Pudding is what it is all about

 

I know I have been more than useless in posting blogs as of late. It has been a little tricky! But BOY I have enjoyed some delicious treats recently! I still find I turn to pudding in times of stress! Because that feeling of a warm, comforting ball of happiness in your tummy is a very life affirming experience! Over exaggerating? Never!

THIS is a Cherry, Chocolate and Red Velvet cupcake. It was bittersweet, and soft, yet substantial, with a beautiful cherry flavour!

My friend Nikki made these, and quite frankly, I would happily eat them again!!!

Red velvet has really hit the pudding scene (if such a thing exists) lately, and I would be quite excited to try out the recipe myself!

ERMAGHERD! This was possibly the most deliciously decadent and stupendous Sticky Toffee Pudding known to man on this good earth.

We bought it from Lidl. YES! Lidl! So not only was it incredibly cheap and cheerful. It was outstandingly delicious.

As me and my mother and father were sat eating this there was a hush of content silence within the room. An unspoken rule that this pudding requires out full, undivided attention. The treacle was thick and sticky, and the cake soft and moist. When served hot with vanilla ice cream, what more could you possibly need in life?

Picture this. King’s Heath’s very first Yum Yum Market. Set up in the centre of King’s Heath, Birmingham. An array of food stalls selling their goods, with queues across the square despite the weather. I saw a stall, this stall stood out to me immediately and grabbed my attention. Fresh Belgian Waffle!!!! OH WOW! So yes, I did queue for around 20 mins. And yes they did give me a waiting time for my waffle of a further 20mins (this extended to nearer 40…) BUT I was so so excited for my ‘Half n Half’ Chocolate Cinnamon and Chocolate Brownie Belgian Waffle. If you remember my last German Market Belgian Waffle experience was simply divine, so needless to say my expectation was high.

Sadly I was disappointed. It was a bit stodgy, and as my friend Nikki said, I probably didn't give it long enough to “settle” lol. But if the queue were shorter, waiting time was less, then I would probably still return! The clawing seduction of pudding will always attract my attention!!!

DUN DUN DUN!!!! The return of the 5 Waffle pudding! And yes, another waffle. AND YES, It is the Frankie and Bennie’s Waffle for the very beginning.

I want to say it was as good as I remember. It was not. In fact it looked and tasted like a different pudding all together! Still a good 4 waffles obtained for this desserty goodness!

Certainly less disappointing than my King’s Heath Waffle Drama!

 

 

I DIDN’T EVEN BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS SHOP! BUT IT SOLD PUDDING! AND IT IS A SHOP CALLED “FANNY’S”!!!!!!!!!!

Considering how much I enjoyed writing my pudding blog before, and how successful it was, I really hope that this will be the start of my second wind of pudding blogs! After all, I am still in love with all things Pudding. And I would like to express this to my lovely and very loyal readers!!

Frankfurt Christmas Market. Waffles. I’M THERE!

 

Date: 15th November-22nd December 2012. We visited on 16/11/12

Background: Basically, when the Frankfurt Christmas Market comes to Birmingham, Me and Stacey NEED to be there! So be there we most certainly were!

What: Hot Nutella Waffle

Where: Broad Street, Victoria Square, Chamberlain Square and New Street, Birmingham

How Much?: £4.00

What was Good: It was hot, fresh and cooked right in front of me! I actually physically watched the stall holders pouring the gloopy batter right onto the piping hot waffle iron! WITH MY OWN EYES! Aaaaaaand, there was a wide selection of toppings to choose from, sprinkles, chocolate, Nutella, sugar, the list goes on! So when they handed me my fluffy soft prize smothered in my choice of topping, Nutella, I knew that I was in for a very festive treat! So stood in the Frankfurt Christmas Market with a festive pint in one hand, and my lovely pudding in a another, I sank my teeth into the piping hot waffle, and I felt instantly Christmassy. The texture and reminded me of a soft and squishy Yorkshire pudding, which was beautiful, and the hot melted Nutella in the waffley grooves was simply divine!

What was Bad: I cannot honestly think of anything to  improve this pudding, especially when combined with the atmosphere of the market, the music, the smells, the cold air with hats and gloves, and general happiness. I suppose it was just a little bit expensive.. Even still, honestly, you MUST GO to the Frankfurt Christmas Market and indulge in the wonderfulness that sits within the stalls there!

Would I Go There Again: YES, YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES!

Waffle-O-Meter (LOL):

I Vote USA!- Frankie and Benny’s Version

 

Date: 15/10/12

Background: I want to say it was in the name of trying food from different “countries” aka research… But realistically it is because Frankie and Benny’s are AMAZING and they do like super-awesome food, especially pudding! Thus, Monday Madness (20% off your bill!) it was for Stacey and I!

For those that do not know of Frankie and Benny’s it is an American themed restaurant chain, specialising in American-Italian cuisine! They do a delicious range of pasta dishes, calzone, burgers and other classics, as well as spectacular array of puddings, sundaes, crumbles and waffley-pancakey deliciousness.

What: Sticky Toffee Pancakes

Where: Frankie and Benny’s

How Much?: We chose off the ‘Specials Menu’ and so it was £10.95 for two courses! (+Monday Madness 20% off!)

What was Good: Oh My Goodness!!!! American pancakes are simply divine! They are like mini sweet soft sponges! They soaked up all the river of sweet toffee sauce and so when you bit into the pancake the sauciness in them oozed out into your tongue. Topping these were lovely little honeycomb-chocolate nuggets, so they began to melt slightly, softening them and yet they still remained crunchy. To compliment the warm cakes-of-pan, sandwiched between them was a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. ONCE AGAIN. Warm pudding, cold ice cream WINNING. And even more winning is Frankie and Benny’s!!

What was Bad: I suppose, compared to the waffle pudding which I reviewed from F & B before, and consequently Stacey also had for her pudding because she missed it that much, the pancakes sadly were slightly soggier…. BUT this was not really a negative as such. I just think that the texture of the waffle supported the sauce and ice cream for longer than the pancake could. I still want to eat these again though!!!

Waffle-O-Meter:

If this blog had a theme tune…

 

Off topic, no this is not about a pudding I have nommed, but I believe that if this blog had a theme tune, it would go a little like this….

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Copyright of Weebls-stuff

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I do not know how many of you are familiar with Weebl and Bob. But they were a big source of entertainment for me and my school friends for a good 2-3 years of secondary school. To be honest I still will happily sit and watch their ever so obscure videos today. And “Waffles” just about sums up my feelings towards the waffley cakey chequered goodness.

How does it compare?- Where it all began :-)

Date: 23/8/12

Background: This is quite an emotional *tear* moment. In Porthmadog, North Wales, me (Amy) and Stacey were on holiday with my parents. We had visited “Cadwaladers” on the first day of our holiday, but only consumed toasted sandwiches (yes I am aware these are not puddings… occasionally we have to eat savoury things by order of our pancreases) despite Cadwalader’s speciality being ice cream. On the Thursday of our holiday Stacey and I chose to have some pudding bonding time. Yes it was midday, yes we had only had breakfast an hour before, but after all “We are on holiday”. We both wanted a Hot Muffin Sundae (more on that in a future post) but as they were so popular they had sold out- these must be some AMAZING sundaes *EXCITEMENT*. Stacey chose a version of our new favourite pudding, Warm Waffle Sundae, and I made the boo-boo of choosing a very boring ice cream and sauce combo ( which was not even good enough to make it into our blog). As I hope you have read, our Ultimate “Gold Standard” Pudding is the Cinnamon Waffle Crunch from Frankie & Benny’s, and so we were naturally making a comparison between the two and “rating” them. Thus the “Did Somebody Say Pudding?” blog was born!

What: Warm Waffle Sundae

How much?: £4.50

What was Good: I think the mere ergonomics of Belgian Waffles creates the perfect shape to be served with ice cream and sauce. The little square sunken pits of happiness and joy within the cakey crispiness of the waffle makes the ideal space for the liquid melted ice cream to pool, so that when you cut open the waffle with your spoon it all oozes out. We watched the Cadwalader clan making the waffles on a waffle iron and so we knew that they were fresh. The caramel sauce was lovely and sweet, as you would expect, and complimented the dessert well, being soaked into the cakeyness like a sponge. The price in this instance was probably reasonable! Overall, although it did not quite match up to the “Gold Standard” pud, it certainly came close!

What was Bad: With there being 3 scoops of ice cream, Stacey found that actually it cools the warm waffle down too quickly, and so perhaps it would be better with just 2 scoops? Also, although the waffle was very tasty, chewy yet crispy, golden and wonderful, the Frankie & Benny’s creation still won in our opinion because it had the added flavour of cinnamon, which this pudding lacked. We also found that the squirty cream addition was pretty, but was too rich and did not offer any really flavour to the dish in general. Stacey thinks it should be perhaps pouring cream? What do you lovely people think?

Waffleometer:
 


(I feel as if I have seen this picture before……)

Waffle-ically Stupendous Waffle

Date: 6/8/12

Where: Frankie & Benny’s “The Fort” Birmingham

What: Cinnamon Waffle Crunch

How much?: £4.75

What was Good: This is the “Gold Standard” of in our opinion, not just waffle puddings but puddings in general!  The HOT cinnamon waffle gently melts the vanilla ice cream and also slightly goo-efies the chocolate honeycomb pieces topping it all. The perfect thing about this dessert was that the ice cream complemented the waffle, not overtook it, and so the whole pudding stayed warm which we savoured every mouthful. The chocolate sauce also, along with the honeycomb pieces, meant that you got a lovely little chocolate hit, but is perfect for those that do not want to have a chocolate overload! We were literally speechless whilst eating this pudding!

What was Bad: The Service at the Fort was not up to the normal F & B standard, but OMG there was nothing wrong with this pudding at all!!! SERIOUSLY!

Waffleometer:



*Drool*