifle for years - but they stopped making it here in Oz - so usually just grab a Madeira cake from the bakery at the supermarket. It’s not as good though :(

Haven’t made the silver palate version - but still have the old cookbooks so will go look!

As for the pavlova fanciers - where it was ‘invented’ is hotly contested here downunder - Oz and enzed both claim to be responsible - much like the fight in Vienna between Demel’s and the Hotel Sacher as to who came up with sacher torte! A food scholar in Enzed did extensive research - and I must say - her arguments seem very sound! - so I always attribute credit where credit’s due (and trust me - the Kiwi’s are fantastic bakers!)

Anyway - the thing is: a pav is not the same as meringue. Meringue and cream is Eton Mess. Pav is slightly different, not really as crisp or solid - more marshmallowy. Which I always thought was due to the little dash or so of vinegar that goes into the egg whites while beating them.

They’re not hard to make though - and much nicer homemade than storebought! Go on - you can do it!

Brandy snaps are another British Victorian dessert still popular today. Dollops of caramelized-sugar batter are baked and quickly formed into lacy, crispy tubes. They are filled with whipped cream spiked with brandy.

I love my cannoli best

"And if you want a [italic]blue[/italic] cake, use [italic]blue[/italic] food coloring."

Sandy never disappoints. You're a doll, R80.

Watching GBBO always makes me want to try making things like pavlova and battenburg cake. I used to bake but never fussy things, just cookies and breads and simple stuff like that.

R95 Jesus those look and sound good.

GBBO is also obsessed with apricots. We don't eat them much in the US, but GBBO seems to have apricot jam in everything.

She made tiramisu, r77. Her recipe was the first one I ever made. Ladyfingers and Kahlua with vanilla pudding, if I recall.

Bonne Maman apricot preserves are great, r99. I like it on little toasts with melted gruyere.

I have never forgiven Bonne Maman for discontinuing their wonderful rhubarb preserves.

R99 That's because Apricot jam is a great 'glue' and sealer in baking due to it's mild fruity flavour and general stickiness. If you wanted to ice a fruit cake, then brush warm apricot jam over the cake before covering with marzipan and royal icing.

We had le trifle royal in the french version of the great bake off this week, it was a "catastrophe"!

To be honest, I've never eaten an apricot, much less apricot jam, but now I am intrigued.

Less boozy version

Because I have no life, I've whiled away a few idle hours here and there reading the cookbooks and recipes of previous centuries. One thing that's always stood out is how bland the desserts were in Britain and the US, before, say, the 20th century. Most recipes were variations on the same ingredients: Cream, butter, eggs, and sugar - with the occasional use of fruit.

No chocolate, hardly any spices, absolutely no intense flavors. I believe intense desserts were a 20th century invention, at least outside of France.

Bitch is back

R98 I have no idea where you are, but Publix bakeries sell them and thy are sinfully good.

Publix bakery is the best! I mean if you're forced to use a super market bakery, then there is nothing better. They're really good. Just don't get a cake from their freezer section. They tend to be dry when they thaw.

I have never heard of "triffle" before. Do people really make/eat that stuff?

And did the word triffle meaning something unimportant come from this dessert? Or did the dessert take its name from the word?

And the whole thing looks pretty disgusting as well as being complicated to make.

I bloody love trifles. Fruit puddings, so commonly the U.K., tend to be preferred by adults rather than children. I hated Christmas cake and pudding when I was younger, now I love them.

Reading R112, I realized that we do not do fruit pudding in the US. It is strictly vanilla, chocolate and tapioca. But if we eat fruit yogurt, fruit pudding is not that much different and could be tasty.

Btrits had to re-embrace their Victorian roots as America never had to go through the long food shortages that Brits went through after WW2. Americans never had to cobble scraps of cake, leftover custard, whipping cream or egg whites and stretch a few berries. Instead of trifles we had a slab of pound cake, a dollop of ice cream and a spoonful of berries for EACH person at the table. A baked custard with a sprinkling of nutmeg was glorious.

Brits on the other hand glorify the assemblage of simple ingredients, sometimes not wanting to waste anything, whether they are an Eaton Mess, a Pavlova, a Trifle or an other of a myriad of these humble component arrangements.

R114, I looked up the dishes you named and they all seem much more elaborate and hardly cobbled together. They are a lot richer and require a lot more ingredients and preparation than anything I have seen in the US.

R113, the word "pudding" has several meanings in Britain. It can be a catchall term for all desserts, or refer to the dessert course at dinner, or specifically mean the steamed puddings like plum pudding or spotted dick etc., which aren't popular in the US (because they're heavy and flavorless).

It may also mean the kind of milk puddings that we Amuricans flavor with chocolate and vanilla, but I don't know if milk puddings ever caught on in the British isles.

Pavlova is the most overrated dessert IMO. I was totally disappointed. Same with Beef Wellington. I thought the pastry and pate shit were ruining a good piece of beef.

Thank you for your opinion, r115.

My point being that the recipes are all a variations.

I guess I am curious as to what motivated Brits to develop such a range of elaborate desserts.

R114 says it is deprivation as opposed to the plenty in post-war US. But here home bakers and non-ethnic bakeries at usually limited to cake, pie and cookies, whileT these British desserts are much more elaborate affairs mixing a number of varieties in ways that seem very exotic to Americans. The Brits seem to celebrate plenty and leisure while American desserts are much more austere and can be prepared quickly.

When you use terms like Eaton Mess, Pavlova, Trifle, blancmange, etc, would these be known to the average British person or more for foodies?

Eton Mess, pavlova, trifle and blancmange are well-known to pretty much all Brits, R119, and that's because they're actually really common desserts here.

Trifle is delicious! Just a bit of a challenge to make to avoid it being a little sloppy if served from a large bowl. I get asked to make it every Christmas, & used a dash of spiced rum instead of sherry. Second favourite to the basic is a chocolate orange one... crumbled bittersweet chocolate wafers on the bottom lay, drained mandarin oranges and orange gelatin, chocolate pudding or a homemade dark chocolate custard, etc. It’s delicious!

r119, they are not elaborate. They are the seven-layer salad of puddings.

Victorians were big on stuff in a bowl, stuff in a mold.

My favorite piece of old silver is the Jelly Knife.

It is used for serving blancmange, unmolded jellies and the like.

Can't get more Victorian dessert than that.

I never heard of a seven-layer salead, but seven layer anything is elaborate.

You have cake and cookies and custard and bunch of things that would be a filling desert on their own combined.

r1234, cake and cookies and wafers and custard and crisp meringue and soft meringue and stone fruits and berries and wine and spirits and liqueurs and the kitchen sink...

What no suet?

Another horrible example of British baking. Yet, there are multiple series on Netflix on the British Baking show.

"The sponge is nice -- not so sure about the mar-zeeee-pan."

And the English had such a lovely word for Marzipan before those Germans ruined it:

Marchpane.

I prefer it.

How big is Paul Hollywood's cock?

R117 - fuck you!

Isn't marzipan a type of candy?

Love Mrs. Crocombe. I've watched several of those English Heritage videos.

R129 Yes. It is sweetened almond paste usually molded into little fruits. Very delicious!

r129, Marzipan is used as a cake filling, or topping just like fondant is used. Sometimes a cake is draped with marzipan and THEN covered again in fondant.

It is used in many ways.

Of course a proper Victorian dessert is elaborate and requires someone to cook sponge cake and custard and whip cream and chop fruit - the people who served these things had full-time cooks and scullions to help them!

A farm wife who did her own cooking would be more likely to make a fruit pie than a trifle with its many ingredients, or a quaking pudding that was shoved into a steamer and left for hours.

R130 I love Mrs. Crocombe, too. Those videos look simpler than they must be to produce.

R131, I looked up fondant, saw it is the stuff that occasionally you see on wedding cakes.

It this a British thing? This is nothing like what you see in American bakeries. And of course not at all like the regular icing someone puts on a homemade cake.

R134 - have you watched any of the cake shows on Food Network? Its all they use.

R135, I do not have that network. I really like baked goods, so it if were common IRL, I would have come across it.

This sounds like one of those "media foods" that you never see in the real world. Terducken and fondant--TV would have you believe everyone eats them, but in real life you do not come across them much.

R135, those fondant-sculpture cakes you see on the Food Network are not meant for human consumption. In fact, very few desserts sold for human consumption in the US use fondant, it's pretty much limited to the kind of wedding cakes or fancy-ass party cakes that are meant to look expensive and not to taste good.

I think fondant is more common in Britain than in the US. Not hugely widespread or anything, but traditional Christmas Cakes have a fondant-marzipan-and-buttercream covering, which isn't done on the US.

[quote]How big is Paul Hollywood's cock?

I know, but I'm not telling.

R99 r105 , a staple of 80s cocktail parties, besides rumaki and the crabmeat, cream cheese, and cocktail sauce, was the baked brie in puffed pastry - you slathered the brie in apricot jam before encasing it in the puff pastry.............. Good stuff!

And I'm continually amused by the DLers who think that because they aren't aware of something, it is unimportant or not common knowledge- I have a feeling they are the under 40 set who's knowledge is internet based.

I've made my Christmas cake now and will feed it then cover in apricot jam, marzipan and Royal icing for the big day. I don't feel festive without it!

A little advice, true white people aren't mystified by the british.

Blancmange

Fondant tastes like shit. Buttercream is the way to go.

[quote]baked brie in puffed pastry - you slathered the brie in apricot jam before encasing it in the puff pastry.............. Good stuff!

I still serve this at parties and people gobble it up. Also good with a peach amaretto preserve I found in a Wimberly cheese shop.

I just had trifle for dessert yesterday, minus the brandy. It consisted of cake layered with custard, whipped cream, and fresh fruit and was much better than I expected. It was part of a fixed menu at a high tea. Now I'd like to try it with brandy.

Please learn what a High Tea is before you say you attended one.

Were there meat pies and thick soups? A ham? Was the tea served in mugs and beakers?

Or did you really mean Afternoon Tea?

A Cream Tea?

A Formal Tea?

Pish, tosh.

Interesting that Fanny uses the expression liquid glucose. I wonder if that’s like Karo syrup. But it sounds clinical and gross.

I agree that fondant cakes don’t ever taste good. It’s more for show.

R146, what Americans call "high tea", the Brits probably call a "formal tea". It's generally dainty little crustless sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, a shit-ton of dainty little desserts, and served with tea by the pot. It's basically a girly three-course banquet served in the middle of the afternoon.

But while I have you available, can I ask exactly what "a cream tea" is?

No, not all Americans. A High Tea is a substantial early evening meal. No cakes, no scones, no sandwiches. Too dainty.

Afternoon Tea, Formal Tea and Cream Tea (called so because of clotted cream, cream cakes, and the like) are more or less interchangeable with Low Tea.

The only one that is not interchangeable is the High Tea.

Low Tea and High Tea are so designated as to the tea table used.

it was billed as a High Tea. i don't give a damn if it's correct or not.

We were served scones, clotted cream, lemon curd, and jam.

Crust-less sandwiches made with egg, salmon, cream cheese and cucumber and cream cheese and water cress.

Trifle after that. Lots of tea.

It was at a Dickens Christmas Fair, it tasted good, and it was fun.

Fuck you tea police.

[quote]it was billed as a High Tea. i don't give a damn if it's correct or not.

Obviously.

R151 Next time you see Queen Elizabeth tell her I said "Hi."

Last time I saw her she told me she didn't give a damn what they call afternoon tea either, except she finds "High Tea" most appropriate because she likes her scones laced with pot.

I worked at a hotel that served afternoon tea. Afternoon tea is what most Americans (U.S.) are familiar with: tea, scones, clotted cream, little sandwiches, and assorted pastries. High tea sounds cool but is something different.

Dear r145, please stop showing your ass.

You are wrong.

Are you some deplorable who cannot admit it?

Definitely someone I would not invite into my home for tea.

I would have my maid take your card at the door as I climbed the back stairs.

R154, I would never visit the home of such a sanctimonious piss pot as you. You don't even have an elevator in your abode, nor a servant to carry you upstairs like I do. I wager your tea service was manufactured in China.

Anyway, my ass is more gorgeous than you'll ever be.

I have multiple tea services.

I believe that your ass is simply larger.

[quote]nor a servant to carry you upstairs like I do

Now THAT is HILARIOUS. I live in a single story home.

.

r154

R154, Do you have a Georgian mahogany three-tiered antique dumbwaiter?

I picked up one recently at an antique store that's going out of business. It looks exactly like this one. I'm going to get it appraised.

Bless your heart, r145.

.

r154

R82 Takes me back to when I was yachting on the Riviera. Thanks, Sandra

R154 You're just jealous. You're Christmas tea probably looks like this.

That would be delicious without the alcohol

R7 Indeed. Semolina, tapioca, custard, rice pudding, macaroni, treacle pudding, ginger cake......and lashings and lashings of condensed milk. Golly gosh!

[quote]Pavlova is the most overrated dessert IMO. I was totally disappointed.

When pavlovas a hit it's a hit, baby! But to be really good, pav MUST be freshly made. Supermarket pre-made pavlova bases are disgusting, taste like styrofoam and are not fit to be used as drinking coasters. The difference between chalk and cheese. As with other simple dishes it's essentially only two ingredients (egg whites and cream), so it pays to use only the very best quality ingredents, all organic and then serve immediately as soon as the dish is ready. Load up with tonnes of fresh fruit - YUM.

That pavlova looks really good, especially with the passion fruit on it. I'd like to try pavlova as well. I do like macarons, which are made with egg whites, so I'm guessing pavlova would be similar.

Even though Pav is rich, when it's properly done it's understated so the fruit flavors come through very cleanly. My favorite topping for pavlova would probably be a mix of blueberries and strawberries, then underneath filled with vanilla mascapone and some toasted almonds on top, maybe even a slight dusting of some really fantastic coca powder. Blood oranges would be nice as a topping for after summer, and also rhubarb compote. But tropical does taste amazing, kiwi fruits and pineapple are always the traditional toppings.

R164 - macarons are not really like pavlovas. The addition of ground almonds makes macarons quite different both in texture and flavour.

[quote]You're Christmas tea probably looks like this.

Oh, dear.

On the vegan episode of the Great British Baking Show, they made meringue using the liquid from canned garbanzo beans. Sounds disgusting.

Remove the jam and the alcohol and we'll talk.

R163 May be insufferable.

Ah, tea. Such an innocuous word in the English language (British-English, dears, not the bastardised Yank drivel) but with so many meanings. Ahem.

As a meal, "tea" - or, shall we say Afternoon Tea - really came about in the mid-19th Century, and was really popularised by the wealthier aspects of the middle class and upper class. Afternoon Tea is basically a light meal in itself (and, by way of a linguistic quirk, has come to signify the late-afternoon or evening meal known by many other people as Dinner) and would feature thing like cucumber sandwiches or egg and cress sandwiches (Satan's filling of choice). Small cakes and pastries would be included, along with scones - but biscuits are usually not served. God knows why. Nothing beats dunking a digestive biscuit into a cup of tea. In this, you'd find a variant known as Cream Tea. No, it's not that time R145 got herself soaked at her grandmother's bukkake party, but in fact what a lot of common folk from over the pond would associate with British High Tea: tea taken with scones, clotted cream and jam. There are two ways of labelling it as well - Devon Cream Tea or Cornish Cream Tea. What's the difference? Cornish people will split a scone, spread on the jam and then the cream whilst in Devon you're supposed to smear the cream on the split scone followed by the jam. I know, it's remarkably wanky. That said...clotted cream is the fucking dog's bollocks (and ridiculously easy to make as well - you just need to ensure you have fresh cream).

The other "Tea" is, like I mentioned above, the name given to the evening meal. The use of this term has been a sort of social identifier (the idea being that if you're from the north of England or Scotland - or the English colony aka Wales - that you'll call your afternoon/evening meal tea whilst the "enlightened" betters in southern England will call it "dinner") but that's on the decline.

Fun fact: here in Scotland we have a way of slagging off those cunts in Edinburgh by using a phrase: "Ye'll have had yer tea?" - a reference to a stereotype of Edinburgh that those cunts are all tight-fisted wankpots. And no, we never really developed an Afternoon Tea culture of our own, but, my *god* we created some of the most utterly beautiful tea-rooms in the United Kingdom.

Thank you R171 for your informative and witty post. Having enjoyed afternoon tea and its variants for many years, even after determinedly trying to keep them straight, I will likely continue to not remember the finer points. I think now have a better grasp. I do love a cup of hot Earl Grey along with a warm scone, lemon curd, and clotted cream in late afternoon after a busy day. A found memory is stumbling through the rain in Arundel and into a tea shop where fresh blueberry scones were just pulled from the oven.

My grandmother was of German descent. She made a tasty bourbon ball at Christmas, which even the children were allowed to enjoy. Grandpa gave us sips of his 7&7s, we always loved Christmas Eve at my grandparent's house in the distant reaches of Baghdad by the Bay.

Fond memory^

Fondant memory

Wouldn’t it be easier if you just called “afternoon tea” dinner?

It's albino vomit.

I've made my own version of trifles and they were very popular, as a dessert for Christmas Eve buffets. I'd use slices of pound cake tightly packed for the bottom layer then some vanilla pudding with almond extract and chopped almonds some whipping cream, slices of fresh strawberries. Second layer was usually chocolate cake, with a few drops of orange licquer, orange zest, or candied orange peel, maybe mandarin orange slices,a layer of chocolate pudding, some pistachio nuts and more whipped cream, sauce, then a layer of lemon flavored cake with lemon pie filling whipped creme and toasted coconut. That's it. Now you can use blueberries raspberries, pecans, caramel sauce, or anything else you want to use. The thing is it is a layered dessert with all kinds of goodies packed in. I've seen them saturated in bourbon and pecans and salted caramel sauce, or something like a strawberry shortcake. The one thing I hate is that as the Trifle gets demolished it looks kind of fucked up, but it tastes delicious. It must be assembled and refrigerated and don't make it too far ahead of time. It is definitely not something to make the day before.

If you want your trifle to look fabulous, you have to make individual servings instead scooping servings out of a big bowl. It'll taste great no matter how it looks, trifle is delicious!

Although I must admit I'm dubious about R176's version. Too many layers with different and clashing flavors, better to keep things simple and just have one combination of complimentary flavors. I must try a chocolate-and-orange version some day.

I agree r178, I do that with individual Baked Alaskas.

They look much better than the whole lump of meringue covered ice cream that has to be sliced.

Same for a layered trifle or parfait.

I do love how this thread has brought out people who actually make Victorian desserts. I'm not much of a cook but I did like to bake a lot back in the day. I may give Trifle a try some time, but probably not this year.

I hear ya r180. Making, or buying, a sheet cake, cutting it into cubes and layering it with custard, mix or home made, and with fruit takes a lot of prep.

I wouldn't make it that way R181. Would make it all from scratch with quality ingredients.

r181 has options for home made. Still not complicated.

Do we think Paul Hollywood has a chode or just a thick stubby member ?

Thick stubby knob.

r184, see r138.

R180 & R183 same person.

r187, you are wrong.

r183

Well, R188, I blocked you temporarily to read other posts you've made and those posts indeed came from the same person.

Never mind, I find you interesting and entertaining but don't understand why you're poking at me, but I'm happy to poke back.

I think it's great you have knowledge of the various afternoon teas. I have no reason to commit them to memory, even though I've enjoyed the many tea times I've experienced.

r189, so odd but I am r181 and r183. but I am definitely not the lazy, like how much energy and funds does it take to make a trifle, r180.

The most expensive and time consuming thing about making a trifle is buying a proper trifle bowl.

I know you're not R180, I am. However, I'm definitely not lazy or lacking funds. My energy is just directed elsewhere. I'm not a big consumer of treats because I like to control my weight, that's why I no longer bake. I'll eat too much before it even cools.

It's easy to find trifle bowls online. I like this one. And while I'm not poor it's a lot more than I would pay.

Now that is a bowl that interests me.

But many are truly inexpensive.

.

r181 r183

Yes, they can be expensive. There are some nice ones to be had for a reasonable price. My problem would be with storing it. Not a lot of shelf space left. I'm a collector.

Just released:

I like to say scun.

I say scone as in sconce.

Two of the gayest words ever uttered.

Just ordered The Ritz cookbook as a little present to myself.

The Tea section of the Ritz cookbook is TDF.

Some of the snark on this thread is outstanding.

Fanny Craddock deservrs her own thread--what a cunt she was: a bigamist, child abandoner, tax emigrant and those eyebrows. She really does look like a frumpy drag queen and so full of opinions. Definitely not Mary Barry.

Yes but her nutty estranged Catholic husband wouldn't give her a divorce.

Fanny usually gets a Christmas thread, but they tend to die out pretty quickly, r200. Last year’s is still hobbling along.

If you're going to do a trifle all you need is some pound cake and chocolate pound cake from the supermarket. Whipping cream and fresh fruit dress anything up,and if you splash a licquer over the cake it will be just wonderful.

r199, really?

Well not in your case, R204.

Yes, R204. I like posts R154, R155 and R160 and the "Fuck you, tea police." comment. I had a good laugh.

I wonder if you can buy suet at your local grocery store for the plum pudding.

If they sell beef kidneys they can peel off a bit of suet for you.

You can buy suet for bird feeders, but it probably isn't safe for human consumption.

You can get vegetable suet on Amazon for around 4 bucks.

I am still wrapping my head around using fat to make a dessert.

I doubt vegetable suet would be the same as genuine beef suet, for cooking purposes. I've been told that the reason beef suit works for some recipes is because it isn't pure fat, it's fat held in place by an intracellular matrix that makes it keep its integrity during the baking process. How can that be faked with vegetable substitutes?

I wouldn't bring that up on this thread, except that some Victorian steamed puddings call for grated suet in the batter. I've got a historical recipe book around here somewhere that makes that pointedly clear, as well as the fact that you have to GRATE cold suet and not chop or melt it, and that's why I've never made those particular recipes. I mean, ew.

So now if I get served pudding, i have to check if there is fat in it.

I also doubt that suet intended for bird feeders is of good enough quality for cooking. I did a google search and there should be frozen suet available this time of year under the "Maple Leaf" brand in Canada for those people who want to follow the old fashioned dessert recipes. Very interesting thread. Thanks for your help everyone.

Spotted dick is fantastic and not at all bland. There’s a spice undercurrent that is subtle and aromatic.

Does one serve trifle by vigorously shaking it up and down until it plops out of the mold onto a serving platter, or does one employ a ladle to dish it out?

Meghan darling, one scoops it out with a serving spoon. Now that you're a duchess, you won't have to worry about preparing and serving desserts.

I assume each guest gets their own individual small trifle. The alternative would be just too messy.

r218 your assumptions are wrong.

Here's a nice recipe for Jam Roly Poly, made with suet. Anyone here ever make one?

[quote]R218 your assumptions are wrong.

I'm helping out Meghan. I'm assuming that if the royal family had trifle at a dinner, each person would get an individual trifle as pictured in R207, rather than scooping out from a big trifle and making a mess.

Wouldn't it be easier just to give each guest an individual serving of chocolate pudding and a Twinkie?

[quote]I'm assuming that if the royal family

A third assumption.

If it were a private family dinner, I could see PF dishing out. He mans a mean BBQ, too.

Who is PF?

HAHAHAH

PP

R22 I laughed out loud and chocked, spitting out my trifle. Thanks a lot!

he he choked.^

I posted this in the show stopper dessert thread. It is for Bon Appetit's Roasted Pear and Amaretto Trifle. As I said in the other thread, I got the best compliment ever when I brought it to my friend's party and someone I was speaking to asked if I had tried it yet because it was the best dessert he had ever eaten.

I tend to use more of the alcohol than specified and I use pear preserves instead of apricot because I'm not fond of apricots.

Northern Monkey version:

Soak broken up pieces of angel food cake in hot jello liquid. Top with cut up pieces of tinned pear. Top with layer of custard (creme anglais). Chill. Top with whipped cream.

Trifle is slop in a bucket.

A Blancmange or a Victoria Sponge, those are proper Victorian Desserts.

Here comes the cookbook!