Great British Desserts

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.

Blackberry Suet Pudding

Ingredients:

400g blackberries (or sufficient to fill), washed and cleaned

4 tbsp sugar

450g flour

180g suet

pinch of salt

Method:

Place the flour, suet and salt in a bowl and mix together before adding sufficient water to form a stiff dough. Cut 2/3 of the dough and roll out on a floured board. Use to line the base and sides of a 1l heat-proof bowl. Tip the fruit into this and add the sugar. Roll out the remaining dough and use to cover the pudding. Cut a circle of greaseproof paper and use this to cover the pudding. Tightly cover the entire dessert in a double layer of foil, place in a steamer and boil for 2 hours. When ready remove the foil and greaseproof paper and tip the pudding onto a bowl. Slice and serve with ice-cold milk.

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.

Dyfed Lloyd Evans is the creator of the Celtnet Recipes site where you can find many more British Recipes and Dessert Recipes

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