COOKBOOKS GALORE

  One of my favourite French desserts is a Charlotte, and I had a tin of pears which needed using and a recipe from a French neighbour for making a chocolate and pear one. It doesn't need cooking, just chilling. I bought a Charlotte mould when living there, but you can use any deep cake tin. It's simple to make and delicious. Charlottes can also be made with bread. You need: a large packet of boudoir biscuits [sponge fingers] or make your own  200ml whipping cream a sachet of vanilla sugar [about 1 tbspn] large tin of pears in syrup 150g dark chocolate 4 egg yolks Open can of pears and pour syrup into a small bowl and slice the pears. Dip the boudoir biscuits into the syrup and line a Charlotte mould with them, keeping some back for the top. Using an electric hand beater, beat the cream and vanilla sugar together till it's thick. Melt the chocolate over a low heat. Turn the heat off and add the egg yolks, beating together till the mixture cools. Add the cream and mix togeth...

My family came yesterday and they love desserts, especially anything with lemon. I wanted to make something different from my usual lemon meringue or tart, so as I had a large packet of boudoir biscuits in the cupboard, decided to try and make a lemon tiramisu. I found a recipe online, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I used both fresh lemons [from my tree in the greenhouse ] and lemon curd to give a good lemony flavour, as well as the small amount of Limoncello that was left in the bottle! I used: 250g boudoir biscuits, 250g mascarpone, 2 lemons, 3 eggs, 100g caster sugar, 20cl whipping cream, 3 tbspn lemon curd and 4 tbspn Limoncello. Cut one lemon in half and squeeze out the juice; mix this with 50g of the sugar and the Limoncello. Zest the other lemon finely. Whip the cream till it gets thick.  Separate the eggs and beat the whites till firm peaks, then beat the yolks with the other 50g of sugar till the mixture is white. Add the mascarpone, lemon curd ...

Having got back from our Lake District break on Saturday, my friend J asked if I'd make something a bit special for her sister's birthday. I know her sister loves anything with lemon in it, and I'd recently seen this recipe in an old French magazine. Also I had just enough Limoncello in the bottle. and it needed using. I seemed to have used an awful lot of bowls! I've never been a great fan of tiramisu, but I like the idea of a lemon one.  I used a small square loose-bottomed tin with deep sides to put the dessert together. Juice and zest a lemon and in a bowl mix the juice with 50g of caster sugar and 4 tbspns of Limoncello. Keep the zest for later. Separate 3 eggs and beat the whites into stiff peaks. In another bowl whip 20cl of whipping  cream till thick - the cream needs to be very cold to do this. In yet another bowl mix together 50g caster sugar, 250g mascarpone cheese, the 3 egg yolks, and most of the lemon zest. Add the whipped cream and ...

One of my favourite French desserts is a Charlotte, and I had a tin of pears which needed using and a recipe from a French neighbour for making a chocolate and pear one. It doesn't need cooking, just chilling. I bought a Charlotte mould when living there, but you can use any deep cake tin. It's simple to make and delicious. Charlottes can also be made with bread. You need: a large packet of boudoir biscuits [sponge fingers] or make your own  200ml cream a sachet of vanilla sugar [about 1 tbspn] large tin of pears in syrup 150g dark chocolate 4 egg yolks Open can of pears and pour syrup into a small bowl and slice the pears. Dip the boudoir biscuits into the syrup and line a Charlotte mould with them, keeping some back for the top. Using an electric hand beater, beat the cream and vanilla sugar together till it's thick. Melt the chocolate over a low heat. Turn the heat off and add the egg yolks, beating together till the mixture cools. Add the ...