Desserts - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: Desserts

14
Feb
2022

Chocolate Mousse Hearts

categories: 1980's recipes, Desserts, Magazines, Meringue, Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day friends! Love is in the air are we are celebrating with some Chocolate Mousse Hearts largely inspired by a recipe in the Autumn 1986 issue of the Vogue Entertaining Guide. Before we continue though, I need to be totally honest with you. The recipe requires several instances of piping using an icing bag and this is not one of my strong suits. Hopefully, you will find my less than perfect hearts endearingly wonky rather than downright comical. And as we all know…love means never having to say you’re sorry so let’s get to it!

Okay, deep breath, here we go…

Now, these babies might not look perfect but, I gave one to The Fussiest Eater in the World earlier.

He took his first bite. “Wow”.

Second bite “Oh my God!”

The overall vote was “Delicious”.

So, they might not be the prettiest things in the world. But they are definitely a sweet treat!

Just a little shout out before I continue though, that beautiful plate my heart is on comes from Yael Gronner Ceramics on Etsy.I bought some of her wares late last year and have been dying to feature them!

Chocolate Mousse Hearts – The Breakdown

We start off with a meringue base – the first lot of piping. And it really sets the tone for the rest of the dish. If you can do this bit perfectly, the rest of the dish will be a doddle. When you are doing the piping try to build up the outside of the hearts as much as possible.

Then those little depressions in the middle of the hearts are filled with jam. The recipe said berry jam but I used cherry. I LOVE the combination of cherry and chocolate plus I don’t like how the seeds in strawberry and raspberry jam can get stuck in your teeth.

Those little hearts? I had some of the meringue mixture left over and I thought they might be cute as garnishes or as taste testers.

So, right about now, you might be thinking where’s that chocolate mousse I was promised? Well, it’s coming right up. Along with our second bit of piping:

I topped my mousse with some crumbled up Flake and a little gold lustre powder.

And a cherry on the top!

Chocolate Mousse Hearts – The Recipe

So, I was halfway through making this when I came to the sentence that said the chocolate mousse needed to set overnight. I needed to get them made and take my pictures on Sunday 13th to have any hope of being able to ost this today. Normally I am a bit more organised but life has got in the way this month!

It’s also the reason I garnished with a flake and not chocolate leaves and curls.

So, I found this mousse recipe online that did not have to chill overnight and used that instead. I chilled it for 2 hours then piped it onto my hearts.

Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day, Galentine’s Day or nothing at all, these decadent chocolate hearts are a good addition to your dessert repertoire. They are very sweet though so for future making I would make them a little smaller (The widest part of my hearts was probably about 10cm across). Or keep them big and share with someone you love!

Have a great week!

26
Dec
2021

Saratoga Torte

categories: 1980's Food, Australia, Desserts

You may be thinking that the recipe for Saratoga Totre comes from the American chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. It does not. I found this recipe in the October 1986 issue of the Vogue Entertaining Guide I had never heard of Saratoga Torte and assumed it was an American dish. I was very surprised to learn that it is actually an Australian recipe. There is a small town called Saratoga on the Central Coast of New South Wales so it may have originated there.

Madelaine’s Saratoga Torte

Technically this recipe is called Madelaine’s Saratoga Torte however, as there is no mention of who Madelaine is or how her Saratoga Torte differs from anyone else’s, I am taking the liberty of dropping her name. The recipe comes from an article entitled “Anyone for Tennis?” focussing on mother and daughter entertainers Maria and Helena Law.

This is also the same edition of Vogue Entertaining that gave us this recipe for crumbed lamb cutlets.

Sao Biscuits

Sao (Say-O) biscuits are key to making Saratoga Torte. These are a savoury cracker biscuit that have been made by Arnott’s biscuits since 1906. Sao is possibly an acronym for Salvation Army Officer as one of the Arnott’s Brothers was indeed an officer in the Salvation Army.

If you are not in Australia and you want to make a Saratoga torte I would suggest substituting water crackers. However Sao’s are quite large so I would use double the number of water crackers.

Also, if you happen to be researching Sao biscuits stay away from any mentions of the soggy Sao. This is a practice apparently indulged in by groups of teenage boys. As with most things done by groups of teenage boys it is highly unsavoury.

You have been warned. Proceed down that path and anything that comes at you is on you. Which is potentially a very bad choice of words.

Let’s swiftly move on!

What is Saratoga Torte?

Imagine if you made a meringue mixture and you added crushed-up crackers and crumbled walnuts to the mixture. Then you baked that and topped it with whipped cream and flaked chocolate.

That, in essence is Saratoga Torte.

And it is delicious!!!

The nutty meringue with a little hit of salt every now and again from the crackers is so good! And the cream and little hints of chocolate are the perfect foil. A little hit of Amaretto or Frangelico in the cream would also not be entirely out of keeping.

This was a bit sweet, the next time I make this I will drop the sugar down to 3/4 of a cup and not a whole cup. The key to a lovely thick and glossy meringue is to add the sugar quite slowly and to make sure that each spoonful melts before you add the next one.

The Recipe – Saratoga Torte

Saratoga Torte is utterly delicious, very easy to make and also a little bit out of the ordinary. Why not make it as part of your New Year’s festivities?

Also, if anyone knows the origin of Saratoga torte or who Madelaine might be, please drop me a note in the comments!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

I’m on holiday from work so hope to have another post for you before the new year. Whatever you are up to, I hope you have a wonderful week!

19
Dec
2021

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding

categories: Christmas, Dining With The Dame, Poirot, Pudding

Season’s Greetings crime readers and food lovers! Today we are reading the Poirot short story, The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and eating that exact thing! This is the first time I have ever made plum or Christmas pudding. I chose this recipe, which comes from an October 1993 issue of Home Beautiful because it had apricots and no fruit peel in it. I further tweaked the recipe to remove the raisins and figs which I am not fond of and replaced them with dried strawberries and blueberries. The fruit was then soaked for two weeks in a combination of Pedro Ximenez sherry and brandy!!!

The Adventure of The Christmas Pudding – The Plot

As mentioned, this is a short story – it is only 44 pages in the edition that I read so it is something that can easily be read in around an hour. However, for such a short story there is a LOT going on!

We open with someone called Mr Jesamond, trying to persuade Poirot to take on a case. Poirot is not so keen.

Mr Jesamond interrupted “Christmas time,” he said, persuasively. “An old fashioned Christmas in the English countryside.”

Hercule Poirot shivered. The thought of the English countryside at this season of the year did not attract him…he had suffered too often in the historic country houses of England”

Eventually, Poirot agrees to take the case. A young potentate from an unnamed country has been visiting England to have some of the family jewels re-set by Cartier in order to give them to his bride to be. However, the young man, away from his conservative homeland, has done what young men away from their conservative homelands are wont to do. Even worse, he allowed his new lady friend to wear the family ruby one night. Needless to say, she and the ruby vanish.

In order to avoid a scandal, Poirot is called to visit Kings Lacey, home of the Lacey family to find the thief and the ruby!

We have:

Sarah, the granddaughter of the Lacey’s who has taken up with a bounder whom she has brought home for Christmas, along with his sister who is recovering from an operation and is confined to bed
Several mentions of the bounder’s tight black jeans! (Ooh Aggie!!!)
Someone sneaking about Poirot’s bedroom at night
Drugs in the coffee
Some delightful snarkiness about Poirot’s nightcap (sadly missing from the adaptation)
Something that is definitely not a sixpence in the Christmas pudding!

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding – The Covers

The covers here nearly all show a Christmas Pudding. I do like the one where Poirot’s hat takes the place of the pudding and I also very much like the one where the Creme Anglaise on the pudding takes on the skull and crossbones. There is a very stylish French cover, except you can’t tell because apparently there is no French translation for Christmas Pudding (hint, it is the black and yellow on).

There is also a Spanish cover that does Poirot no favours! I mean at no point do we ever hear that Poirot is particularly handsome but oof..too cruel, Spain, too cruel!

Unflattering depictions from Spain aside, I am saving my most, my worst level of scorn for the cover on the bottom right. I mean. WTAF unknown publisher? The book is called the Adventure of the Christmas Pudding not The Adventure of the Blueberry Layer Cake!!!

The Recipe – Christmas Pudding

On a silver dish the Christmas pudding resposed in its glory. A large football of a pudding, a piece of holly stuck in it like a triumpant flag and glorious flames of blue and red rising around it. There was a cheer and cries of “ooh – ah:.

Hercule Poirot merely surveyed the portion on his plate with a rather curious expression on his face. A result, no doubt of finding a cryptic note in his bedroom which had read,

“DON’T EAT NONE OF THE PLUM PUDDING.

– ONE WHO WISHES YOU WELL

Agatha Christie, The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding

Other Food Mentioned in The Adventure of The Christmas Pudding

For such a short story, there is a HEAP of food mentioned here:

Oyster Soup
Two turkeys – one boiled, one roast
Elvas Plums, Carlsbad Plums, almonds, raisins, crystallised fruit and ginger
Scones, crumpets, sandwiches and three kinds of cake
Tea
Hard Sauce
Brandy
Mince Pies
Christmas dessert
Christmas cake
Cold supper
Chestnut Stuffing
Eggs and bacon (ALWAYS)
Coffee
A tisane

We usually have brandy butter and custard with our Christmas pudding but this year I am going to give hard sauce a go! It sounds delicious!

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding is not much of a mystery. It is very obvious who the wrong ‘un is. Having said that, it is an absolutely delightful and charming Christmas story so well worth a read! It is one of the few Poirot adaptations that is not available on Youtube but the Audiobook, which is read by Hugh Fraser who plays Hastings in the series is available.

Dear friends, I hope Santa brings you everything you want and you have a merry, happy and safe holiday season!

19
Oct
2021

A Murder on The Orient Express Collab

categories: Celebrity Recipes, Desserts, Dried Fruit, Film, Fish, Poirot

All aboard! Welcome friends to a cooking and murder collab between Silver Screen Suppers and Retro Food For Modern Times. Jenny and I have been tallking about doing this literally for months! I am breaking my usual Dining with the Dame Format to cook recipes by the stars of the 1974 version of Murder on The Orient Express and half a world away in London Jenny is doing the same. Jenny provided the recipes and we agreed to watch the film on the same day!

Murder on The Orient Express 1974 – The Film

As with the Kenneth Brannagh 2017 film, the 1974 version of Murder on the Orient Express is a star-studded affair! The rather schlocky trailer describes it as the “Who’s who in the whodunnit”.

Albert Finney stars as Poirot Agatha Christie herself gave Albert the thumbs up in his portrayal of Poirot. (He was excellent, and his denouement at the end is amazing – he had to learn 8 pages of script off by heart to do it – but for me, David Suchet is, and will only ever be, the true Poirot).

Others in the cast include Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, Sir John Gielgud, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave and Michael York to name but a few! Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar as best supporting actress for her role in this. Albert Finney was nominated but missed out to Art Carney from Harry and Tonto.

The film follows the story of the Agatha Christie novel with the luxurious Orient Express train stuck in a snow bank with no one being able to get on or off the train. One of the guests is stabbed to death in the night. It is up to Hercule Poirot to discover whodunnit!. He soon learns that the victim is connected to the kidnapping of Daisy Armstrong 5 years before. And the group of seemingly disparate strangers on the train may not be all they seem!

The stroy is based on two true events, the first being the very famous kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby i n 1932, the second was an incident when the Orient Express was trapped for 6 days in a blizzard in Turkey in 1929.

But now, we would like you to head over to the buffet car to sample today’s menu,

The Menu

Trout in Cream Saice

For your dining pleasure on today’s journey from Istanbul to Caiais, we are delighted to be serving Trout with Cream Sauce, a recipe by Ms Ingrid Bergman.

This was delicious! Trout is such a delicate fish and the lemony cream sauce was a perfect accompaniment to it. I served mine with chips (very un Orient Express), beans, broccolini and some cherry tomatoes. It was also incredibly easy to make!!! Without the chips, it is an elegant and light dish which would be worthy of the Orient Express!

The whole time I was making the trout I was singing the Billy Bragg / Wilco song :

Ingrid Bergman, Ingrid Bergman
Let’s go make a picture
On the island of Stromboli
Ingrid Bergman

And I deft anyone who knows this song to do otherwise!

Ingrid Bergman plays Greta Ohlsson in the film and she won the Academy Award for best-supporting actress for her role. I would give her an Oscar for that trout recipe because it was chef’s kiss mwah!!!

Prune Fool Syllabub

To end your meal, we are serving Prune Fool by Ms. Wendy Hiller. Wendy plays Princess Dragomiroff in Murder. I feel that the Prune Fool, despite its name has the hint of gravitas equal to such a grand dame!

I LOVED the Prune Fool! The prunes and currants (I didn’t have sultanas in the red wine combined beautifully with the cream and shortbread. Eating this made me feel like a grownup. for something that is so simple to make, the end result is sophisticated.

I feel both of these dishes would meet Poirot’s approval!

Just as an aside, it appears as if, whilst on the Orient Express, Poirot has eschewed his normal tisanes and sirops for a little glass of…creme de menthe? Drunk via a straw no less.

But, I digress, back to the Prune Fool.
I know I am biased but how pretty is it?

Here’s the recipe:

Cooking for this was so fun! I loved the film as well! And it is always fun to have a shared project. Thank you Jenny for the recipes and for joining in particularly on one of the big hitters like Murder on The Orient Express. (Let’s not wait 6 months before we do another!!!) And if anyone else would like to Dine with the Dame and me, please let me know!!!

If you would like to see what Jenny cooked and how she celebrated Murder Sunday, head over to Silver Screen Suppers for a look!

I’ll be back next week with a more traditional version of Dining with the Dame – Murder on the Orient Express 2 (Electric Boogaloo).

Have a great week and happy watching!

19
Jul
2021

Date and Frangipane Tart

categories: Desserts, Name Plates

Hello, people of the internet. Greetings from lockdown 5 thanks to a few people in Sydney having a “Let them eat cake” attitude to the health of the people of Victoria. In return, we are going to stay at home and eat a delicious Date and Frangipane tart so, in the long run, we win. In the short term? F*** you Gladys. Your lax excuse for a lockdown in Sydney has put so many Victorian lives in danger.

Well. That was truly not how I intended to start this post. But sometimes you just need to give in to what your subconscious mind needs to say. Now my little rant is over, this is how I meant to start. What do an almond cream filling for pastries, a tropical flower, stinky gloves and a 16th century Italian Maquis all have in common?

The answer is that all are called Frangipane.

Back in the day, the leather gloves worn by the nobles would often get very stinky so Frangipani the man invented a bitter almond perfume to remove the reek from said gloves. This perfume was either made from, or inspired by, the scent of the frangipani flower.

French chefs of the time were inspired by the scent of the perfume to make an almond pastry filling which they called frangipane

I could not find any pictures of the eponymous Frangipane. So here is a random 16th century Italian nobleman with some tart, flowers and, of course, some stinky gloves.

Seriously though, this tart is delicious. And the apple juice and brandy caramel sauce? That Italian nobleman will be chef kissing and announcing “Bella, bella”.

Here’s the recipe from Neil Perry via Good Food

Have a great week! I’ll be at home, planning something very special for this coming weekend!