Where in the WORLD can you get the best pudding?!

 

I have been thinking about this a lot recently. After my somewhat disappointing trip to Majorca, I began to wonder, where in the WORLD can you get the best pudding??? I mean the ones which spring to mind to me are;

America- decadent deep baked cheesecakes, gooey soft rich chocolate brownies, millions of varieties of cookies, and of course the age old saying “As American as Apple Pie!”.

Italy- Gelato in a vast array of flavours, meringues (assuming the Italian meringue was originated in Italy), Panna Cotta and the infamous Tiramisù

The United Kingdom- OF COURSE we are in the running for best pudding! We have so many regional specialities I think it would be criminal for the UK to not get some kind of recognition! Bakewell Tarts, Cornish Cream Teas, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Lardy Cake, Eton Mess, Bara Brith, The Queen of Puddings.. the list is simply endless

France- I don’t know about you, but when I think of French cuisine, one of the first pictures I get in my mind is that off those spectacular, picture-perfect, stupendously detailed tarts, filled with fruit and crème patissiere (as seen on The Great British Bake Off), as well as Gateaux's, elegant pastries, light-as-air Soufflé's, Crepes oozing with fillings, but also delicate petit fours, which you may remember my experience of from a previous blog- Posh Puds. Yes French Puddings are show stopping in themselves, and add a real class and elegance I believe.

BUT THEN, you also have the elegant fruited Pavlova from Australia/New Zealand, sweet, sticky and nutty Baklava from Turkey, fried golden cinnamony Churros from Spain,  Gulub Jaman from India and of course how can I possibly leave out Belgian waffles from Belgium!?

This is of course a non extensive list, but this is where YOU my lovely reader comes in (whoever and wherever you may be) I want YOUR contribution! I want you to vote on the best Country that is the birth place in your opinion to the best pudding! Please vote in my poll to the right of this post, and if you are feeling particularly wonderful (which I am sure you are) Please go to my facebook page at Did Somebody Say Pudding? and write some comments as to why that country makes the best pudding, and what pudding that is, if you can be that specific.

I will make a pudding from the winning country and hopefully get to try some delicious dessertables that I haven't tried before. I am excited!

Images copyright of Wikipedia. I hold no ownership over these images and can be found via the Wikipedia website.

Chocolate and Orange Drizzle Cake Cake [HOW TO MAKE]

Date: 8/10/12

Background: I am currently waiting to start my new job, and so I find myself with this magical thing called spare time. So I decided to make a Chocolate and Orange Cake, in a onesie. End Of.

How Much?:  Well I had most of the ingredients already in the store cupboard, so I probably spent an extra £1.30 on the orange and sunflower spread

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Ingredients:

• 3 medium free range eggs (weight ~180g- shells on)
• (weight of the eggs) 180g caster sugar
• (weight of the eggs) 180g sunflower spread/unsalted butter
• 150g self raising flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• Coursely grated rind of 3/4s of an orange + juice of half an orange
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

For the butter cream:

• 20g butter/sunflower spread
• 200g icing sugar
• 20g cocoa powder to taste

For the icing:

• 200g icing sugar
• Remaining orange zest finely grated
• Juice of half an orange

Equipment:

• 2 x 8”/20cm diameter sandwich/cake tins
• Scales
• Wooden spoon
• Spatula
• Mixing bowl
• Grater
• Sieve
• Bowl

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4
2. Grease tins with butter/sunflower spread and line with preferably baking parchment/greaseproof paper but I used tin foil
3. Weigh 3 medium free range eggs (mine weighed 180g)
4. Weigh out the equivalent in caster sugar and sunflower spread (forgive me bakers out there) or butter
5. Cream together the spread/butter and sugar until white and fluffy in a bowl using wooden spoon
6. Weigh out the flour and cocoa powder
7. Using a sieve, sift 1/3 of the flour into the wet mixture
8. Crack 1 egg into the flour, cocoas, butter and sugar mix
9. Beat gently the egg and flour together until incorporated
10. Repeat this for the remaining 2/3 flour and 2 eggs
11. When fully incorporated add the grated zest of 3/4s of an orange, the juice of half an orange and 1/2 tsp baking powder
12. Mix together carefully
13. Add half the mix to each prepared sandwich tin and level with a spatula
14. Place in the preheated oven on the middle shelf and cook for around 20mins or until a cake testing implement comes out clean and the cake springs back when gently touched
15. Allow the cakes to cool before turning out of the tins
16. When turned out allow to cool to room temperature

To decorate:

1. Beat together the cocoa powder, icing sugar and spread/butter to a smooth light butter cream
2. Spoon the butter cream onto the bottom cake and using a butter/palate knife spread evenly to a 2-3mm thickness, around 1cm from the edge of the cake
3. Carefully place the remaining sandwich on top of the cake and buttercream
4. Mix together the icing sugar, orange juice and orange zest until smooth
5. Pour the icing onto the centre of the cake and smooth outwards
6. Allow the icing to set, and ENJOY!

Video:

Whatever made me think a Onesie would be a good idea?!

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What was Good: The cake was moist and perfectly cooked! It was soft and chocolaty, slightly bitter but still deliciously sweet and the subtle hint of orange is equally as tasty. The buttercream added a nice sweetness to the pudding and thankfully did not overwhelm it and make it sickly. The icing was deliciously zingy and tangy which cut into the sweet smooth buttercream nicely. Overall, it may not have been absolutely stunningly pretty, but the cake itself was delicious, and I look forward to eating the rest of it!
What was Bad: Deciding to video myself making a cake in a onesie? I look about 5 stone heavier.. Other than that, maybe I would add the zest of another 1/2 or a whole grated orange, to make the taste of orange more present, as opposed to an after note. The only other thing was that I did not combine the icing sugar for the icing and so there were little lumps in it… Lol..

Waffle-O-Meter:





Can I ask- My 2nd biggest fan viewer base is in the USA, *woop woop* please can you facebook me at facebook.com/DidSomebodySayPudding so I know who you lovely people are? And that goes for anyone else who are either in, or not in, the UK! :D I would love to have some INTERNATIONAL input!