Patriotic Puds

We have so much to celebrate and to be proud of as a country at the moment.  I am not ashamed to say I'm a royalist and love all the pomp and ceremony we enjoy as a nation.  Rule Britania!

Congratulations to Kate and Wills as they celebrate their first wedding anniversary - here's to many more happy years!  The Olympics are just around the corner and, of course, we are celebrating our Queen's Diamond Jubilee year.

Here are a few Patriotic Puds to consider for your celebrations - they look and taste fantastic!

Red, White and Blueberry Trifle

 

 

500 g all-butter Madeira cake

700 g fresh strawberries, divided

500 g fresh blueberries, divided

200 ml berry five fruit blend fruit juice

500 ml double cream, divided

1 pot (450 g) strawberry yogurt

ð       Place Madeira cake on Large Grooved Cutting Board; cut cake into 2.5-cm cubes using Chef’s Knife. Set aside.

ð       Hull strawberries using Core & More; cut into quarters using UtilityKnife.

ð       Set aside 85 g of the strawberries and 55 g of the blueberries for decoration.

ð       In Classic Batter Bowl, combine remaining strawberries and the fruit juice; stir gently using Small Mix ‘NScraper®.

ð       Pour cream into Stainless 4-Litre MixingBowl; whip until cream forms medium-firm peaks.

ð       Spoon some of the whipped cream (about 125 g) into Easy Accent® Decorator fitted with open star tip (so decorator is about two-thirds full); set aside.

ð       Add strawberry yogurt to remaining cream and fold together until combined using Mix ‘N Scraper®.

ð       To assemble trifle, place one-third of the cake cubes into Trifle Bowl.

ð       Top with one-third of the strawberry and juice mixture and one third of the remaining blueberries, pressing down lightly. Top with one-third of the yogurt mixture, spreading evenly.

ð       Repeat layers twice, spreading last layer evenly.

ð       Decoratively pipe reserved whipped cream over top of trifle; decorate with reserved berries.

ð       Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve (see Chef’s Corner).

ð       Serve.

Serves 16

chef’s corner

This trifle is best served on the day it is made. It can be served immediately or it can be refrigerated until you are ready to serve. If making the trifle in advance, once made, refri gerate the trifle for a maximum of 4–6 hours for best results.

You may like to whip the cream in advance. Once whipped, keep the cream refrigerated until you are ready to use it. The strawberries can also be hulled in advance, if desired.

Stained Glass Jelly

 

Yield: One 9×13-inch pan

ð       4 boxes (3-ounces each) Jelly (or store brand gelatin dessert) in different colors
14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
Water

1. For each flavor, dissolve one box of Jelly in 1 cup of boiling water. Pour into a square container that is about 6 to 8″ square and chill at least 3 hours, or overnight. (Try to use the same size for all four so that the blocks will come out the same. In this case the smaller the better – I used 8″ pans and felt my “blocks” were a little too flat.)
2. After chilling the flavors, cut them into small blocks.
3. Carefully mix the blocks in a 9×13-inch pan.
4. In a separate bowl, sprinkle 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin into ½ cup cold water. After the gelatin blooms, add 1½ cups boiling water and dissolve. Add the can of condensed milk. Stir and let cool. Pour cooled milk mixture over Jelly blocks in 9×13 pan. Skim off any small bubbles that are created when you pour the condensed milk on the Jelly pieces. Chill overnight or at least 3 hours until firm.
5. Cut into blocks or shapes and serve.