Nov 25 2008
Tropical Breeze blows through
Actually, I wish it would. More like Arctic drafts!
- Caribbean Creams
Another recipe completed, and with it another chapter finished!
I had had these Carribean Creams in mind for my old work colleague Gareth, as they feature coconut yoghurt, which he was ever so fond of. It used to be an annual, holiday-to-France treat for him, and then we got a Waitrose in Edinburgh and with it Rachel’s Organic Yogs readily available…he’s probably scunnered himself to the stuff now. Sadly we could not pin him down so it was just the two of us for these.
Anyway, I was going to make these for Gareth because, I must confess, the idea of coconut yoghurt did not greatly appeal to me. Coconut is a flavour I have a very shaky relationship with. Thankfully we didn’t have to buy any Malibu for these; friends donated a jam jar full. We have quite a bit left over as we only used 7.5ml (!) so perhaps I can try it in a cocktail and maybe get a taste for it.
I made up these puds this morning and they melded away in the fridge while we were at work. Despite me using the same ramekins as pictured in the book (we all know them- empty Gu pots!) I had too much, and ended up doing two mini overflow puds. Luckily my mum popped in for a cup of tea tonight, and so I gave her them away for her and my dad to enjoy tonight. (I’m not sure Dougal knew that!)
For an avowed coconut avoider, I really enjoyed these. Using posh coconut yog (does any other kind exist in the UK?) probably helped a great deal; there were little bits of coconut in it and the taste seemed fresh and not synthetic at all. The melted-in sugar on top was scrummy too. I could have gone a little more banana and would perhaps make these in tumblers next time- using more banana but therefore also have room for the full portion of cream mix.
The only thing I would say is that I can’t honestly imagine what the Malibu must have added. Admittedly a tablespoon between four portions (and I only made two portions, but they split between four dishes) is bugger all. If you wanted these to feel a bit more grown up a decent whack of booze wouldn’t go amiss!
These are apparently inspired by Nigella’s Barbados Creams from Domestic Goddess. This is not a book I’ve got, and whilst everyone on the internet wants to rave about the Barbados version, noone seems keen to tell me what the difference is. I’d certainly be keen to investigate! What kind of booze goes in a Barbados Cream? Rum? And which fruit? I can’t think pineapple would work, surely too acidic?
I have a shaky relationship with Malibu. Let’s just say I couldn’t stomach the scent of suntan lotion for the summer after I came of age to imbibe.
Also, I’ve just finished my first glass of Chartreuse and it’s amazing. And I wanted to drunkenly blurt this at you on your blog comments, so I have.
Ta!
It’s fair to say I discovered that I do not love the smell of malibu in the morning.
Yes, Malibu is actually made of suntan stuff.
I thought these Caribbean creams were quite tasty, though I could have done without the little bits of coconut…. reminded me of desiccated coconut on cakes etc. yuk!
My computer is mad. It is spontaneously making percussion noises… no there is no connection with the blog, it is just totally gobsmackingly weird…. I wish I could think of a way to record it!
Aha…. no you know how going to certain websites spontaneously opens other web pages… in this case I was downloading tunes from Mediafire courtesy of 17Seconds, my music blog.
In the background, I had 2 windows, both of which had this little guy busy (http://www.widget.ups.com/en-gb/index.html) hence the interesting, random percussion section.
(….and Lizzie wondered if I had started hallucinating! Honestly….)