Cranachan was the traditional celebration, harvest-home dish. For a communal celebration round the table, the oatmeal, fruit and cream were put onto the table and everyone made his/her own mix, lubricating it with whisky and honey. It was also eaten on other special occasions such as weddings.

This recipe combines traditional Scottish produce to good effect, creating an excellent pudding that is a delightful treat in late summer. Whisky is of course distilled across Scotland, heather honey is produced where-ever there is suitable heather moors and excellent raspberries are grown in the Nairn valley (near Inverness) and the northeast.

Ingredients

2 oz medium oatmeal.
10 fl oz fresh double cream.
3 tablespoons heather honey.
3 tablespoons good whisky.
12 oz fresh raspberries.

Directions

Toast the oatmeal under a grill, turning occasionally with a spoon, until it is golden brown. Allow to cool. Whip the cream until stiff and then mix in the honey, whisky and oatmeal.
Layer the raspberries with the cream mixture in four tall glasses, cover with cling film and refrigerate.
Allow to come to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving and then decorate with a few raspberries.

Granted, Burns' Night is not exactly summer - but as someone else said, frozen raspberries will do just as well.

With Cranachan it's important to use large rolled or porridge oats toasted with sugar. One thing that might put you off is that the oats will become soggy if prepared far in advance, however it's not unusual (he wrote, lapsing into Tom Jones syndrome) to just dish up the ingredients and let people assemble their own according to preference.

For Atholl Brose mix _medium_ oatmeal with cold water and leave for about an hour then strain the oats out. For a drink add whisky and honey, if you want to make a pudding then fold in some whipped cream and chill.

If you want to go for something else it's quite easy to make oatmeal ice cream - just make normal ice cream (or even, heaven forfend, buy some) and make a praline with pinhead oatmeal, syrup and sugar. Soften the ice cream, mix in the praline and refreeze.

600g Mascarpone cheese
real vanilla extract
250g caster sugar
9 egg yolks
3 egg whites
rum
3 cups espresso, left to go cold [or just some very strong, black coffee, not instant]
savoyard biscuits or trifle fingers [or even some fairly solid sponge cake, which is what I usually use]

Whisk the egg yolks with two-thirds of the sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract.

Stir the mascarpone to loosen it up a little and then stir it into the egg yolk/sugar mixture by hand.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff

Fold in the beaten egg whites. Instead of the egg whites you could add a similar quantity of whipped cream.

Mix in a measure of rum [say one and a half capfuls]

Put the espresso into a shallow bowl and if you want add some more rum, take your savoyard biscuits [or sponge cake], dip them into the coffee mix and layer across the bottom of the serving dish. Pour the mascarpone mix over, give it a good shake to settle it.

Depending on your dish, you can add another layer of soggy cakes and then another layer of mascarpone mix.

[This is the stage at which to worry about all the left of coffee & rum mix: you could always strain the crumbs out of it, add sugar and get something like Tia Maria.]

Refrigerate for about four hours.

When you're ready to serve, sift chocolate powder across the surface.

If you're worried about raw eggs, you could probably do the whisking of the egg yolks and sugar in a bain-marie (I think the eggs have to reach a temperature of 50ºC) or you could even use a shop bought custard, though that will mean you get a bit of a different result overall. Of course, you'd also need to replace the egg whites with whipped cream as suggested.

You could use whatever alcohol you want, I suppose. Amaretti di Saronno liqueur is nice, and you could crush up some Amaretti biscuits and add them to the mascarpone mix (they're no good as the base as they break up too much). I doubt white spirits like vodka would be much good though.

Make a batch of meringues (or a Pavlova shell) which don't turn out very well and are a bit too brown and sticky.
Break the meringues whilst trying to remove from the baking tray.
Say "S** it, hope there's enough time before guests arrive to make a Bombe Favourite, thank goodness we've got the ingredients handy."

Hurriedly lightly whip a quarter of a pint (c. 150 mls) of double cream, to which you add some broken meringue, two tablespoons of caster sugar, one tablespoon of Kirsch (or any other white spirit which takes your fancy) and mix gently together. Pack into a mould and freeze until it's time for dessert. Unmould, and pour sweetened raspberry purée** around.

**Squash or whizz some raspberries, then heat them up with a bit of sugar to taste.

This from the Green Chronicle seems to have all but the chestnuts.
http://www.greenchronicle.com/christmas_recipes/christmas_pudding_ice_cream.htm
How to make Christmas pudding ice cream:
For those who find traditional Christmas pudding rather too heavy or for those who live in hot countries here is an ice cream with all the flavors of the good old Christmas "Pud".

Ingredients
1/4 cup currants
1/2 cup stoned raisins
1/2 tablespoon candied orange peel chopped finely
1/2 tablespoon blanched almonds shredded
1 tablespoon glace cherries rinsed and chopped
1 wineglass brandy

for ice-cream mixture:
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 1/2 tablespoons cold water (1)
1/2 pint double cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cold water (2)
3 egg yolks

Method
- Put the dried fruit and almonds into a bowl.
- Pour the brandy over them.
- Leave to soak for two hours.
- Dissolve the cocoa in the cold water (1).
- Heat the cream to just below boiling and add the cocoa mix.
- Put the sugar and water (2) into a saucepan.
- Boil until a little cooled syrup will make a thread when pulled up from a saucer with the back of a spoon.
- Allow the sugar syrup to cool a little.
- Pour it onto the egg yolks and whisk with a rotary whisk.
- Add the yolk mixture to the cream and cocoa mix.
- Chill.
- Use an ice cream maker if you have one or turn the mixture into a clean, empty ice cream container.
- Freeze for one hour.
- Beat well and add fruit mix (with ice cream maker add fruit as ice cream begins to thicken).
- Freeze until firm.
- Store in lidded container in freezer.
- Remove from freezer about 15-20 minutes before serving with brandy flavour whipped cream.

4 large eggs
170 g flour (this being Switzerland where they don't have self-raising
flour, it's safe to assume you should use plain flour)
260-300 g sugar (to taste)
200 g dark chocolate (as high a cocoa solids content as poss)
250 g unsalted butter

Pre-heat oven to 180 deg C, gas mark 4.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a saucepan* over a low heat. Remove from heat, leave to cool slightly. Then beat in the sugar, the eggs carefully one at a time and finally add the flour. Mix extremely well and then pour into a well-greased 20cm baking tin**. Cook in centre of oven for about 20 minutes (you have to watch not to overcook it as it becomes brownie-like, which is not the aim for this particular receipt!). Unmould on to a serving dish if you can and eat straightaway with your favourite brand of vanilla ice-cream or with double cream (or both if you're feeling particularly decadent!). It should have a cake-like texture on the outside and be melting in the centre. Is also good cold, but then it's definitely a brownie without the nuts.

*Use a bain-Marie if you have one as it's easier and quicker. **Springform (if that's the right name in English) works best.

300 gms dark chocolate
8 eggs (separated)
150 gms butter
Juice and grated zest of one lemon
Pinch of salt for the egg whites.

(It makes quite a lot:))

Melt butter and chocolate together in a bain-Marie; remove from heat. Beat egg yolks into cooled chocolate mixture and add lemon-juice and zest.
Beat egg whites (taken with a pinch of salt) until ultra-stiff, fold them gently into the chocolate mixture, making sure that the whites are completely broken down. Pour into dish and refrigerate for at least two hours.

The ice cream is St. Delia's - the summer cookery book, it is nut free

Briefly -

1) 200 ml fresh lemon juice (4 or 5 lemons), the zest of two of them, 2 heaped teaspoons cornflour, and 5oz of caster sugar.

You make the syrup by mixing 2 tablespoons of juice with the c/flour. Dissolve the sugar in the rest of the juice over a low heat, add the zest and simmer (5min) Pour over the c/flour mixture, return it all to the pan and cook till thick.
Cool and put in fridge.

2) 15fl oz whipping cream, 4 egg yolks, 6oz caster sugar,1 heaped teaspoon c/flour.

Heat the cream gently, whisk the rest together, when the cream reaches simmering point pour it over the egg mixture - still whisking. Put the lot back in the pan and heat stirring like made until thick. I think this is always tricky, I find burning less likely if you wash the saucepan before putting the custard back in.
Cool with clingfilm on top to prevent a skin, put in fridge.

3) 7 fl oz greek yoghurt. 4 broken up meringue nests.

I have a Kenwood ice cream attachment. So bung the lemon mix the custard and yoghurt in at this point and mix until it is thick, add the meringue and pour it into a freezer box. After freezing it needs about half an hour in the fridge so it is soft enough to dole out.

Delia suggests freezing the custard and yogurt for about 2 hours, whisking it, refreezing for two hours and whisking again with the syrup before adding the meringue and freezing. She says it is too much for a standard ice cream maker.

It is really yummy and I am going to have to raid the fridge now.

1lb (500g) mulberries
4oz (100 - 125g) sugar
1 pint (600ml) milk
½ vanilla pod
2 tbs castor sugar
4 egg yolks

Cooking time 20 mins
Temp: 180°C, 350F, gas mk 4

Pick over mulberries. Place in deep pie dish. Dredge with the sugar and bake in oven for 15 - 20 minutes until juices are flowing.

Prepare custard sauce. Heat milk with vanilla pod over gentle heat. Do not let it reach boiling point. Remove pan from heat, cover with lid and infuse for 10 mins.

Remove vanilla pod, stir in castor sugar. Beat eggs in a bowl and gradually whisk in hot milk. Strain mixture back into pan or into double saucepan and stir constantly over low heat until mixture thickens.

Serve the mulberries, lukewarm, straight from the dish with a jug of the custard.

Baked mulberries can also be served with cream.

Individual desserts combining banana pieces and chocolate mousse

2 or 3 bananas
juice of ½ a lemon
2 tsp of powdered gelatine
½ pint of water
2 oz plain drinking chocolate
1 oz sugar
whites of two eggs
vanilla essence

Chopped almonds and cream, to decorate

Slice the bananas and put pieces in the bottom of individual dessert glasses. Sprinkle with a little sugar and lemon juice. Put the water in a saucepan over a low heat and dissolve in it the gelatine powder then add the chocolate powder and one ounce of sugar and dissolve slowly. When ready, turn into a basin and allow to cool. Whisk the egg whites slowly in a bowl. When the chocolate mixture is nearly cold, add a few drops of vanilla essence and fold in the beaten egg whites with a metal spoon. Put sufficient of this mixture into each glass on the banana so as to reach the top and put in the refrigerator to set. When set, decoragte the tops with chopped almonds and piped or drizzled cream.

The chocolate flavoured alternative to a basic home made meringue

2 oz caster sugar
½ oz cocoa powder
Whites of 2 eggs
2oz granulated sugar

Set oven as low as possible, just warm. Line baking sheets with baking parchment. Sieve together the caster sugar and cocoa powder. Separate the yolks from the whites of egg and beat the whites stiffly in a bowl. Whisk in the granulated sugar and then fold in the sugar/cocoa mixture as lightly as possible with a metal spoon so as to retain the air bubbles in the egg whites. Spoon very gently on to the baking sheets (using two desert spoons), allowing room for the meringues to spread. Put into the warm oven and cook for several hours until the meringues are quite dry and firm. Leave to cool on the baking sheets before removing, very gently, and then sandwich together with whipped cream.

half pint milk
3 oz sugar
1 and a half teaspoons cocoa powder
1 oz butter
2 oz breadcrumbs
2 eggs, separated

Set over to 350 degrees F, Mark 4, 180 degrees C (I looked it up cos I needed to cook it on C) Grease a pie dish. Put the milk into a saucepan and add one oz of the sugar together with the cocoa powder and the butter. Bring to the boil, and then pour onto the breadcrumbs in a mixing bowl. Allow to cool somewhat and then stir in the egg yolks. Put this mixture into the pie dish, spread out and bake until set. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites very stiffly, adding the other two ozs of the sugar. When the pie is cooked, pile the meringue mixture on top. Lower the oven temperature and return the pudding to a cool oven until the meringue is set and pale golden brown in colour. Serves Four.

I used a Queen of Puddings recipe to get the cooking times as I'd never made it before : it suggested 30 minutes to bake, and then 10 - 15 mins for the topping. But the recipe I was following didn't tell me to turn down the oven for the meringue bit. I should follow your noses or another recipe for timings!

1 cup plain flour
2 eggs lightly beaten
60g dark chocolate, melted
2 tbs cocoa
1 tbs icing sugar

Process flour, eggs, chocolate, cocoa and icing sugar until mixture forms a ball. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 10 mins. Roll dough until 1mm thick using pasta machine. Cut into 1mm strips using pasta machine.

Add pasta to large pan of boiling water, boil, uncovered for about 3 minutes or until just tender: drain. Rinse pasta under cold water: drain. Serve pasta with raspberry sauce.

Raspberry sauce.

3 cups 350g fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/3 cup water

Combine all ingredients in pan, stir over heat until sugar is dissolved. Cook uncovered for about 3 minutes or until berries are soft. Push mixture through sieve to remove seeds: cover, refrigerate until cold. Serves 4.

Pasta and sauce can be made a day ahead
Storage: covered, in fridge
Freeze: sauce suitable
Microwave: pasta suitable

1lb (500g) mulberries
2oz (50g) butter
4oz (100 - 125g) sugar
2 egg yolks
3 tbs fresh white breadcrumbs
5 fl oz (150ml) double cream

Cooking time 20 mins.
Chilling time 1 hr

Melt butter in pan with 4 tbs cold water.
Add mulberries to pan, cover with lid.
Simmer over gentle heat for about 10 mins, until the berries have burst and released their juice.
Rub mulberries through a sieve and return puree to the pan. (As this is a 1977 recipe, I presume use of blender is also recommended these days)
Add sugar to taste, and if necessary, reduce the puree to a thicker consistency by rapid boiling
Remove pan from heat, add beaten egg yolks and breadcrumbs.
Return to low heat, stir constantly until puree has thickened.
Set aside to cool.
Whisk cream lightly, fold into puree. Spoon mixture into serving dish and chill for one hour.

Serving: whipped cream may be piped over the tansy before serving and a few fresh mulberries used for decoration.

For a quicker and simpler pudding with mulberries: ayers of sweetened mulberries with layers of natural yoghurt in glasses, sprinkling the top with soft brown sugar, and leaving them to chill until the sugar has melted.

In the top of a double boiler melt 6oz of plain chocolate. Let the chocolate cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whip together 1 pint of chilled double cream and a tsp of almond essence until very stiff. Gently fold the cooled chocolate into the whipped cream. Spoon mixture into 6 large wine glasses and do your best to chill it for a whole hour!
Eat.

Paraphrased from Chocolate: The Consuming Passion. Written, illustrated and overresearched by Sandra Boynton. A Methuen book from 1982 which I found in Oxfam this lunchtime. It is very funny, it is about chocolate and it features lots of hippos.

6 oz of raisins/currants/glace orange/glace cherries/marrons glaces (any combination)
4 tbsp rum
half pint single cream
5 egg yolks
5oz caster sugar
4 oz unsweetened chestnut puree
4oz bitter chocolate
half pint double cream

Method
Roughly chop the fruit and soak in the rum. Heat single cream until nearly boiling. Mix yolks and sugar, pour on cream, heat gently until custard thickens. Add chestnut puree and chocolate and stir till smooth. Cool. Mix in fruit, whip double cream and fold in. Freeze in pudding basin, but take out of freezer 1 hour before serving. (Unwrap it and put in fridge.)

This is from a Penguin freezer book from before cholesterol and blood pressure were invented.

A jar of ginger preserved in syrup. If you can't get this, although you can in most mainstream supermarkets now, reheat some of the rhubarb syrup with some powdered ginger or chopped fresh ginger root.

an ice-cream maker or a freezer, a food-processor helps too

Drain the rhubarb, keeping the syrup, and process it, or mash it as finely as you can.

Add syrup from the ginger jar, a dessert-spoonful at a time, tasting as you go.

You want to end up with a puree that is substantial but definitely liquid - like Vichyssoise is more than cream but less than mashed potato. The sugar is necessary not just for sweetening the rhubarb but in the final texture of the ice, and freezing will reduce the sweetness.

When the puree is gingery enough for you, add a bit more for luck. If it still isn't wet enough, add the syrup from the rhubarb.

When the puree is wet enough, if it isn't gingery enough for you, finely chop some of the preserved ginger and add.

Put through the ice-cream maker and either eat immediately or store in the freezer to ripen, remembering to take it out and put it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before you want to serve it to get the best texture and flavour.

If you haven't got one, and you're freezing it, you could gently stir in a couple of stiffly whisked egg whites before freezing it, which should help with the texture. Note: I haven't tried this! but it is often recommended in ice-cream books. Put it in a freezer-proof container with a lid, freeze, taking it out after about 2 hours and stirring gently to scrape ice crystals from the edge into the middle. Do this again later on if you feel like it. This is not as crucial as it can be in thinner smoother liquids, as the ice will form less regularly anyway.

This is a great palate cleanser between rich main courses in winter (between the haggis and the venison, say), or can be used to make gin or vodka slushes in the summer ...

It will vary each time you make it, especially if you're like me and add a bit of lemon juice, or turn it into ice-cream and serve it with hot rhubarb crumble.

You'll need a large, 9 or 10 inch cake tin with a removable bottom: the spring-loaded sided ones are best. This recipe takes at least two days. If you need to, you can double the ingredients, but allow for longer cooking time with the cheesecake bit. As it stands, it'll do eight to twelve slices, each about the calorific value of a box of Belgian truffles.

First make a biscuit base. Take half a pack of chocolate-coated digestive biscuits, or the crumbly oaty ones, and crush into crumbs (or whizz in a processor). Mix with 4 oz melted butter, and press the whole lot firmly into the bottom of the pan.

The next layer is a cooked cheesecake. Heat the oven to gas mark 4. In a big bowl, beat 12 oz of cream cheese until it's smooth and light. Add 6 oz caster sugar. Beat together 2 eggs, and add to the bowl, mixing really well. You can add a tablespoon of your favourite booze here if you like, or a tablespoon of strong coffee. Pour this over the base, and bake in the oven for about half an hour, until it is set and doesn't wobble a lot in the middle. Take it out of the oven, and leave it to cool for not more than ten minutes, while you grate or finely chop a normal-sized bar of plain chocolate. Spread the top of the warm cheesecake with a small tub of creme fraiche or sour cream. Sprinkle the chocolate on the top. As the cream gets hot it will melt the chocolate, then as it cools it all sets. You are now on layer four. This is a good point to get to the day before, if you have a lot of time on the day or you're skipping layers five and six.

Layers five and six are optional, but are both made the same way. Layer five is made with white chocolate, layer six with the best dark chocolate you can find.

When the cake is cold: Take one large bar of chocolate, or two normal sized ones. Melt slowly, in a bowl over hot water or at a very low temperature in the microwave, stirring as you go.

Whip a half-pint (10 fl oz) of double cream until it is quite firm. Take a spoonful and stir it into the melted chocolate, to thin it down a bit, then add the chocolate to the cream. Stir fast, it starts to set almost straight away. You can add some more liqueur here if you like. Spoon the mixture onto the cake, spread it out and leave it to cool and set.

Layer seven is the final layer, and you can leave this until the last minute if you want. It's easier if you get the cake out of the tin and put it on a plate. You don't need to get it off the bottom of the tin, just release the sides. Whip as much double cream as you want, at least 10 fl oz, until it is stiff. Pile it on top of the cake, and sprinkle with chopped dark chocolate, or those fancy chocolate cutouts you can buy. If you want to add fresh fruit (like strawberries) this is the place and time.

Cut in thin wedges; and this is me telling you, they need to be thin.

Just add mixed spice to taste, beaten in with the sugar.

Actually, what's as nice, and less tricky if you, like me, am Rubbish With Separating Eggs, is to beat the egg white and slightly less sugar than usual then fold in some ground almonds with your spice, or even a little finely chopped preserved ginger or candied peel (for those as likes it). Put spoonfuls onto rice paper or a really non-stick tray, and bake at about 150C for about 25 minutes or until pale brown. It's not as crucial for this recipe to get your eggwhites scrupulously yolk-free. Quantities a bit ad lib, as more almonds gives you more of a chewy macaroon, less almonds more of a crispy meringue (or tuile, if the mixture has spread too far to call it a meringue. We have an answer for everything here...).

Sandwich together with brandied cream.

Serves about 6-10

4 egg whites
4 oz caster sugar
4 oz soft, light brown sugar
6 oz hazelnuts
4 oz plain chocolate
15 fl oz double cream
icing sugar to decorate.

1. Toast the hazelnuts until well browned, rub off their skins, cool and finely chop 4 oz and grind the remainder of the nuts. Line two baking sheets with nonstick baking parchment and draw an 8 inch circle on each. NB, the meringue will spread so your baking sheets need to be bigger. If they are not, draw smaller circles. Turn the paper over so pencil mark is underneath.

2. Whisk the egg whites till they stand in stiff peaks. Whisk in the caster sugar, adding 1 oz at a time, whisking between each addition until the mixture becomes stiff and satiny. Sprinkle the brown sugar over and fold in lightly together with three quarters of the chopped hazelnuts.

3. Spread the meringue mixture into rounds on the baking parchment, using the pencil marks as a guide. Sprinkle the remaining chopped nuts over one meringue.

4. Bake at 150 deg.C, Mark 2 for about 1 and a half hours or until meringue is well dried out. When quite cold, peel off the nonstick paper.

5. Meanwhile break up the chocolate and place in a small saucepan with 5 fl oz cream. Warm gently until the chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Bring to the boil, stirring, then remove from the heat and stir in the ground hazelnuts. Cool, cover and refrigerate until required. Allow the mixture to soften at room temperature for about 1 hour before using.

6. Carefully spread the softened chocolate mixture over the plain meringue round. Top with the remaining whipped cream and finish with the nut-topped meringue round. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving, dusted with icing sugar.

1kg quinces
500g white granuylated or caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
whipped cream (or creme fraiche) and boudoir biscuits (or similar) to serve

1. Scrub the quinces to remove any grey down. Line a bowl with a large square of butter muslin. Quarter, core and slice 700g - 800g quinces, putting all discarded core, seed and stalk into the lined bowl. Chop the rest of the quince and add all of it to the bowl, then gather the cloth's edges together and tie into a bag enclosing the quince debris.

2. Put 1.5 litres water into a deep pan with the sugar and stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves completely and the syrup clears. Add the vanilla pod and the sliced quinces, then push the bag down into the middle of the pot. Add more water if needed to cover the fruit, bring to the boil, cover and cook at a low simmer for about 30 minutes, until the sliced fruit is soft. Take off the heat and stand until cold (perhaps overnight).

3. Pour the contents of the pan through a large sieve over a deep bowl. Return the bag of debris and the vanilla pod to the saucepan, pour in all the juices, return to the boil and boil the syrup to 105 degC (As this is the setting point of jam, umrats may use their preferred method of judging the syrup ready.) This may take over an hour, depending how much water you added and how fast you can boil it without it running over the pan. (I don't remember it taking nearly as long as an hour. Perhaps I decided to have a runnier syrup. The end result was certainly a syrup rather than jam consistency. But this is what the recipe says.) At the setting point, turn off the heat and leave to cool. Lift the bag of debris into a sieve over the sacuepan and leave to drip through and cool to room temperature.

4. Discard the bag and return the fruit and vanilla pod to the liquid. Bring slowly to simmering point and simmer for 5 minutes, then leave to cool and transfer to a shallow white or glass serving dish.

Serve with cream and biscuits of choice.

1/ Cut enough thick slices of brioche loaf or pannetone (aka Pat'n'Tony in my house) to fill your chosen baking dish when laid in at an angle so they overlap each other.

2/ Thickly spread each slice with butter and marmalade, and place in the lightly buttered baking dish.

3/ Sprinkle on a few currants / sultanas if you like.

4/ Beat eggs and stir in milk (1/2 pint per egg) then pour over the brioche. Use enough to ensure there is still some liquid sloshing around after it's been soaking in for a while.

5/ Heat the oven to 160C to 180C or so. Sprinkle a little sugar over the pudding and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until done. It should still be wobbly but not runny.

This is from Elizabeth Ayrtons' Cookery of England, and is a solid syllabub:

6 oz (180 g.) caster sugar
juice and finely grated rind of 2 lemons
3 Tbs brandy
3 Tbs sherry
1 pint (6 dl) cream

Soak the rind in the juice for 2/3 hrs and strain over sugar (I quite like to leave the rind in, I find the texture more interesting). Stir in booze, pour in cream, beat until stiff, chill. It's best if you can let it stand for a bit before serving, to let the flavours mingle. It's excellent with fruit, especially raspberries.

You can also leave out the lemon and booze and replace with fruit puree, but I'd call that more of a fool.

Ayrton gives a recipe for a different type of syllabub, which separates out. For this version you're ideally supposed to milk the cow directly into the other ingredients.

150 g (5.5oz) soft cheese (I used quark)
150g (5.5oz) muscavado sugar
40g (1.5oz) cocoa powder (I used drinking chocolate)
2 egg whites (I used 10ml vinegar)
5ml (1tsp) vanilla extract
15ml (1tbsp) skimmed milk (I used whole)
55g (2oz) SR flour
1tsp baking powder

For sauce - 15 ml (1tbsp) each of melted butter/oil, drinking chocolate, dark brown sugar, coffee and rum, the coffee dissolved in the rum

1. Lightly grease moulds and set aside (makes four small puddings) Preheat oven to 180c, 350f, gas 4
2. Mix cheese and sugar until smooth Add cocoa, egg whites, vanilla and milk, then beat well. Sift and lightly fold in flour and baking powder.
3. Divide mixture between moulds, level with the back of a spoon. Bake for 5-20 minutes.
4. For the sauce, put butter or oil in a saucepan and heat. Add chocolate powder and sugar, stir. When it looks like it's warm and thickening, add coffee and rum and heat a bit more. If it looks like it's getting too thick, add some more milk.

The pudding recipe was from Family Circle, and the sauce is an adaption of my own.

The actual sauce from the recipe

85g (3oz) Caster sugar
40g (1.5oz) cocoa
40g (1.5oz) dark chocolate, grated
2tbsp instant coffee granules

Put sugar and 4fl oz (125 ml) water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat until sugar is dissolved, then boil for a minute. Set aside to cool slightly. Add cocoa powder, chocolate and coffee. Stir over a gentle heat until smooth and glossy.

It does suggest adding 15ml rum/brandy/Cointreau/Tia Maria or Grand Marnier

Oh, and it serves four human beings if they have a tiny bit of self-restraint.

Maybe not to everyone's taste, but I like it.

Separate 3 eggs. Beat up the whites till stiff, fold in some artificial sweetener. Beat the yolks with some fromage frais and a lot of vanilla, and fold into the whites very carefully. Put into the freezer but keep going in and stirring it around to fluff it up as it starts to freeze.

I also started making yogurt, with Marvel slightly concentrated. Makes nice stiff very-low-fat yog, a bit grainy when you first take it out, but stirs up a treat, and nice with sweetener and vanilla or other flavourings.

Cooked pastry flan or crumb base.

1 tin condensed milk (boiled 4 hrs or pressure cook 50 mins).

1 large banana

Carton double cream

1 teasp instant coffee

25g castor sugar

Put toffee milk into flan case. Slice banana on top.

Whip the cream with coffee and sugar.Spread on top of flan and chill for a few hours.

Make pastry with 4oz butter, 4oz plain flour, 1oz caster sugar, 1 egg.

Push pastry into 8" flan dish (ie don't roll, just use fingertips to spread pastry throughout dish). Prick with fork. Blind bake using dried peas, pasta, etc to stop pastry rising.

Melt choc over bain marie, add cream, stir until mixed. NB, when adding cold cream to hot choc, the the choc unmelts a bit. Keep on gentle bain marie heat until choc and cream are fully blended.

Pour mix into cooled pie case and chill. Experiment with adding another spoon of cream into almost set choc mix in order to make pretty patterns with a spoon handle. Doesn't really work.

Recipe greatly improved by adding a small amount of very very strong coffee to the mix, but then I'm sucker for any coffee flavoured dessert.

I made this at a barbecue last summer. It's a reasonably well-known technique, requiring a cavalier attitude to mildly dangerous chemicals.

Ingredients

half litre of cream
a little less of milk
several spoons of sugar
couple of punnets of chopped strawberries
crumbled up choc chip biccies
about two gallons or so of liquid nitrogen

Method

Mix everything except the liquid nitry together. TRANSFER THE MIXTURE TO A METAL BOWL. Go outside. If you can't go outside, put the bowl on a wooden board and for heaven's sake be careful. Put some gloves on or something. Pour the liquid nitry slowly into the mixture, stirring madly at the same time. Help is useful here. The bowl (and, er, garden) will fill with clouds of vapour. Keep going. GRADUALLY add and quickly stir; suddenly all the stuff freezes and thickens. If you go too fast you will have lumps of ice - this is why you need lots of nitrogen. Eventually we ended up with a lumpy steaming heap of fresh choc chip'n'strawberry ice cream, which proved to be utterly delicious. Could've used more sugar though. A litre of mix makes about one and a half to two litres of ice cream. Great for parties. Allow to warm up a bit before trying, or, hey, take a chance. If there are any VERY cold bits they could burn your mouth but this didn't happen to us. It all went, you know.

Where does one, um, obtain x gallons of liquid N2?

For those of you not working with nitrogen-cooled spectrometers, you'll have to cultivate contacts in university departments or hospitals or something. We had a big two-person-carryable Dewar flask, but a thermos flask full will do enough dessert for two I should think. From experience, you might try asking your local bull semen bank nicely. That worked once for us in Orkney. Whatever, please remember NOT to put a sealed lid on your liquid nitry container, unless you want to fire it into orbit. It boils off, too, so don't leave it sitting around too long.

Also, getting it on your skin is OK, but don't dip your fingers in. It's at -196C, and will happily freeze organic material into easily-snappable form.

Also also, don't pour any you have left onto your garden - it looks like a UFO has landed, for the next 4 months.

Oh, and if any bozos ask whether it's poisonous, remind them they're breathing the stuff. You could also point out that the nitry aerates and quick-freezes the mixture, in small crystals, to give what earthlings call ice cream.

The notes say that the flavour is so delicate that it should be eaten very fresh - not normally a problem I would say :)
As for other recipes, check that the flowers smell good and pick them on a warm sunny day well after the dew has gone.

2 dozen elderflower heads
1 lemon
1.25 pt water
4oz sugar
1 egg white

Steep the flowers for about an hour in 1pt of boiling water with strips of finely pared lemon rind.
Boil the sugar vigourously with 0.25pt water and cool.
Strain the elderflower water into the syrup, stir in the juice of the lemon and freeze.
When the mixture starts to set beat or blend again and fold in the stiffly beaten egg white. Return to the freezer.
Serve straight from the freezer.

12 oz elderberries
6oz sugar
0.5pt water
juice of half a lemon

Snip berries off stalks with scissors or ping them off with a fork, a few bits of stalk don't matter. Make syrup by boiling water and sugar for 5 minutes, add berries and simmer gently until soft. Cool and then pass mixture through a fine sieve (preferably nylon), add the lemon juice and freeze.

When it starts to set beat or blend well and return to freezer.
Remove from freezer 10-15 minutes before serving [or zap it for a few seconds in the microwave if you forget].

Serves 4

4 bananas
butter
Demerara sugar
Rum
Cream

As with all flambé dishes, you want to prepare some things in advance, so place a bottle of rum and a box of matches near (but not too near) the grill, warm some desert plates, and put a jug of cream on the table. Line a grill pan with buttered foil (eg rub the foil with butter wrapper). Slice each banana in two lengthways and place on foil. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and some rum. Leave the top off the rum bottle. Grill at moderate heat until sugar starts to caramelise. Quickly pour on a little more rum, light it with a match and carry to the table. Serve with cream.

Cooking apples
Pastry
Granulated sugar and cinnamon mixed in ratio of 8 to 1

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a shallow baking tin with pastry. Peel and core the apples and slice each into six crescents. Place on pastry case in rows like this:

(((((((
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Sprinkle liberally with sugar/cinnamon mixture and bake for about 25 minutes until brown. Serve immediately.

Some blackberries. Maybe 2 or 3 pounds. I dunno, really, but anyhow preferably picked from plants that grow in partial shade, coz they're juicier and sharper that way.
1 tin of sweetened condensed milk (around about 400g, I suppose)
¼ pint of double cream.
2 egg whites
5 oz caster sugar

optional: 1 or more lemons

Find space in your freezer's FastFreeze tray, jettisoning several loaves of bread, and anonymous tubs, marked 'Stew, Oct. 1987'. Or turn the freezer department of your fridge to 'Really Bliddy Cold'. Whatever.

Put the blackberries in a big pan, add ¼ cup of water. Stew them over a low-ish heat, and squash them all up with a wooden spoon. Decide that's not enough, so get out the blender, and attack 'em with that. Put them through a sieve, to get the pips and the earwigs out. Hopefully, you've got about a pint of juice - any extra, put it to one side; it might be useful later.

Mix into the juice three-quarters of the tin of condensed milk. Whip the cream until it'll just hold its shape. Realise that what you've in fact got isn't double cream at all, but UHT single cream - and it's not going to whip in a month of Sundays. Nugger. Throw it in to the mix anyway. Taste some. Chances are, it'll be far too sweet, thanks to the condensed milk. Nugger. Stick in the rest of the blackberry juice, if you've got any, till it tastes better. If there's none left, consider lemon juice instead. Put it in the freezer. Go away and read umra for a while.

Realise you have no caster sugar. Nugger. Use ordinary sugar instead. Put the egg white & sugar into a bowl, set over a simmering pan of water, so the bottom of the bowl's in steam, not water. Whisk as though your very life depended on it, trying not to spill pan of boiling water directly onto crotch. Whisk till thick enough not to flow at all. Cool it down, whisking occasionally.

Get the ice cream mix from the freezer. Whisk that too. Fold in the meringue mix. Refreeze it. If you can really be bothered, take it out once in a while when it's half-frozen, and whisk it again. The more you do, the smoother it'll be. Or don't bother.

Eat it. Yum.

The original recipe also suggests gooseberries, plums, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, damsons or greengages can be used. I can vouch that gooseberries work very well. Some fruit will be much more acid than others, so vary the quantity of condensed milk used to suit the taste buds.

About 3lb blackberries
4 med. eggs
10 fl. oz. double cream
2 sachets gelatine (1 oz.)
sugar....

1. Stew berries with enough water to cover the bottom of the saucepan, for 10 minutes. Sieve and sweeten with caster sugar to taste. Make sure the sugar is dissolved - warm again if necessary. Leave to cool.

2. Whisk eggs together in a bowl over simmering water. Don't allow them to get too hot. They should thicken and increase in volume. Cool.

3. Dissolve gelatine in 2-3 tabsp. hot water.

4. Gently mix puree and eggs. Stir in gelatine.

5. Whisk cream with enough caster sugar to taste.

6. Fold cream into berry mixture. It's important that it is cool before you do this.

7. Refrigerate for several hours and eat some before everybody else does...

Line a 7" flan-tin (loose-bottomed if possible) with short-crust pastry.

Put a single layer of fruit of your choice over the bottom, packed as closely as possible. If the fruit is sharp, sprinkle a little sugar over it: I do for green gooseberries, but not for raspberries or dessert gooseberries.

Make a sponge: cream 1oz sugar with 1oz margarine. Add one large egg, and beat until smooth. Gently stir in 1oz self-raising flour and 1/2 oz ground almonds. (You can use all flour but the nuts give a good flavour).

Spread the sponge mix over the fruit. There will be gaps - don't worry about them.

If liked, sprinkle a little more sugar over the top.

Bake in a moderate oven (180, Gas mark4) for 35-40 minutes, until the sponge is set and a nice shade of brown.

Can be served hot or allowed to cool.

It also freezes beautifully, and thaws quickly: I make and freeze a couple when I have time, and can then produce a fancy pudd for guests with minimal effort.

from Josceline Dimbleby's Christmas book:

Celebration Ice Cream
Serves 6-8

This luxurious winter ice cream made with dried fruit, nuts and port is a real treat to look forward to at Christmas. It has a beautifully rich, smooth texture and has the advantage of not having to be stirred or whisked half-way through the freezing. It is bound to make a most popular finale to one of your family feasts! If your family really don't like Christmas pudding this can be an exciting alternative.

6 oz (150 g) currants
¼ pt (125 ml) port
4 large (size 2) eggs
¼ teaspoon (½ 2.5 ml spoon) salt
8 oz (200 g) sugar
¼ pt (125 ml) water
4 oz (100 g) shelled walnuts - roughly chopped
2 oz (50 g) chopped candied peel
2 oz (50 g) glace cherries - roughly chopped
½ pt (250 ml) double or whipping cream
a few nuts and halved glace cherries and angelica for decoration (optional)

Put the currants and port into a saucepan and heat to simmering. Remove from heat and leave until the port is cool. Put the eggs and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk until frothy. Put the sugar and water into a small saucepan. Bring to the boil and boil fiercely for 3 minutes. Immediately, pour this syrup in a thin stream on the frothy eggs while whisking all the time at high speed (an electric whisk is easiest for this but if you have only a hand one try to get someone else to pour the sugar syrup in, while you whisk). To help the mixture cool quickly, put the hot bowl in a sink of cold water and stir. Whip the cream until thick but not stiff. Stir the currants, port, nuts, peel and cherries into the cooled egg mixture and lastly fold in the whipped cream. Transfer to a serving bowl and freeze. When frozen decorate, if you like, with cherries, nuts and cut-out leaves of angelica.

This comes from a Josceline Dimbelby book. She calls it Iced Lemon Souffle in a Chocolate Case, but it is known as Lemon Victoria in my family cos my niece likes it so much. She also called the chocolate shavings on top of it a chocolate bonfire (she was very young at the time) You need:

6 oz (175g) plain chocolate, plus extra for decoration
3 tbs. (3 x 15 ml spoon) water
.5 oz (15g) butter
grated rind and juice of 2 large lemons
6 oz (175g) castor sugar
4 large eggs (size 1-2) separated
.5 oz (15g) gelatine
.5 pint (300 ml) double cream

Oil a 7.5-8inch (19-20cm) loose based cake tin well and line the base with a disc of oiled greaseproof paper. Break up the chocolate and melt with 1 tablespoon (15 ml spoon) of the water in a double saucepan or a bowl set over a pan of hot water. When melted stir in the butter. Spoon the chocolate on to the base of the cake tin and spread up the sides of the tin, leaving a rough and uneven edge. Leave to become firm while you make the souffle.

Grate the lemon rind finely. Add the grated lemon rind and the caster sugar to the egg yolks and whisk until the mixture is pale and thick. Squeeze the lemon juice into a saucepan and add the remaining 2 tablespoons (2 x 15 ml spoons) water. Sprinkle in the gelatine and dissolve in the liquid over a gentle heat but don't let it boil. Pour the hot liquid slowly onto the egg yolk mixture, whisking all the time. Continue to whisk until cooled a bit and just beginning to thicken. Whisk the cream until thick but not stiff and fold into the lemon mixture. Then whisk the egg whites until they stand in soft peaks and fold in with a metal spoon. Pour into the chocolate lined tin - the edge of the chocolate should be a little above the top of the souffle. Freeze for at least 2 hours.

To unmould, rub the sides of the frozen tin with a hot cloth and then, using a small and very sharp knife, cut down between the chocolate sides and the tin until it is loosened enough all round to push up (I find the easiest way is to put the tin on the top of a jam jar and then push down). Separate the chocolate base from the base of the tin with a knife if necessary and then carefully peel off the greaseproof paper. Put on a serving dish and refreeze until about 1 hour before you eat; then decorate the souffle top with chocolate shavings and move the souffle to the main part of the fridge, as it is most delicious eaten very cold, but not quite frozen.

For when you don't have time to make a Bombe Favourite

1) Break up your meringue into lumps
2) Whip some double cream (ideally about the same volume cream as meringue)
3) Roughly chop a generous quantity of dark chocolate
4) Just before you want to eat it, mix them together.

My mother always said this was the only recipe she had ever taken out of a novel. History doesn't relate which novel it was.

Pumpkin Pie is the way to go. What follows is from the Joy of Sex^H^H^HCooking, so apologies for the US quantities. First cook your pumpkin:

Cut it in half equatorially, remove all the seeds(1) and strings, then place cut side down in a baking pan and bake at 325 F for an hour or more until it is tender and begins to fall apart. Scrape the pulp from the shell and put through a ricer, strainer or blender. Once cooled, this pulp can be frozen if you have a surplus. If it is watery (which can happen if the pumpkins get too big) then drain off some of the liquid before freezing or using to cook.

To make a single crust 9 inch pie:

Line a pie pan with pie dough (I can post a recipe for this if you don't have an existing favourite)

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Mix until well blended:
2 cups cooked pumpkin
1 1/2 cups rich (double) cream (or 1 1/2 cups sour cream and 2 tablespoons of molasses)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 slightly beaten eggs

Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Bake 15 minutes at 425 then reduce temperature to 350 and bake about 45 minutes longer or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream flavoured with Bourbon.

(1) these can be tossed in a little oil, placed on a baking tray, sprinkled with salt and roasted as a pre-dinner snack, but they never seem to come out very well.

Warning: Contains raw eggs and nuts.
Another warning: Tastes so good, you have to eat it all up.

Base:

4oz /110 g butter or marg
2oz/50g brown sugar
3oz/75g plain whole meal flour
3oz/75g ground almonds

Topping:

2 eggs separated
2oz/50g light raw cane sugar
6oz/175g cream cheese
6oz/175g curd cheese
Half teaspoon vanilla essence
4oz/110g raisins soaked in 3 tablespoons rum
Quarter pint/150ml double cream

Heat oven to Gas 4/350F/180C
Put the raisins to soak

Base
Cream the fat and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in flour and ground almonds and beat the mixture to make a dough. Press the dough into an 8 inch round greased cake tin, prefferably with a removable base (I use one of those spring apart ones). Bake for 15 mins or until the base is brown and well cooked.

Meanwhile prepare the filling. Beat the yolks with 1oz/25g of the sugar then beat in the cheeses, vanilla essence and soaked raisins and rum. Whip the cream and fold into the mixture. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and beat in the remaining 1oz/25g sugar. Fold the whites carefully into the cheesecake mixture. Spoon the filling over the COOLED base and chill the cheesecake for 4-5 hours or overnight until it has set.

1/2 pint double cream
1/4 pint single cream
1tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tbsp treacle (I'm guessing black)
2 oz icing sugar
12 oz mixed dried fruit
2 tbsp sherry (just noticed that, so there is booze in it)
2 oz glace cherries quartered
2 oz sliced almonds

Whip double cream until it holds its shape, beat in single cream.

The method then goes blank after that. I'll wait until Mrs. Hall gets home from the shops. Talk amongst yourselves for a while.

Right she's back.

Mix all the rest together. Fold them in. Freeze it, until it's, like, frozen.

6 oz of a combination of any of the following: rasins, currants, glace orange, glace cherries, marons glaces
4 tbs rum
1/2 pt single cream
5 egg yolks
5 oz caster sugar
4 oz unsweetened chestnut puree(tinned)
4 oz bitter chocolate
1/2 pt double cream

Chop dried fruit and glace fruits roughly and soak in rum.
Heat single cream to near boiling point, pour onto egg yolks mixed with sugar and teturn to pan. Stir over gentle heat till custard thickens but donot allow to boil.

When custard has thickened add chestnut puree and chocolate and stir well until dissolved and the custard is quite smooth. Test for sweetness and leave to cool. Then mix in rum-soaked fruit and fold in whipped double cream.

Line a pudding basin with foil or film and pour in mixure, wrap and freeze. You can lift out of basin after 24 hours if you need the basin.

To serve remove from freezer about an hour before serving. Unwrap and leave in fridge until ready to eat it.

I used to make two at a time, doubling the quantities.

3/4 1lb curd cheese
5 oz single cream
digestive biscuits
cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 eggs

Grease and flour tin
Separate eggs
Beat yolks into cheese, cream and sugar
Stir in flour
Crumble digestives on to base of cake tin
Whip whites until they slide out in one
Fold whites into cheese, cream, sugar, yolks
You can add some sultanas. The Baegel place in Brick Lane has it with sultanas in.
Pour onto digestives
Bake at about 180 electric until a skewer emerges not gooey.

Don't ask what size cups :) I used to use tea cups. Actually Mum's version had cream cheese instead of cream, but I like it a bit softer.

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