December 2012
I’ve always been interested in food. I come from a family
where Sunday dinners always include double digit guests, more than one main
course option, and nothing store bought. Most of my best memories include some
sort of meal.
When I first started cooking, I stuck mostly to baking. I liked anything that involved using the
KitchenAid stand mixer, and my mother always had box mixes of something around
for last minute sweet treat needs, so I started with those. Ultimately, I received multiple bans from my
mother’s kitchen for the messes I would leave behind, and I didn’t really get
serious about cooking until later in college when I had a kitchen in my
apartment at school.
Things really picked up when I studied abroad and had to do
all my own grocery shopping and meal planning.
I had a specific budget, but I really wanted to try to cook dinner each
night as I had plenty of time during the week seeing as I didn’t have lacrosse
practice or a part-time job to interfere. The first couple weeks, I ate really
well. I got special cheese at the cheese
monger, unique jarred sauces at the boutique grocery on high street, fresh
fruits and vegetables at the farmer’s market.
By the end of the semester, I had decided my grocery
allowance (thanks Mom and Dad) was better spent on other things (ie. alcohol
and weekend trips) and I relegated myself to a balanced and economical diet of
porridge, beans on toast, and iceberg lettuce. Regardless of the lack of joie
de vivre in the kitchen in the final six weeks or so, my time abroad ignited an
overall interest in food and cooking that would continue when I returned home.
One of the first “complicated” dishes I made was a
traditional English trifle. It was Christmas, perfect time for trifle, and I was
influenced by my surroundings the previous four months. I know it’s not PC to
say my stay on the Emerald Isle inspired me to make an English dessert, but it
did, so bugger off.
Boozey desserts are always excellent, and this one is no
exception. I have made it every Christmas since, with some success and some
failures in the process. One year I didn’t cook the custard long enough, so it
never set, and the finished product was sort of a soupy, yet tasty, mess. I over baked the sponge cake, which made it
crumbly, and very difficult to roll up---although you couldn’t tell once it was
all put together. Another year, I burnt the praline almonds twice before I got
it right.
My biggest recommendation in making this is to do it in
steps. You can, for instance, make the custard and sherry syrup the day before
you make the cake, then make the cake and put it all together the day you
intend to serve it. I have made it all in one day, but you have to make sure
you get an early start. The best part
about making this is licking the saucepan and wooden spoon after you make the
custard. Nothing beats warm custard.
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