We had a fantastic lunch this weekend at our friends Fergal and Lorraine's house. Sunshine, great food and great company but with three special highlights:1) Little Alannah and our Scrap performed a dance routine in the garden involving Alannah singing and clapping while they simultaneously struck various poses including rolling into a ball and springing up with arms stretched. We were all too busy laughing to watch properly but it was fab! He needs to join a ballet class
2) The spectacualr cheeses Merrilees bought from Jeroboam's
3) Lorraine's trifle - It's her signature dish:
Cook Cox's apples in butter, maple syrup and cardamom(!) and spoon into large trifle bowl. Top with layer of summer berries. Cover with sliced Madeira cake and drizzle with calvados. Melt Green & Black's white chocolate and mix with custard and vanilla extract and spoon over cake. Top with whipped cream and silver balls. Yum!
7 comments:
Am salivating! And silver balls.....haven't seen them since the Auntie Ivy's Christmas Cake Disaster of 1998!
Auntie Ivy's Christmas Cake Disaster? Tell us more!
Auntie Ivy started making this cake in October of 1998, steeped it every other week with brandy, iced it meticulously and topped it with jaunty looking penguins wearing scarfs (marzipan clearly) and a red and gold MERRY CHRISTMAS and a multitude of silver balls. It was placed, on Christmas Day, in pride of place on the sideboard in the "best" lounge.
Auntie Ivy's dalmation Harvey disappeared just as we tucked into our Christmas dinner. When it came time to cut the masterpiece there were several things missing. All the silver balls (and there must have been at least 100 of the little blighters) and one of the penguins were nowhere to be seen. Cue Harvey, licking his chops and crunching.
Auntie Ivy said they were still, erm, appearing well into January! If you know what I mean!
None of us fancied the cake after it had been licked by a dalmation. Funny that!
*feels poorly*
Sorry! As long as I haven't passed on my aversion to silver balls!
Trifle is one the of the few last Class faultlines in Britain. Every Christmas debate rages in my extended family as to the composition of "proper" trifle. some members seem to think the contents of a birds trifle kit is correct way others from the middle class foodie end want to ban jelly and 100's and 1000's. My step mum chooses the third way and has a tub of sprinkles on the side for us tatrazine fans. Are silver balls a southern thing?
I'm glad to see Lorraine's trifle has led to so much debate on the subject and just a little touch of nostalgia
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