All Lemon-y, and Sponge-y and Pudding-y

 

When: 27/4/13

Background: I came home for the weekend. En route, Tesco was visited and pudding for that night’s dinner was bought!

What: Lemon Sponge Pudding(s)

Where: From Tesco

How Much?: £1 for 2!!!!

What was Good: HOT, LEMON, SPONGE, PUDDING. What is not good about that sentence? I of course use the word sentence loosely. It was so tangy, yet sweet, and the sponge was so soft and bouncy! Sponge pudding, as I am sure you are aware, is one of my favourite things, and when you combine the deliciousness of Lemon sauce with sponge pudding and Cornish vanilla ice cream. It was always going to be a winner. And when it only takes one minute in the microwave, I didn’t even have to wait that long!

What was Bad: Nothing…. We all really really enjoyed the puddings. Except that I wish there was more of it!

Would I Have It Again: Yes. These sweet little pots of delight will be gracing my shopping basket again in the future for sure!

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!

Happy Sticky Toffee Ooey Gooey Times

 

When: 18/9/12

Background: Stacey being the darling she is, was a wonderful human being and bought me dinner After much deliberation, we decided on The Red Lion pub in Kings Heath, part of the Ember Inn’s chain. Can I just say, what a BEAUTIFUL pub it is! Built in 1904 it is a stunning building with a lot of character!

What: Sticky Toffee, Date and Walnut Pudding with Custard

How Much?: £2 when you ordered with any main meal! *£3.75 when bought separately

What was Good: The price! If I see a bargain, particularly a pudding related bargain I am all over it-as you well know by now. There was a choice of puddings to choose from as well which was nice, but as I seem to have reviewed a lot of chocolatey puds as of late, it was nice to have a change. It was warm, stodgy, stick to the roof of your mouth kind of sticky (or as my Black Count-ray companion says, “Its a bit cloying”…. Don’t ask..) As it approaches Autumn/Winter I hope to indulge in more hot puddings, because nothing really which beats them! Warm Custard with a warm pudding has a way of giving your tummy a hug, a kind of reassurance that everything is well with the world- if I have said this before I apologise, but it is true! Because you will always feel satisfied and satiated after a hot pudding. Regardless of what it is. Ok that is enough fanatic drivel.. On a less soppy obsessive note, the walnuts added a nice bite to the sponge, and the dates had almost melted into it, so texture-wise everything came together really well!

What was Bad: I can’t lie and say it was the most prettily put together dessert I have ever seen. There was something very home style, post Sunday dinner about it. Which is nice, but not what you expect at a pub really when the main meal was put together so nicely, and if I am honest, wasn’t incredibly appetising like most of the other puddings I have reviewed. Because they had already put the custard on, it meant that for people like our Stace-a bit on an-anti custardee- this was a bit disappointing. However I love lots of custard so it didn’t really bother me. Regarding flavour, I can’t say it really was overwhelming, in fact it hadn’t really got a distinct flavour! I think a nice cinnamon edge could have worked wonders here, to lift everything together, and if it was served with a sweet yet almost bitter tangy treacle toffee sauce this could also have gone down well!

Waffleometer

Stacey:

Amy:

See… Hardly a culinary visual masterpiece!