Deliciously Irish (2015)

DESSERTS

Coumeenoole Sands and Slea Head, Dingle Peninsula.

Orange Creams

Cinnamon Custard

Pancakes

Strawberries in Claret Jelly

Cherry Mousse

Rose-Petal Ice Cream

Syllabub

Autumn Pudding

A Green Fool

Pears Poached in White Wine

Queen of Puddings

Christmas Pudding

Cinnamon Toast

A Bowl of Bishop

ORANGE CREAMS

SERVES 4

Seville oranges, both zest and pith, were used to make these delicious creams in the past, when oranges were a seasonal commodity. One Seville orange, with its stronger flavour, would be sufficient.

2 oranges

4 egg yolks

2 egg whites

150 ml/¼ pint whipping cream

150 ml/¼ milk

about 2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 tablespoon brandy, rum or orange liqueur

whipped cream, to serve

Choose unwaxed oranges, if possible. Scrub the skins well and then with a potato peeler, peel the zest off, not too thinly (a very little pith will give more flavour). Squeeze the juice. Put the orange zest, juice and 1 tablespoon water into a small saucepan and simmer very gently until the zest is soft. This takes a surprisingly long time, perhaps 45 minutes, and you will probably need to add a few spoonfuls more water from time to time. When the zest is soft, allow the liquid to evaporate, being careful it doesn’t burn.

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2.

Purée the zest in a mini processor or a mortar and pestle. Add the eggs, cream and milk, sugar to taste and the brandy, rum or liqueur and pour into 4 buttered ramekins. A strip of peel or a small, skinned orange section can be gently laid on top of each.

Set the ramekins in water in a roasting tin and bake for about 35-40 minutes until set when tested with a knife. Serve cold, in the ramekins, with a spoonful of whipped cream on top.

Coumeenoole Sands and Slea Head, Dingle Peninsula.

CINNAMON CUSTARD

SERVES 4

This is delicious with pancakes and it also makes a wonderful filling for a sponge cake.

4 egg yolks

110 g/4 oz caster sugar

55 g/2 oz cornflour

500 ml/17 fl oz milk

½ cinnamon stick

1 vanilla pod

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Mix the egg yolks with the sugar and cornflour. Bring the milk to the boil slowly, with the cinnamon stick, vanilla pod and lemon zest, then turn off the heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes.

Remove the cinnamon and vanilla. Bring the milk back to the boil and pour on to the egg mixture, stirring rapidly. Return the mixture to the saucepan over a low heat, and stir continuously until the mixture thickens slightly. Do not allow to boil, or the eggs will scramble. Pour into a shallow bowl to cool.

To serve, spread the pancakes with a few spoonfuls of the custard, sprinkle with a few drops of brandy and roll up. Reheat in a moderate oven (180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4), for 15 minutes.

PANCAKES

SERVES 4

These are traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins. Shrove Tuesday pancakes are served in the simplest manner, with sugar, lemon juice and butter and it’s hard to improve on this. However, for a simple and delicious dessert, fill them with Cinnamon Custard.

225 g/8 oz plain flour

1 tablespoon caster sugar

a pinch of ground ginger or grated nutmeg

2 eggs, beaten

55 g/2 oz butter, melted

600 ml/1 pint milk

oil and melted butter, for frying

custard and seasonal fruits, to serve (optional)

Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the eggs, butter and milk. Beat thoroughly and leave for at least an hour for the flour to expand.

Heat a heavy 18 cm/7 inch frying pan until hot and add a teaspoon each of oil and butter. Swirl around the pan and pour the surplus into a little dish. Pour a small ladleful of batter into the pan and swirl around to form a thin skin. Cook until golden brown, then turn with a palette knife and cook for a few moments longer. (The first couple of pancakes invariably break up or stick.) Dip a pastry brush in oil and melted butter and brush the pan again before cooking each pancake. Stack, with greaseproof paper between each pancake. They can be reheated gently in the oven or microwave. Serve with custard and seasonal fruits, if you like.

Note: don’t use a nylon pastry brush - it will melt. A twist of kitchen paper works well.

STRAWBERRIES IN CLARET JELLY

SERVES 6

Eating strawberries with red wine is a very old custom, the acidity of both being tempered by the liberal use of sugar and spice. Choose a wine you would like to drink and think of the poet Keats:

‘How I like Claret! When I can get Claret, I must drink it….
If you could make some wine like Claret to drink on summer evenings in an arbour ...’

John Keats, letter to his brother, 1819

350 g/12 oz strawberries

600 ml/1 pint claret or other red wine

8 teaspoons/2 x 11 g/½ oz sachets/6 leaves gelatine

200 g/7 oz redcurrant jelly

110 g/4 oz caster sugar, or to taste

1 cinnamon stick

2-3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons brandy

2 tablespoons lemon juice

strawberries and fruits, to decorate

whipped cream infused with scented geranium leaves, to serve

Wipe the strawberries with kitchen paper, and hull them. Put 100 ml of the wine in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over it. When the gelatine has softened, stand the bowl in hot water and stir until the gelatine has completely dissolved. Keep warm.

Heat the redcurrant jelly, sugar and cinnamon stick in a saucepan with the water until both sugar and jelly have dissolved. Taste, you may like more sugar. Remove the cinnamon and strain into a large bowl. Add the gelatine and mix thoroughly, making sure there are no little undissolved globules of gelatine. When cool add the rest of the claret, along with the brandy and lemon juice.

Pour half the mixture and half the strawberries into a dampened 1.2 litre/2 pint jelly mould and allow to set. Warm the remaining jelly mixture, add the rest of the strawberries and fill up the mould. (If this operation is done all at once, the strawberries will float to the top.) Turn out when completely set and decorate with fruits, flowers and leaves.

Have a bowl of whipped cream on hand, for those who like it. A couple of scented geranium leaves, infused in the cream for an hour or so, give a subtle flavour.

Upper Lake, Count Kerry.

CHERRY MOUSSE

SERVES 6

450 g/1 lb cherries

1 tablespoon each grated lemon zest and lemon juice

4 teaspoons/11 g/½ oz sachet/3 leaves gelatine

4 eggs

55 g/2 oz caster sugar

150 ml/¼ pint whipping cream

summer fruits or fresh mint leaves, to decorate

Poach the cherries in as little water as possible until soft enough to extract the stones, then drain, reserving any cooking liquid. Purée the cherries with 1-2 tablespoons of the cooking water and the zest and juice of the lemons. Use the remaining cooking water to dissolve the gelatine, topping it up with water according to the directions on the packet.

Separate the eggs and put the yolks and sugar in a bowl over hot water. Whisk, over a low heat until thick and creamy. Remove from the heat and whisk from time to time until cool. Cool the gelatine and stir thoroughly into the egg mixture, then beat in the cherry purée. Lightly whip the cream and fold it in.

Whisk the egg whites to the soft-peak stage and, when the gelatine mixture is on the point of setting, fold the whites in carefully, amalgamating them thoroughly. Divide the mousse among 6 ring moulds or ramekins and allow to set. Decorate with berries or mint leaves.

ROSE-PETAL ICE CREAM

SERVES 4

Scented roses are one of the great pleasures of summer.
Make the most of them with this romantic ice cream. You can buy rose-water at oriental stores, delicatessens and major supermarkets.

600 ml/1 pint red or pink scented rose petals

110 g/4 oz caster sugar

150 ml/¼ pint rosé wine

5 egg yolks

1 vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

300 ml/½ pint milk

300 ml/½ pint double cream

½-1 teaspoon rose-water

crystallised rose petals, to decorate (see note)

To prepare the rose petals, wipe them clean with damp kitchen paper and cut away the hard white stem or heel. Put them in a blender or food processor, with 55 g/2 oz sugar and the wine, and purée.

Beat the eggs and remaining sugar thoroughly. Split the vanilla pod, if using, and add to the milk and cream. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for a few moments, to infuse, then remove the pod. Add vanilla extract now, if using. Pour the hot mixture slowly on to the eggs and sugar and return to the saucepan, stirring continuously. Heat to just below boiling point, but don’t let it boil. The point is reached when, removing the spoon from the mixture and running the finger along it, the mixture remains separated. Leave to cool.

Mix in the rose purée and rose-water, a drop at a time. Taste for sweetness. Freeze in the usual way, stirring and beating it 2 or 3 times during the freezing process or use an ice cream machine. To serve, decorate with crystallised rose petals.

Note: to make crystallised rose petals, prepare the rose petals as for the ice cream. Beat one large egg white until just fluid. Dip each petal into the egg white and then dredge in caster sugar, covering completely. Cover a baking tray with baking parchment, then spread the petals on it and dry in a very low oven, with the door ajar, for an hour or so until they are crisp. Store in an airtight tin, between sheets of greaseproof paper. They are great for cake decoration, too.

Blennerville Village, Tralee.

SYLLABUB

SERVES 4

In the seventeenth century, this was a popular confection of wine, cider or fruit juice to which milk was added by force - often by milking the cow directly into the other ingredients to make froth, or bubbles, hence the name Silly Bubbles. It was also the traditional covering for trifle, before whipped cream became universal.

300 ml/½ pint whipping cream

3 tablespoons sweet white wine or sherry (not dry)

juice of ½ orange

grated zest of ½ lemon

55 g/2 oz caster sugar

TO DECORATE

summer fruits

Macaroons

Whip all the ingredients together until thick and creamy and the mixture will just hold its shape. Carefully spoon into four stemmed glasses. Make the syllabub a few hours in advance to allow the flavours to develop. Garnish with berries and serve with Macaroons.

Waterfall at Kell’s Bay Gardens.

AUTUMN PUDDING

SERVES 4-5

This is an autumnal version of summer pudding, a sort of consolation for the passing of the brilliant summer raspberries and redcurrants. In its own way, it’s just as nice.

The traditional combination is apples, plums (peeled, stoned and cut into small cubes) and blackberries. The bread should be stale, at least two days old and anything from sliced pan to brioche is suitable, if it can be cut to shape. Left-over Barm Brack is excellent. Homemade custard, hot or cold, or whipped cream mixed with crème fraîche, are equally good on the side.

900 g/2 lb mixed fruit, e.g. apples, plums, blackberries and autumn rhubarb

caster sugar to taste (optional)

a little butter, for greasing

8-10 stale bread slices

custard or whipped cream, to serve (optional)

Cook the fruit gently in a saucepan, using as little water as possible to moisten it (1-2 tablespoons at most) or, better still, cook it in the microwave until just soft and the juice is just beginning to run. Sweeten to taste. Strain off and reserve a few tablespoonfuls of the juice.

Butter a 1.2 litre/2 pint pudding basin. Cut a round from one slice of bread to fit the bottom of the bowl, then cut the rest into sections to fit the sides, reserving some for the top. Dip one side of each slice in the reserved juice, then use it to line the bowl, soaked-side out. Gently spoon in the cooled fruit, arrange the lid pieces to fit tightly, then cover with baking parchment or foil. Put a small plate or saucer on top and weigh it down with a tin can so that the juice will seep into the bread. Keep any juice which spills over. Allow the pudding to cool, then refrigerate overnight.

To serve, run a knife around the edge between the bread and the bowl and turn out on to a deep plate. Pour any remaining juice over the top. Serve with custard or whipped cream, if you like.

Caragh Lake, County Kerry.

A GREEN FOOL

SERVES 4

The creamy, unctuous qualities of the avocado are not often used in sweet dishes. Combined here with the last of the summer gooseberries, the fruit brings a new twist to the classic fool.

675 g/1½ lb gooseberries

1 large, ripe avocado

grated zest and juice of 1 lime

caster sugar

langues de chat (see below), biscuits or Macaroons, to serve

Wash, top and tail the gooseberries and cook until soft and the juice runs. This can be done in the oven or gently on the stove, but the microwave is ideal because the berries seem to keep their colour. Purée the gooseberries in a food processor and then sieve to remove the seeds.

Peel, stone and chop the avocado and immediately toss it with a little of the lime juice.

Return the gooseberry purée to the processor, add the avocado and blend until creamy. Sweeten the purée to your taste with the caster sugar, add the lime zest and the juice of half the lime. Chill for at least an hour. Serve in glasses, with pretty biscuits or Macaroons.

Note: to make langues de chats, or cats’ tongues, to go with the fool, cream together 75 g/3 oz butter and 75 g/3 oz caster sugar until pale and creamy, then mix in 3 unbeaten egg whites. Fold in 75 g/3 oz plain flour, then pipe 5 cm/2 inch strips of the mixture on lined baking trays and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 for 6-8 minutes until golden brown round the edges. Using a spatula, carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.

PEARS POACHED IN WHITE WINE

SERVES 6

110 g/4 oz caster sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

grated zest of 1 small orange

a bottle of sweet white wine, e.g. Muscatel or similar

6 pears

1 tablespoon lemon juice

grated nutmeg, to decorate

Put the sugar, cinnamon sticks, orange zest and wine in a saucepan which will just hold the pears upright. Heat the liquid gently until the sugar is dissolved, and then boil hard for a few minutes to create a light syrup.

Peel the pears carefully, leaving the stalks on and brushing with lemon juice. Trim the bottoms slightly, so they will stand upright. If there is insufficient liquid to come up to the stalks, add water. Poach in the wine for about 15 minutes, or until they are tender but not too soft. When the pears are cooked, remove and cool.

Take the cinnamon sticks out of the poaching liquid and boil the liquid hard, uncovered, until it forms a thin syrup. Leave to cool. Pour the syrup over the pears and grate a little nutmeg over the top just before serving.

Blarney Castle, Cork.

QUEEN OF PUDDINGS

SERVES 6

Here is a lighter version of this perennial favourite, which seems to please young and old alike.

5 eggs

450 ml/¾ pint whipping cream

300 ml/½ pint milk

a small piece of cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons caster sugar, for the pudding

75 g/3 oz fresh breadcrumbs

4-5 tablespoons raspberry jam

175 g/6 oz caster sugar, for the meringue

Separate 3 of the eggs and set the whites aside for the meringue. Beat the remaining eggs and yolks together with the cream, milk, flavourings and 2 tablespoons sugar. Put the breadcrumbs in an ovenproof dish, pour the cream mixture over them and set aside for an hour or two to allow the crumbs to swell.

Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3.

Bake the pudding for 15-20 minutes until set. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then spread the jam over the surface. Raise the heat to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.

Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Sprinkle 75 g/3 oz sugar in slowly, whisking continuously, and then fold in the remaining sugar thoroughly.

Spread the meringue over the jam evenly and bake for 15 minutes until the meringue is just set and slightly brown, keeping an eye so it doesn’t burn.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING

SERVES 6

While today’s taste is for lighter food, an exception is always made in favour of the traditional Christmas pudding, although it, too, is evolving - butter is widely used today instead of suet and there hasn’t been any meat in it for almost a hundred years.

175 g/6 oz glacé cherries

225 g/8 oz candied peel

75 g/3 oz each walnuts and blanched almonds

350 g/12 oz breadcrumbs

55 g/2 oz plain flour

225 g/8 oz light brown sugar

1 large apple, peeled and chopped

225 g/8 oz each raisins, currants and sultanas

1 tablespoon ground mixed spice

350 g/12 oz butter or shredded suet

8 eggs

a large glass of Irish whiskey or sherry

175 ml/6 fl oz Guinness

salt

Cut the cherries in half. Thinly slice the candied peel and then chop it finely. Coarsley chop the nuts. Mix all the fruit together with the breadcrumbs, flour, sugar, apple, dried fruit, spices and a pinch of salt. Add the suet, if using, otherwise soften the butter and gradually beat in the eggs, with the whiskey or sherry. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Add enough of the Guinness to give a dropping texture, but don’t make it too runny.

Place discs of baking parchment in the bottoms of two 850 ml/1½ pint pudding basins and butter them well. Fill the bowls two-thirds full, leaving room for expansion. Cover the tops with more buttered paper and then cover well with foil. The puddings will take 5-6 hours steaming. They can also be cooked at a low heat in the oven, standing the bowls in a tin of water and enclosing both tin and bowl completely in foil, making a sort of steam-proof tent, for 5-6 hours at 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2. When cooked, allow to cool before removing the foil.

Cover with fresh baking parchment and more foil before storing in a cool place until required. The puddings will require a further steaming of 1½-2 hours, before they are served.

Note: the puddings can be left overnight in the refrigerator before cooking, if it’s not convenient to cook them immediately.

Brandon Bay and the Cloghane sea inlet.

CINNAMON TOAST

MAKE 2 SLICES PER PERSON

A tea-time treat for children of all ages.

thick slices of white bread

butter

ground cinnamon

light brown sugar

Toast one side of the bread. Butter the untoasted side generously, sprinkle liberally with the cinnamon and then the sugar. Brown under the grill and eat immediately, while the buttery cinnamon runs down your chin.

A BOWL OF BISHOP

MAKES ABOUT 8 GLASSES

This was the favourite ‘night-cap’ of the eighteenth century, famed in song and verse. Jonathan Swift wrote about it, though when his friend Stella made it for him, the oranges were roasted in front of the fire, and the wine heated with a hot poker.

4 oranges

20 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

2-3 pieces of mace

1 teaspoon allspice berries

600 ml/1 pint water

a bottle of ruby port

sugar lumps or caster sugar

1 nutmeg

juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Make incisions in 2 of the oranges, press the cloves into them and roast for half an hour or so until they make a slightly hissing sound.

Put the whole spices in the water in a saucepan (if you can’t get whole or blade mace, use a nutmeg or more allspice berries) and boil until reduced by half. In another saucepan, heat the port gently, then ignite it to burn off some of the alcohol and concentrate the flavour. (If you can’t bear to do this, then don’t bother!)

Put the port, spice water and roasted oranges into a large bowl, ideally one which can be kept warm, and add sugar to taste. Slice the remaining oranges into the bowl, grate in some more nutmeg and sharpen the flavour with lemon juice.