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Great Desserts of Britain

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by: gwydion
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Word Count: 467

British cookery is often treated as a joke, not least in Britain. Memories of over-cooked school meals and stodgy desserts abound. Yet cookery in Britain is going through something of a renaissance, where traditional recipes are being re-invented and re-discovered whilst new techniques and new styles are being brought into the cooking.

It must be said, however, that British cooking has always tended to excel in the area of desserts. Here I present two desserts. A classic 'pudding' and a dessert from the new school of British cookery.

Spotted Dick

Ingredients: 
350g plain flour
 3 tsp baking powder 
30g butter 
140g shredded suet
 85g caster sugar 
115g currants
 juice and finely-grated zest of 2 lemons
 80ml milk 
60ml whipping cream

Method:
 Combine the flour, baking powder, suet, sugar and currants in a large bowl, ensuring that you mix them together well. Meanwhile melt the butter in a pan and stir into the flour mixture along with the lemon juice and zest.

Mix together the cream and milk and stir just enough of this into the flour mixture to give you a dropping consistency. Grease a 1.5l pudding basin very well and pour the batter into this. Cover the top with a double layer of greaseproof paper that's been lightly greased then wrap the entire bowl in foil and tie securely. Place in a steamer (or on top of a saucer in a pan of boiling water) and cook for about 90 minutes, or until cooked through (make certain you check the water level so it doesn't boil dry).

Turn onto a serving plate and serve with plenty of custard.

Gooseberry and Elderflower Parfait

Ingredients: 
450g gooseberries, topped and tailed 
2 tbsp elderflower cordial 
225g sugar 
150ml water
 2 egg whites
 300ml double cream

Method:
 Place the gooseberries in a pan along with the elderflower cordial. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until soft (about 30 minutes). Allow to cool then liquidize into a puree. Pass through a fine-meshed sieve, pressing down with a wooden spoon, and discard the pulp. Set the sieved puree to one side.

Add the water and sugar to a separate pan and slowly bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes then take off the heat. Whilst the syrup is cooking beat the egg whites until stiff (but not dry) then add the syrup in a steady stream. Continue whisking all the while until the mixture is glossy and stiff.

Whip the cream until thick then fold the gooseberry puree into the meringue, followed by the cream. Stir well to combine then freeze. Serve from the freezer.
I hope you enjoyed these classic British desserts and that you will now investigate both traditional and modern British cookery further.

About the Author

Dyfed Lloyd Evans in the creator of the Celtnet Recipes Megasite with over 5000 recipes from all corners of the globe. Here you can find over a thousand classic British Recipes from all corners of the British isles as well as Dessert Recipes from all corners of the globe.

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