Absinthe Cookies: yes, they really are a thing.

Wholefoods and generous friends to the rescue! Right?!

Except that they're not. 

Or they weren't until I invented them. Or , more correctly, until I invented 'Absinthe flour-free chocolate cake mushed up with a bit of cream cheese frosting (cake pop style) then pressed and cut into cookie sized shapes before being dolloped with a generous portion of Channel Islands cream flavoured with Cointreau and then smothered with green edible (but not digestible!) glitter'.

And despite getting a 'special mention' by the judging panel, they are unlikely to be a thing ever again.

I had a flourless chocolate cake flavoured with Absinthe. "I know! I'll cut it into stars and serve that as a course," I thought. "Everyone likes chocolate; Absinthe will make me look really glamorous, exotic and adventurous; and cutting dense cake into shapes with cookie cutters is dead simple."

I had a minor panic when I realised that I couldn't get enough servings using the cutter I'd chosen. Then, while I contemplated what to do I nibbled at some crumbs. That was when total and utter disaster struck - turns out, I really don't like Absinthe.

For reasons that seemed sensible at the time, I crumbled up the cake, stirred in a basic cream cheese frosting with a big of cocoa, mushed it all together and then rolled it out until it was about 5mm thick. Then I froze it briefly to make it easier to cut. After a bit I pulled it out if the freezer, cut into stars and layered it into a box with greaseproof paper to separate.

Stolen from little swallow : china doll with many thanks

When serving up I laid the 'cookies' on the plate and tried to smother them with the ridiculously delicious Cointreau cream I'd impulse bought while waiting for a delivery earlier in the evening. Then sous chef B took control and enthusiastically smothered them in green glitter.

I have never felt so uncomfortable as I do when serving people something I've made which I don't like. It's just not right.

They were really difficult to pick up and they were horrid. Well, they were horrid to someone who doesn't like Absinthe. But I totally would have licked the cream and glitter off each and every one of them!

Strawberry Tart: And then there were four...

This is the vibe I was aiming for

At our most recent Supperclub Petal served us a delicious strawberry tart with a balsamic, honey glaze, served with lashings of cream of course.

It was so simple and delicious that it seemed like an ideal fruity option to add to the menu, which could be easily turned into individual portions.

The carnage which followed just serves as evidence as to why I shouldn't experiment when cooking for others...

I had oh so carefully prepared my circles of pastry & my glaze - everything that could be chopped, mixed or baked ahead of time was neatly tucked into containers and packed into carry bags like a puzzle for OC bakers. I'd even got a little crazy and added some pepper to the glaze. I'd toyed with the idea of basil cream but thought better before I clogged our arteries completely.

As we began the prep, I laid the pastry into a greased. shallow cupcake tray, sliced the strawberries and strategically laid them into the tarts, and then handed them over to my sous chef B who gently painted them with glaze before I unceremoniously shoved the lit in the oven. 

B made an admirable rescue effort after I left them ...

When they emerged a little later - cook them until the pastry browns I figured - the strawberries had unattractively shrivelled (as they do), and the glaze had puddled in the base.

As midnight rapidly approached, I made an uncharacteristically rapid decision and decided not to serve them. It's fortunate I did, as when I returned to them later I found them stuck to the tin. Such an event would have sent me into meltdown pre-2013, but the new year brought with it a more relaxed, more mature outlook on the world (and by then I realised that 2 desserts each would have been plenty...)

I have no advice other than 'don't do what I did'. I will however be trying this again in summer - firmly sticking to the recipe!

Lemon Posset-y: Simple, tart indulgence

The New Year's Eve pudding-fest just keeps rolling ...

I knew I wanted something tart (in addition to the tarts) and originally was looking for an excuse to use up my lemon curd - ideally a lemon cheesecake with a curd swirl through it. 

Despite my best intentions practicality took over and I decided to go for something simple ... but keeping the digestive crust which is possibly my favourite part of any dessert. 

After lots of googling I decided to adapt the recipe from this article - ironically about the best summer ingredients. Why this one? Well, the author Simon Hopkinson was first served it by Lucy Crabb who was one of the chefs with who he and Terence Conran started Bibendum. And I am fascinated by Bibendum for so many reason - it, and the Michelin Building really is Terence to me.

But back to the cream and sugar etc.

I had already decided to serve this in small plastic wine glasses. Apart from looking pretty (though I did have my doubts about that) I was short on dishes and keen to save on the washing up.

Lemon Posset-y
Makes 10 small-ish servings in plastic wine glasses

Base 11 digestive biscuits
100g melted butter

Mix and fill bottom of glasses/ramekins. I left these in the fridge overnight. It probably doesn't need that long, but they should have a good hour in the fridge.

Posset
600ml double cream
165g caster sugar
150ml lemon juice (approx 3 lemons)

In a large pan, bring the cream and sugar to the boil and continue boiling for 3 minutes. The article makes note, as do I, that a large pan is important as the cream drastically expands as it boils.

Remove pan from heat and whisk in lemon juice. At this point I took a tip from another article (which for the life of me I cannot remember) and sat the pan in some cold water to cool the mix down a little. Strain through a fine sieve - I'm not entirely sure why this step is necessary, but perhaps I was luckier than most and didn't end up with any lumps. I strained into my mixing bowl which has a spout - it's just so useful for so many things, especially pouring into glasses or ramekins.

When I poured my mix in it stirred up some of the  crumbs from the bottom which is not ideal. not sure how to fix this one other than making sure the crust is firmly squashed down and pouring the mix in gently.

Tap the bottom of the glasses/dishes/whatever against the bench-top to get rid of any bubbles.

Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Garnish

I made an attempt at candied lemon peel based on this recipe from smitten kitchen ... admittedly, they didn't quite work out, but even so I wouldn't bother again...

Nutty Balls: An unassuming champion

In the foodie feast that was New Year's Eve 2012 ... On a side note, it feels wrong to write 2012 when it was actually the eve of 2013, though my figuring is that it was New Year's Eve in 2012 and I shall stick with that until Google tells me differently ... but back to our gluttonous celebrations ...

Despite the effusive praise heaped upon the those marvellous meringues and luscious lemon possets there was a small little sweet treat that made its appearance after everything had been cleared away, after we all insisted that we never wanted to look at food ever again, that seems to have been the dark horse.

My New Year crush (Please note those awfully healthy apples in the background)

Small melting mouthfuls that are suitable for eating at any time of the day (honest) these 'Cashew Butter Balls', now affectionately known as 'Nutty Balls' - variations of which are called Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Polvorones - came to my attention the weekend before Christmas and my life has been the better for it.

Perhaps as I write more, and more frequently, my utter devotion to Smitten Kitchen will become a wee bit obvious. I love Deb's style of writing, I love the way she photographs her food, I love her somewhat obsessive nature, I love that we have quite different tastes. 

I also love cashews. When – in her post about these mouthfuls of melting yumminess – Deb wrote "...I’ve never made them or absolutely anything else with cashews because I don’t much care for cashews", I was mildly appalled, before figuring that if these had converted her, even momentarily, it was rather likely that I would not be averse to their charms.

I made these as Christmas gifts, I took them with me on Christmas Day, and at last, triumphantly they made their full public debut as 2013 dawned. 

My advice: take the cashews out of the oven before they're done and/or take them off the hot tray immediately; I prefer to roll the biscuits by hand; the sugaring is fiddly but worth spending the time; and never, ever, think that you've made too many - there is no such thing.

I don’t think I can improve on Deb’s recipe – not yet at least -  though I thoroughly intend to try her many variations as soon as humanely possible.