An Earl Grey Possett for your Valentine's perhaps?

A divine Earl Grey Possett...swoon....sigh......

ELIZABETHAN POSSET:

OED definition is: Drink made of hot milk curdled with ale, wine etc (sounds charming....) formerly used much as a remedy for colds. In the Elizabethan era it became the recipe you see below...a more refined pudding in the truest Blighty tradition.

OK I’ve said some of my other desserts/puddings here were simple but this beats them all….4 ingredients (you can even make it 3 if you want to exclude the tea flavouring and just have it as a Lemon Possett) and 3 minutes of cooking and a really impressive and divine dessert results!! Sure to impress your beloved on Valentine’s Day!!

INGREDIENTS:

Makes 4 servings.

 

3 1/2oz/ mounded half cup sugar (I used organic slightly brown sugar but if you want your posset the palest of colours then use white)

1 1/2 cups/12 fl oz heavy/double cream

1 tablespoon of the best, most perfumed Earl Grey tea you can find
(it doesn't have to be Earl Grey - it can be any tea you like but Earl Grey is so romantic!)

3 tablespoons lemon juice (from one lemon) - organic preferably, so you can use the peel for glacee'ing (is that a word?) if you'd like. 

METHOD:

1. Put cream, sugar and tea in a heavy bottomed pan.

2. Warm to just barely boiling

3. Simmer very gently for 3 minutes and stir occasionally to prevent stickage.

4. Strain into a bowl, some flecks of the tea may go through the strainer - that's OK - it looks quite pretty - then gently and slowly whisk in the lemon juice dribble by dribble…be in awe as the mixture starts to thicken - you can stir instead of whisk but as I found when you whisk it gives you a nice bubbly surface on the creams as they set and when served in a teacup look like a frothy cuppa as seen below :)
5. Pour into small, ½ cup containers and allow to cool then pop

into the fridgerdator (tee hee) for about 4 hours until completely set.

6. I still am in awe of how this dessert sets with just the lemon juice.

WHAT a sublimely delicious, smooth, luxurious treat this is....PLEASE do try it sometime.

I embellished mine with candied/glaceed lemon peel:

which is simply a combination of peel, water and sugar:

as I have my wood stove cranked during this period of Arctic bleakness and vast episodes of heavy snow I utilize the heat to make candied/glaceed peel from any and all organic oranges and lemons that come through the house - I simply save the peels and then boil, boil, boil them in a simple syrup of one cup of water to one cup of sugar in a small pan and keep adding water and sugar as I see fit when the mixture reduces down, I let it boil down maybe 4 or 5 times to a thickish syrup then fill again with water - not at all scientific but eventually the peel softens, becomes translucent, tastes really good when you fish out a piece and allow it cool - beware this stuff is screaming hot -  and when the syrup boils down to a bubbly thickness after you decide it is ready - keep your eyes peeled on the pan as if it burns the house will smell for days and you've lost your lovely peel -  then I strain and roll the peel in more sugar and leave on a plate on a shelf above the stove to dry out - doesn't usually get much chance to do so as James and I are both rather fond of this and it disappear quite quickly.

 I save the sugar syrup from the straining in a jar to help start the next batch off in good stead.

In the background of these pics are my fabrics EUROPA and BLUE RHAPSODY - click on the names to go to my online shop - Thank YOU!!!

Meanwhile outside in Maine:

The snow has been piling up....

and the sculpture has been disappearing:

          As of this Valentine's evening we should be seeing yet another 1 or 2 feet of snow arriving and settling on top of the already 4 feet we have right now - I love a good blizzard and can't wait to cosy down and eat my possett!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!

Green Hive Honey Farms Valentine's Special Edition packaging..."Honey BEE Mine"

 

Here is the finished product "Honey Bee Mine" how can you resist buying this for YOUR Honey for Valentine's Day? A jar of Green Hive Honey Farms Raw Honey with 4oz of delicious Honeycomb, a special label, a heart shaped tag, a cellophane bag, dried rosebuds, a sparkly ribbon and the inestimable addition of a handmade tissue paper

paeonia on the top?

 I started by designing a special label based off the original design I created a few months ago...of course it still had to be on a pastel pink background but this time we choose a round label because of the softness of the shape...no sharp corners here!

Next I created a heart shaped hang tag which is tied with a ribbon to the package - you can write your love note on the back...how sweet!

Above is one of the first try-outs which was greatly liked but not practical for packing or shipping and the label was just to get a feel for the direction 

My work surface covered in Valentine's accoutrements.....

My first two tissue paper paeonias - so easy to make - and some lovely dried rosebuds

from the Belfast Coop

 

and more paeonias...I need to make quite a lot but they are very satisfying and soothing to make... did I EVER mention how much I like pink?

 I couldn't resist sharing this picture....my favourite colour combination...YUM!!

Tweet

Pink, red, butter, sugar........CAKE!!

HONESTLY...is this corny enough for you? For those of you in Blighty these are Valentine Candy Corns...in case you don't get the oh so subtle joke there!!

Lucie and I decided for Valentine's Day we would decorate some cupcakes..above are our Valentine's sugary accoutrements!!

and the essential buckets o'buttercream...yes that is chocolate buttercream...I do like chocolate in that instance...and also in chocolate mousse so long as it is not too dark, I am a milk chocolate person, I know it isn't trendy or hip to be so but I have accepted that fact about myself and now I feel I can move forward with my head held high!! Tee hee

Voila...my pink and brown cupcakes...ah yes that is a chocolate truffle, homemade of course, atop one of the cupcakes pink icing...and a chocolate buttercream rose, which, even though I say it myself, I am quite pleased with...buttercream roses are not so easy to do as the Youtube videos I have viewed for technique portray!!

...and here is Lucie's Plate O"Cupcakes...aren't they lovely!!! Well done Lucie!!
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!!

Put a little Earth Day in your Valentine's Day!!

Why not consider buying your Honey, and that Honey may well be yourself, a ceramic mug, travelling mug or reusable water bottle for Valentine's Day? Here is a small selection of my Valentine's worthy designs from my Cafe Press online store
I was just Googling the statistics on disposable cup and water bottle use and the numbers were too big and frightening for me to get my head around so instead of wielding insurmountable numbers here why not just consider how much good you can do as one individual just by taking your own mug, with a design by yours truly of course, to the deli or coffee shop or refilling your own water bottle with tap water, we filter ours in a Brita jug, instead of buying bottled water??

SIGG aluminum bottle with special non-toxic lining that doesn't impart a flavour to your water, available in o.6 and 1.0 litre sizes..adorned with my Red Heart Scandinavian style Folkloric Design...good for both Valentine's and Christmas....my longest titled design thus far!!

A SIGG with a lily.....

My Pink Pansy on a large mug......................

and "Be My Cupcake" on a ceramic traveling mug...nice hot coffee to go with a no-calorie cupcake!!
If you order from my print-on-demand online store (no inventory no waste...everything is printed to order which is just great!!) you can ship direct to your Honey's home or business just in time for Valentine's Day!! Thanks for taking a look

A FOOL for Valentine's Day!!!

Is this a Fool or a Whim Wham...that is the question!

After reading through various books and tearsheets I realized that Fool and Whim Wham are somewhat interchangeable although Fool leans more to crushed fruit and luscious whipped cream gently folded together and Whim Wham tends towards custard, cream and crushed fruit with the excellent added addition of almond macaroons. I have to admit I swooned towards the Whim Wham but, of course, I wanted to use Fool in the title as it works so well with the whole concept of Valentine's Day!!! Tee Hee

Here is the recipe, which honestly is not at all unlike the trifle recipe below...the jelly/jello being the noteable absence.......please make in order...

MACAROONY PART:
2ozs ground almonds
2ozs fine sugar (I actually grind the sugar and almonds together in a coffee grinder to get them finer than they come from the store...the almonds don't go oily if you combine them evenly with the sugar and don't grind for too long).
2 egg whites...whisked to quite dry/stiff peaks
1 teaspoon rose water (not necessary if you can't find it but it does add a certain 'je ne c'est quoi')
Very simply gently blend all ingredients together so as not to deflate the whisked egg whites then drop in small mounds onto a greased baking sheet and cook in a slow oven ie about 275F for about 30-40 minutes until somewhat browned and 'dry'....the net result should be a very crunchy cookie/biscuit to crumble in with the Fool, allow to cool completely before you use them so they are nice and crisp.

CUSTARD/english custard/creme patisserie/pastry cream:
FINALLY, I have found a pastry cream that actually sets when cold, I tried about 3 other recipes that SAID the custard would set when cold but they didn't...this one WORKS!!!, and really well but you have to be vigilant!
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of sugar
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of regular flour
1 tablespoon of cornstarch (cornflour for the Brits)
1. Combine the milk, vanilla and 1/4 cup of sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. In a bowl beat the egg and extra yolks with the remaining sugar until thick.
3. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch into yolk mixture and beat until well mixed and smooth.
4. Beat half the hot milk into the yolk mix until combined and smooth.
5. Then pour this into the remaining hot mixture in the pan.
6. HERE IS THE VIGILANT PART, keep your eyeballs peeled and whisk moving like the clappers!!! Bring the custard to a quick boil, whisking, whisking, whisking and as soon as it thickens..., take off the heat and whisk until it starts to cool....put pan in a bowl of cold water and continue to whisk until cold...you don't have to do it non-stop, but pretty often to prevent a skin from forming....when I was little if there was a skin on the custard it made me gag,

so don't go there!!!

WHIPPED CREAM:

Preferably organic and about 12 fl. oz of such with a little added sugar to taste and perhaps a teaspoon of vanilla extract/essence

FRUITY PART:

I chose raspberries for my Fool, a package of frozen organic ones which I put into a bowl, sprinkled with sugar and let steep and macerate whilst I proceeded with the rest of the recipe.

You can do strawberries or most traditionally gooseberries if you can find them.

ASSEMBLAGE:

In a tall glass layer the whipped cream, then the custard, then the crushed fruit, then the crumbled macaroons til the glass is elegantly full....add a macaroon to the top...consume!!

DID YOU KNOW??

In Medieval Europe lovers gave one another sprigs of YARROW at the beginning of a Valentine's Day dinner which if they wilted by the end of the repast, meant the love affair was doomed, DOOMED I tell you....now where do you get yarrow at this time of the year in Maine??

(This information courtesy of Gourmet Mag Feb 2008)

The Pink Cupcake illustration by Patricia Shea and a recipe for Bishop's Cake!!

The original cupcake baked, iced 15 times and photographed by yours truly!

My iconic Pink Cupcake illustration - so glad I created this little treasure :)


 I baked the cupcake....Bishops poundcake from the original Silver Palate, nice and moist and dense, then I iced the cupcake, about 15 times to get the perfect swirl, with regular old buttercream icing made of Amish butter (always salted for me) and confectioner's/icing sugar with a little bit of beetroot powder from the Belfast Food Co-op...the taste of red dye #5 leaves a horrid taste in my mouth so I tried this and sadly wasn't that impressed....hey, but I tried!! THEN I photographed the cupcake, as above, then I added a cherry via Photoshop, then I ate the cake and it's companions, then..................
...I illustrated the cupcake and now I feel that Pattern Patisserie is finally christened with true illustration and cake combined!!! Hooray!!

This illustration in it's many incarnations is also available in my Society6 shop  as large prints, stretched canvases, framed prints, iPhone cases, iPad cases and pillows, my European Envelop shop on oven gloves, aprons, placements, totes and more, my Spoonflower shop on fabric, wallpaper, decals and wrapping paper, my Etsy shop on archival posters and stickers, my Greeting Card Universe shop for, you guessed it, greetings cards - you can have them printed at a local Target and pick up the same day avoiding shipping costs, there are some items also at my Zazzle shop and 
 lots of items at my CafePress shop always :)

 Here I am illustrating the lettering for the Valentine's 'edition'. I am planning on doing a series of these bake, photograph, eat, illustrate dessert paintings...do you have any suggestions?

and here are a few items from my CafePress shop:

Awwwww...Freshly Baked Pink Cupcake Baby Gown HERE

Durable Cotton Tote Bag HERE

Pink Cupcake Samsung Galaxy Note 2 HERE

Pink Cupcake Jim Jams HERE

Pink Cupcake Cocktail accoutrements: shaker, wine cooler, small cocktail plates, napkins, trays HERE

 Now I must go and maybe make some more cupcakes as I am drooling looking at these pictures......Happy Cupcakeing to you all!!!

BISHOP'S CAKE RECIPE..simple and delicious!!

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz (2 sticks) butter, I always use salted but I know a lot of people use sweet...your choice

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups unbleached flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (essence)

5 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350F and have your cupcake cases ready to go...

2. Cream butter and sugar together 'til fluffy and light

3. Sift flour and fold in to butter mix gently and just enough to blend

4. Add vanilla and blend, then add eggs one by one and mix well but gently after each addition

5. Fill cupcake cases 2/3 full and bake 'til a skewer comes out clean. Check after 25 minutes....for the full size cake the time is 1 hour and 15 minutes so for the cupcakes you need to guesstimate as they'll vary with the size of cupcake you are making.

6. I iced mine with plain old buttercream but you can go any way you want!!!

Please consider joining me at Facebook for updates on my artwork, new products, British 'pudding'(dessert) recipes and pictures of beautiful Maine, here's a link to my Patricia Shea Designs page - thanks!!!

PatriciaSheaDesigns