Forever Nigella: Afternoon Tea

 

Forever Nigella #16 is being hosted by Fleur of Homemade By Fleur. This month’s challenge is to prepare and blog any Nigella Lawson recipe for Afternoon Tea. Forever Nigella is organized by Sarah at Maison Cupcake.

Afternoon Tea.  For us Americans, we think of it as something we have to get dressed up for and try our best to be posh.  But in reality, Afternoon Tea is supposed to be a snack to get us through the afternoon to dinner.  Now, I could go into all the different kinds of “Teas” there are, but I’ll save that for another post.  Today, lets treat Tea as so many do, with a cup of tea and a nice cake, cookie, or other sweet treat. 

I’m usually a chocolate lover, but in the summer, I’m a sucker for Lemon.  When I saw these Little Lemon Puddings on Nigella.com, I was hooked. (Translation: pudding can mean a steamed cake or just dessert.)  These puddings, are what Nigella calls a “short-cut version of the traditional English Canary Pudding.”  The traditional is steamed, while these are baked.

Don’t they look sunny and happy?  And Cute! And just look at that drippy lemon curd!  I gave these a try for a family dinner.  They were a big hit!

I had to use a conversion chart to figure out a few things:

125 grams of sugar = 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon

125 grams of butter = 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon

125 grams of flour = 1 1/8 cup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, (the equivalent to the 180 degrees C and gas mark 4).

I also used silicone cupcake liners, so they were a little smaller than the ramekins I would have used, so I got 8 servings instead of just 6.

Mine didn’t turn out as golden as the Nigella photo, but that doesn’t keep them from tasting delightfully lemony.  The lemon curd on top is the icing on the cake, literally. 

These little puddings are a nice addition to your own Tea Time recipes.  But I didn’t stop there.  Because this little beauty is also a part of my 2012 Ice Cream Cupcake Contest entry.

The Ice Cream Contest is being hosted by Scoopalicious and Cupcake Project.

When I was trying to decide what I wanted to do for the contest, I thought about all the different ice creams I wanted to try making.  My mind kept coming back to Afternoon Tea.  I love lemon curd on a scone with clotted cream.  It’s divine!  So what better to go with the Little Lemon Puddings than Clotted Cream Ice Cream.  Yes, I went there!

Wow! This ice cream was so good!  It’s yummy perched upon a Little Lemon Pudding, topped with more lemon curd; it tastes like sunshine!  It’s perfect for a summer afternoon.

Clotted Cream Ice Cream 6 Egg Yolks 1 Whole Egg 1/2 cup Sugar (I used Vanilla Sugar) 2 1/2 cups Whole Milk 1 Vanilla Bean (split, with seeds removed) or 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract 1 1/4 Cups Heavy Cream 6 ounces Clotted Cream Use a whisk to combine the yolks, egg and sugar.  Whisk until the mixture turns pale yellow.  Add the milk and vanilla, (pod and seeds) to a saucepan and simmer.  Once it simmers, pull out the vanilla pod and VERY slowly pour the milk into the eggs while quickly whisking.  Bring the mixture back to the pan with the vanilla pod and simmer, stir constantly, until thickened.  (It will coat the back of a wooden spoon.) Strain the custard mixture to remove any lumpy eggs and vanilla pod.  Stash the mixture in the fridge until cold.  Stir the clotted cream into the cold mixture. Whisk the heavy cream in a cold metal bowl until it forms soft peaks, and fold into the mixture.  Freeze according to your ice cream freezer’s manufacturers instructions.  *Note:  Clotted Cream can be purchased at grocery stores that specialize in international foods.  A tea room shop is another place to look.  Or you can buy online from companies like the English Tea Store.  Alternatively, you can make your own; a feat I would like to tackle soon.

2012 Ice Cream Cupcake Contest

Official Rules:

• Dates: You can enter any time through June 30, 2012.
• How to Enter:

1. Create a recipe for ice cream cupcakes! The ice cream cupcakes must contain cake and ice cream (or frozen yogurt, gelato, or something ice cream-like). Cupcakes baked in ice cream cones without a frozen element are not eligible.
2. Write a new post on your blog about your creation. The post must include a photo, a recipe, and a link to both this post and to Scoopalicious. If you don't have a blog, upload a photo of your creation to Facebook or any photo sharing site (like Flickr). Make sure that you make the photo public (on Facebook, you'll simply change "share with Friends" to "share with Public"). In the photo description, include the details about the cupcake and the recipe.
3. Find and click the "Add your Link" button at the bottom of this post.
4. Complete the entry form. In the name field, enter the name of your creation. In the URL field, enter the link to your post (not your whole blog). If you don't have a blog, enter the link to your photo's page. On Facebook, this is the address of the photo post, not the one that is facebook.com/yourname. When you click to add a thumbnail image, the program should let you choose from the images on your page. If it doesn't work properly, check your link. If it still isn't working, you can upload an image directly from your computer.
5. After you submit your entry, wait a few minutes and refresh this page. You should see a thumbnail version of your entry displayed. Your entry is now complete!

• Number of Entries per Person: Sorry, we are allowing just one entry per person this year - so make it count!
• Judging Criteria: Cupcakes will be judged on perceived deliciousness, creativity, and presentation - in that order of importance.
• Prizes: The Grand Prize winner and the entry prize winners will be announced by the end of July! For the Grand Prize of a $250 gift certificate to a favorite cooking store, the store (virtual or brick and mortar) must specialize in cooking and/or baking supplies. General stores like Amazon, Target, etc. are not eligible. The cooking store must sell gift certificates. Stores outside of the U.S. are eligible, but the gift certificate will have a value of $250 U.S.

Read more: http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2012/05/2012-ice-cream-cupcake-contest.html#ixzz1z9kZpUBD

 

Forever Nigella Rules

1. Blog your entry by 28^th of the month showing:
a) the current Forever Nigella badge
b) a link to this announcement post
c) a link to the Forever Nigella page at Maison Cupcake: http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/forever-nigella

n.b. posts must have been published since the announcement post. Archived posts need to be re-published afresh if you wish to submit.

2. Remember copyright.
You must NOT reproduce Nigella’s recipes verbatim. Tell us which book it is from and/or link to it online. If you’ve adapted the recipe in some way i.e. changed at least two ingredients or amended the method then it’s ok to publish the a recipe in your post but you MUST write directions in your own words.

3. Submit your post
Use the linky tool or email the host cc’ed to sarah AT maisoncupcake DOT com.