Tag: Port

Sherry Trifle

Posted on Posted in Memories, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

What’s your favorite recipe?

Trifle, my favourite treat.

A layer of jelly, a layer of blancmange or custard and a layer of whipped cream.

I make up a sachet of sugar free jelly with three quarters of a pint of boiling water and a quarter of a pint of port or sherry. I add that to large bowl and add chopped strawberries or raspberries or blueberries to make the jelly stronger when it sets (I don’t use trifle sponges as they are full of sugar) once cooled I put it in the fridge to set.

When the jelly is set I mix up a pint of blancmange with boiling milk (you can use custard) this comes in a variety of flavours. I use a sweetner instead of sugar in the mixture, one that doesn’t have an aftertaste. Once the liquid has been boiled and thickened I put the saucepan in a larger one filled with cold water. The blancmange cools enough so that it doesn’t melt the jelly when you add it to the top.

Once the middle layer is set I take a large tub of double cream and whisk it till it is stiff and makes peaks. This is spooned onto the trifle.

You can add decorations such as sprinkles (hundreds and thousands) or glacé cherries, grated chocolate or chopped strawberries etc.

I make it as sugar free as I can, but it is high in fat. You could use skimmed milk for the middle layer.

This is a Christmas or Easter treat in our house. And sometimes I make it for birthdays instead of cake.

It has to be trifle

Posted on Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments
Trifle

Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to childhood?

Christmas and Easter, we always had trifle.

It was a concoction of jelly (strawberry or raspberry) in the base with trifle sponges, hard fingers of dry sugary sponge that swelled up and absorbed the jelly. This made it firm when it set for the next layer. This was always blancmange, not custard. A raspberry, strawberry or chocolate layer made with blancmange powder, sugar and boiled in with a pint of milk. Then the top was double cream whipped to stiff peaks.

Mom used to decorate the top with silver coloured balls and hundreds and thousands (coloured sprinkles), or maybe some tinned peach slices or glacé cherries? When I was young we didn’t have strawberries or raspberries or blackberries in the winter or spring. Fruit was more seasonal than it is now. It was usually grown here, so it just wasn’t available.

Memories like this are great. Whenever I think of comfort food it has to be trifle. Mom’s secret ingredient as we got a bit older was sherry added to the jelly. Nowadays I prefer a small amount of port. I don’t use sponge fingers as they are full of sugar. I use sugar free jelly and sweetner in the blancmange (which is getting hard to source). It’s still full fat cream though. I usually put blueberries in the jelly, unheard of in my childhood days.

Maybe I could try pomegranate seeds in one? I like blackberries, maybe blackcurrants? And I’ve even considered making my own jelly with sheets of gelatine. However I make it, it still brings back good childhood memories.

Croaky, eating trifle

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Staying in with a croaky sore throat and a bit of a cough. No covid testing kits, so better to keep away from everyone.

I made this on Sunday, it has jelly with raspberries and port in it. Very soothing for my throat. Its low sugar because I use a bit of sweetner instead of sugar. It’s cool and tasty. Unfortunately I had to use custard (not my favourite), but it went down well.

What’s your comfort food? If I didn’t have this it would be ice-cream or yoghurt.. All the stuff that’s bad for me! ❤️

Port trifle

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Trifle time, I always make trifle at this time of year. I used raspberry jelly, trifle sponges and fresh black cherries. I added a bit of port to the jelly liquid (reduced the amount of boiling water by the same amount). Then a layer of strawberry blancmange and whipped cream on top. Blancmange is like flavoured custard. I used to be able to get chocolate, raspberry, vanilla and strawberry blancmange powder made by a company called pierce and duff, but over the last couple of years I’ve only been able to get the strawberry one in a plastic packet. It seems a shame, but I’m obviously an old fashioned cook. Anyway I have just had a portion of this delicious dessert. X

Model railway?

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

A ship docks alongside the quay as trains move to and from the docks goods yard. I focused on the boat because it was a very impressive model and clearly took pride of place on the model layout.

My hubby is into trains and often visits model railway exhibitions. I don’t go to many. I can appreciate the skills but I get a bit bored unless there is something interesting on the layouts. He can tell me what the scale of the model is, who manufactured it, even how old its likely to be. Me, I’m more interested in the dioramas (landscapes). How the trees are modelled, any buildings, if there is a Scarecrow in a feild, the quirkier the better!

Pears poached in port..

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Cooked this tonight…

Ingredients :

3 small or 2 large pears

Shop bought pastry, ready rolled

1/4 bottle of port

Double cream

1 egg yolk

Method:

Core the pears as necessary, slice into small pieces.

Simmer the pears in a pan with the port until the pears have softened and the port has reduced and almost dried up.

Place the pastry on baking parchment or grease proof paper on a baking tray.

Cut the pastry into four squares, place the diced pears in the centre of each square and then fold the pastry up around them. Brush with egg yolk to glaze.

Put in a medium to hot oven (I used gas mark 6) for twenty or twenty five minutes or until they are golden brown. I found mine had a bit of a soggy bottom.

Serve when cooled with a dollop of whipped cream.

Serves four (unless you are feeling greedy!).

Dover today

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

If you are going to Kent or Dover at the moment? Don’t! Lorries and trucks are stuck there because a new variant of Covid19 have been found in the South East of the country. Because of this the border with many countries have been closed. Trucks are not able to get home and so there are queues of them on the M20 and they are being parked up on old airport in Kent. They are parked I but with poor facilities, not many toilets and no food or water!

The worry is that even when the border is reopened there will be further problems as Brexitis about to happen at the end of this month. That means there may me further pfoblems and delays. I do wonder about the mentality of the English and often despair!