Starbucks on a Sunday

 

Date: 15/9/2013

Background: What is better than a lazy rainy Sunday than chatting with coffee and cake? Nothing, that’s what! Unless maybe we took away the rain?

What: Cinnamon Swirl

How much?:  £2.50?

What was Good: For someone who is not normally a pastry person, this really caught my eye! With its topping of white smooth icing and golden flaky dough, I really wanted to eat it as soon as I saw it! What I love most about eating this delicious sweet bready delight, is getting to slowly unfurl it from itself, so you get the changing texture from firm yet chewy on the outside, to soft and light, melt-in-the-mouth in the middle. And the squidgy fruit and tangy orange cream cheese icing added to the great delight I gained from choosing this confection over my usual chocolate/muffin option.

What was Bad: I probably would have enjoyed a touch more cinnamon actually. But otherwise, next time I go to Starbucks, I will definitely be choosing a Cinnamon whirl again!

Would I have it again: See above. Yes I certainly would!

Waffle-o-meter:

Hola Chicas/Chicos!

I am back in the sunny, warm, fragrant country that is England after spending a week (7 nights) with my fl8ies in Majorca! I have had severe blog withdrawal symptoms…

We were staying in the lovely hotel that is the Hi! Bouganvilla ApartHotel in Sa Coma, Majorca, a massive 600 room family hotel comprising of studios and apartments, whereby we enjoyed 5 swimming pools, 2 restaurants, 2 bars and an all inclusive breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet!

Majorca 2012 :-) VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Pudding wise, the holiday was a real mixed bag. The BEST puddingy aspect was the most amazing caberet act of The Sundaes, 3 hilariously delicious ladies- Vanilla, Strawberry and Chocolate who entertained us the whole evening with the music selection that only a misery guts could resist singing along to! You may even remember them from Britain’s Got Talent 2012? 

Sadly, the rest of the holiday failed to deliver on the pudding front… If you have watched Peter Kay you may remember his joke about being at a party and having the ‘Scooby Doo’ effect of voulevants, quiche, chicken legs, voulevants, quiche, chicken legs… etc. Well disappointingly at the Bougenvilla, it went a little like, generic mousse cake, generic blamonge, generic fruity pastry concoction, generic mousse cake, generic blamonge, generic fruity pastry concoction.. but this was repeated on a daily basis… without fail.. with little variation. Usually with some tinned fruit cocktail on the side, and pots of ice cream that are gone in one teaspoon full!

But those puddings sound amazing, I hear you cry. But I am afraid the distinct lack of flavour and unusual texture combinations, not to mention the repetitiveness of it all, meant that although it always LOOKED nice, it certainly didn’t live up to my eatible expectations.

I may sound very ungrateful, and trust me, the food itself minus pudding was a winner, there was so much choice and it was so exciting each day waiting to see what will be on the menu for us to choose (a WIIIDE selection of combinations) of. But when a pudding-obsessive like myself goes on holiday, I would love and adore some tantalising gastronomic extravaganza to happen on my plate! I am ashamed to admit that on more than 1 occasion I went without pudding altogether!

 

We celebrated my friend Emily's 21st Birthday whilst on holiday. So I made a makeshift birthday pudding platter for her so that we could be really embaressing and sing happy birthday. This is another example of the hotel's food looking pretty! It consisted of generic pastry fruit concoction, generic sponge cake, watermelon triangles, grapes and pink grapefruit segments! Emily liked it anyway! :D

 

On our last ever day, my friend Louise and I did have a deliciously decadent and long awaited ice cream from Restaurante El Sol, by the beach in Sa Coma. Two scoops of ice cream (I indulged in Dulche de Leche and Chocolate) for 2,50€ was money well spent in my opinion! Oh yeah and we ate it on a hired 4 wheeled bike!

 

So please do not let my pudding snob ways deter you from choosing the Hi! Bouganvilla ApartHotel as your holiday destination in 2013, they gave us one of the most memorable weeks of our lives when we stayed there!

Mary Berry’s Apple Pie- Guest Post by Hannah Wood :-) [How To Make]

 

This is another exciting first for my Did Somebody Say Pudding? After getting very excited seeing my friend Hannah on FB making a yummy looking Mary Berry pudding, I asked her if she would like to do a guest blog for me. A lovely way of getting a different perspective and spicing up my blog a bit! Luckily she said yes and this is her finished review! ENJOY!

AMY X

Date: 22/9/12

Background: As the apple tree in my garden was looking a bit full, I decided to make a pudding using my (mothers) own home grown. I always make a crumble with these apples so decided on trying something different. As I am totally obsessed with Great British Bake-Off, I dug out one of my Mary Berry cookbooks and found a very easy recipe for Apple Pie.. Bingo!

What: Classic Apple Pie.. sadly this was no Mr Kipling

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How To Make:

Serves 8

PASTRY

• 225g (8oz) plain flour
• 150g (5oz) cold butter, cubed
• 25g (1oz) caster sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1-2 tablespoons water

FILLING

• 1.3kg (3lb) bramley cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced into ¼”slices
• 175g (6oz) caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg , beaten for glazing

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 200C/180Fan/Gas 6. You will need a deep pie dish that measures 19cm (7 ½ “) base 24cm (9 ½ “) top and 5cm (2”) deep

1. To make the Pastry. Measure the flour, butter and caster sugar in to a processor and whiz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water and whiz again until it forms a ball. The dough will weigh 450g. Divide the pastry into 250g and 200g pieces.
2. Roll out the 250g piece very thinly and line the base of the dish, including the sides and leave a little over hang.
3. Mix the sliced apples with the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, spoon them into the base of the dish. The apples will be higher than the pastry as they will sink down during cooking.
4. Roll out the remaining pastry slightly bigger than the surface of the dish. Brush the edges of the pastry with water then sit the pastry on top and gently push down to seal the edges. Using a small sharp knife trim the edge and crimp the sides. Roll out any left over pastry and use for decoration. Brush the pie with beaten egg.
5. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
6. Remove from the oven and cool a little before sprinkling with a little extra caster sugar. Serve warm with custard, cream or ice cream!

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What was Good: The recipe is very simple and doesn't take long to make at all. As I haven't quite entered the 21st century yet I made the pastry using my hands, an extra personal touch! The pastry was the nicest I have ever made; I've never used egg before and I believe this gave it the extra something. The cinnamon also gave the apples a lovely extra kick.

What was Bad: The recipe didn't say to cook the apples slightly before; I would definitely recommend doing this because after the cooking time, they were still a little hard. It also didn't recommend a blind bake before the filling; therefore once it was cooked, the bottom was so soggy and actually started to disintegrate! It might as well of not had a base at all; I don't think Mary or Paul would be impressed!

Waffle-O-Meter: 

Lovely pastry but soggy bottom!

I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to try this! (Amy)