Thursday, November 29, 2012

Guest Post: Is Christmas pudding - pudding?

Hello Deezert people! I have another guest post for you.

This time it's about Christmas! YAY!

 

Enjoy

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Is Christmas pudding - pudding?
by Corina David
It’s been a while now since shops have started displaying their Christmas decorations and most importantly the Christmas goodies. Among them, the Christmas pudding seems to be just another type of dessert – nothing special.
But the British Christmas pudding is indeed a bit more special than that.
Take a look at these pictures:
 
 

 
One is a chocolate pudding, the other is sticky toffee pudding. One has a cream like consistency, the other one looks like a piece of cake. And then the list can go on: tapioca pudding, rice pudding, banana pudding. You can even buy pudding is sachets, just boil some milk and add some sugar. And you’ll get yourself two nice bowls of steaming pudding.
 
And finally, there is the Christmas Pudding.
The Christmas pudding is mainly a British Christmas dessert that doesn't have the custard like consistency of the pudding described above. It is a proper cake, made with lots of fruits and spices; a classic, favourite British dessert. It’s so famous that we even sing about it, without actually realising it:
“Oh, bring us a figgy pudding
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheeer” (We Wish You a Merry Christmas)
 
What are the main ingredients?
Sultanas, raisins, currants, almonds, orange or lemon peel, mixed spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, plain flour, eggs, sugar and something to make one merry indeed: a tiny little bit of alcohol: either brandy or rum. If you are interested in the recipe, you can find it here.
After all these mouth watering ingredients, it is easy to understand why the Christmas pudding is special. 
Just one more funny detail to keep in mind!
 You’ll want to remember King George I or the Pudding King. George was born in Hanover, in what is now Germany. At the age of 54, after the death of Queen Anne of Great Britain, he ascended the British throne – in 1714. As the Christmas of that year was his first Christmas in England, he requested that plum pudding (similar to the present Christmas pudding) be served as part of the royal feast.  
So you may want to go on with singing the carol “We won’t go until we get some/We won’t go until we get some” or pay a visit to Dunn’s Bakery to find more details about this special Christmas dessert.

 
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Sunday, November 4, 2012

Ribbon Engagement Cake

Yes! I've finally ventured into Tiered Cakes. They've always been intimidating to me but once someone asked me for an engagement cake, how could I have said no? So, I researched and researched and RESEARCHED and finally came up with a system for tiered cakes that is reliable, efficient and wouldn't affect the final look.




The cake design was simple enough:

2 Tiered cake with a golden color scheme. The first layer was a polka dot creme colored cake


 and the second layer was an ivory gift box with a HUGE golden ribbon.

Making the diamond pattern on the 2nd tier

The final result:


I've realized that ribbons really add dimension to the cake and makes it pop! Don't you think so?




The cake was a butter devil's food chocolate cake moistened with a sugar syrup to keep it moist and fresh. The filling was Almond Crunch Swiss Meringue Chocolate Buttercream (long name for such a delicious filling).

This is me frosting the cake! I just love this part =)




A piece at the party!

Almonds with caramel, these went into the buttercream! =D








The mess after the cake =P



Check out my other Ribbon Cake



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