In search of gourmandise

  Someone gave me a christmas pudding they had left over. It was a home made one from a food market so it seemed like a nice idea. Though christmas pud isn't something I crave as much as a mound of mince pies, I don't mind a nibble occasionally. 

  The management, on the other hand is a huge fan, so when I got it home there was a great deal of excitement. All that was needed was an opportunity to indulge and that came along today.

Ready... Steady... Groan

  I went to a lovely lunch recently where the host had cooked a hollandaise. At the end I was offered the spare egg whites so today, while toying with thoughts of the pudding taking up space in my kitchen, the idea of a baked alaska popped up and as you've already seen the pictures, you know where this is going.

  As there were only two of us for this indulgence, I took a thin slice off the top of the pud and steamed it while I set about making an Italian meringue. That's the one where you whisk the egg whites for a bit then pour a hot sugar syrup in as you continue whisking. The heat of the syrup cooks the eggs and gives you a very sweet, creamy, shiny, fluffy mousse that needs no further cooking.

  I piped it all over the pudding and hit it with a blowtorch. In brief, it was a lot richer than I thought it would be so even though there was only a small amount of pudding under there, neither of us could finish it. It's a great way to serve up christmas pudding, as the meringue is a lot lighter than cream or custard, but unless you want diabetes, don't do it more than once a year.

Kirk out

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