Experimenting for England - English Dessert Recipes - What's For Pud Roundup

The Boys were too Bashful to Show me their Spotted Dicks but I can't be too disappointed because they all seduced me in other sweet ways. Check out these delicious takes on English Desserts that were created for our St George's Day What's For Pud event. Here follows a round-up of post entries from the male contingents. The girls' entries are being taken care of by my mate Monkey Gland over at Jam Faced. The girls were rather more prolific than the boys, but what we lack in quantity here, is certainly made up for with some high-quality entries as you will see...



From Troronto in Canada: I only properly discovered the sheer brilliance of Rob and Rachel's Hungry in Hogtown a few weeks ago when they shared their incredible Liquid Pea Ravioli with the world. The enthusiasm with which Rob shares his passion for experimentation in the kitchen is illustrated again in his What's For Pud entry. Not satisfied with making a simple sticky toffee pudding, Rob decided to try his hand at turning it into a delcious looking ice cream. And then, as if that was not enough, he paired it with an early grey tea ice too. Check out Rob's post here.



From Dunley in the United Kingdom: Wannabe TV Chef, Kevin Ashton has an exemplary bio that has seen him cooking all over the world and for all sorts of people including, no less, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of England. So, what exactly does an English Chef pull out of his top hat for St George's Day? How about a sinfully decadent-sounding and gorgeous-looking Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding? I have to admit, chocolate, brandy and prunes sound like far more enticing ingredients to add to the batter than the more traditional sultanas. Check out Kevin's post here.



From Seattle, USA: Matthew Amster-Burton is a food writer whose favourite food is pad thai. But maybe he is going to have to rethink his favourite list since he tried his hand at Rhubarb Crumble. Mamster (as he is known) took a diligent, scientific approach to his cooking by testing two different thickening agents, cornstarch and arrowroot. The latter won out and it seems as if the Mamster family are now hardcore rhubarb crumble fans, declaring not only that it should be the national dish of England, but that his daughter Iris should also be named Patron Saint of Rhubarb Farmers. Check out Mamster's post here.



From Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom: Spitton's Andrew turned to Nigel Slater for a trifle recipe. I have to admit to a certain amount of confusion at this point, however. How on earth did a combination of Brit food writer and well-known English wine blogger result in a trifle that contained absolutely zero alcohol?! I had to laugh, and Andrew realised his mistake. I am insanely jealous of the cream on the top of Andrew's trifle, there just aint nothing like the quality and variety of English cream over here, Stateside. Check out Andrew's trifle post here.



From San Francisco, USA: Brett from In Praise of Sardines almost didn't want to join in our little English Tea Party fun, but then he remembered the Banoffi Pie which he first tried in a New York Gastropub last summer. Now, lots of people don't believe me when I tell them this sticky sweet dessert is English, but Brett tracked down the original recipe to circa 1972 at The Hungry Monk, a pub in East Sussex. Unlike me, she who made up her own Banoffi concoction for What's For Pud, Brett followed the original recipe. Read about it on Brett's post here.


From Toronto, Canada: My namesake, Sam fondly recalls times he spent in London. Even though he doesn't mention it until the comments section of his post, he actually met the Queen there too, shook hands, had photos taken, the whole shebang. What I want to know is, did he curtsey?! Sam has painstakingly created the trifle of his dreams from a collection of different recipes, resulting in one wonderful sounding (and looking) dessert. And unlike some people, who shall not be mentioned, Sam certainly does not forget the alchocol. Read all about it in Sam's post here.



From somewhere in the USA: TW writes the eclectian Off the Bone blog together with his girlfriend. His post about Sussex Pond Pudding is certainly informative - even I learnt a thing or two or three about English culture that I didn't know about before. This dessert was no small underatking and I am in awe. When TW explains he cheated by using lard instead of suet, I have to forgive him since he rendered the lard himself from a Tamworth pig (an English heritage breed). Would you believe - they even want to send this self-saucing recipe off to Pierre Herme! Read about it in more detail over at Off the Bone.



From Knoxville, USA: Kevin Weeks, a professional Chef over at Seriously Good styled his own unique brand of trifle out of some not quite in season yet strawberries he couldn't resist. He also managed to save some pound cake which didn't quite turn out according to plan - perfect for a trifle. Since Kevin also used Frangelico, and whipped marscapone, I am guessing the end result was rather fantastic. You can make up your own mind, by reading Kevin's post here.

Last but not least, Vatel from Planet De Veganer shares a rather interesting sounding recipe for A Fregesey of Egges. I'll say no more, you'll just have to read it for yourselves.

In closing I want to thank everyone who joined in this event, both boys and girls, the entries have been astoundingly good. Monkey Gland was a lucky boy, so popular with all the ladies!



PS - I hope you will all come back and join us for another St George's Day event next year. I have some fun ideas - But I can't promise they will be quite as sweet as this one.

Archive Alert! On this day in 2005: Teaching Tim - The B&P Pinup Boy was learning Chicken Tikka Marsala

English Tea Party | What's For Pud? | St George's Day | English | Dessert | Recipe |

Experimenting for England - English Dessert Recipes - What's For Pud Roundup