Hi! Well, deary me, today has been a very very busy day indeed. I've been working on different things non-stop since 8am, and I still need to work on my History homework which is due today (oops...). So I had two major things due today but currently we're studying Brideshead Revisited in our English lessons with one teacher. I am loving the lessons, and I love the novel!! And this lesson was on Food and Drink. Truly, food and drink in novels has always been something so so close to my heart. Ever since the days of The Famous Five and Anne of Green Gables, I have cherished the descriptions of food in novels. I still think of the cold ham and fresh clotted cream and lashings of ginger beer in The Famous Five, and I'm tempted to re-read them some time, they truly were my favourite novels.
So I knew I would love doing the homework in preparation for this English lesson, and therefore kept putting it off, trying to prioritise homework that would take a long time or that I wouldn't enjoy. I ended up leaving it till last night. Our teacher said that it would be lovely if we bring in food from the novel to our (online) lesson. Now, I couldn't decide what to make!! All the food seemed delicious!! At first I thought, how about toasted cheese sandwiches? But then our teacher said she'd be having them, and I wanted to do something a bit different. How about strawberries and wine? But I don't drink alcohol, and I couldn't do just fruit without their partner. So then something stuck out at me: Mavrodaphne trifle!!!
Mavrodaphne is a type of black wine grape. However, when my dad went to the shops today he couldn't find any! So we used a regular red wine instead (not sure that was the right decision to make to be honest- I couldn't taste the wine because I used so little, so it was fine, but it just felt so wrong pouring red wine onto my cake- I think brandy or whiskey would have been better but don't ask me- I don't drink alcohol). However, it actually ended up looking quite pretty as the top layer of the cake turned a purply colour and looked like jam soaked into it. Ok, so Mavrodaphne trifle was decided then.
Next, I needed to find a recipe! It didn't take me long- this is the one I used: http://lostpastremembered.blogspot.com/2015/07/john-fothergill-spread-eagle-and.html . I'd be intrigued to read the full article but never had enough time. The recipe is around a 1/3 of the way down the article. And do you know what! I haven't actually read the bit in Brideshead where the trifle is mentioned!! (I only read the little extract in the article).
Ok, so I was debating whether or not to do it the whole of yesterday evening and today. I realised I'd have to make a whole vanilla sponge cake (insert shocked emojis) and also make a custard from scratch. That is a LOT of work, considering I can't bake (if you've read my other articles, you know). I've never ever baked a sponge cake, but it's something I've always wanted to do as I love it, and only ever have it at school. I always crave it at home, and I'm so happy that there's some in the kitchen right now!! I've made custards before, but they're quite hard to get right as I'm always so scared of the egg scrambling and having to start all over again.
Also, people, bear in mind that this would take at least a couple of hours, and that I still had all those major educational things to do (ew).
Anyways, I decided to do it!! (Obviously). And, wait for it, IT TURNED OUT WELL! Really well.
So firstly, I made the vanilla sponge. It was so fun to make. And now I pretty much know how to make it off by heart! It's very simple and delicious (can't vouch for that as I never tried a piece of the cake by itself, I was in a rush so put a small piece in the bowl and covered with toppings). You just make your dry mix, make your wet mix and heat your milk and butter in a pan. Then fold all together and bake! As usual, the baking was where I got super stressed and upset.
The recipe said bake it for 20-25 minutes. I baked it for 30. The top was completely light/medium brown. I was ready to take it out. I stuck the knife in and it came out completely covered in mixture, great. So I covered the cake in tin foil and baked for another 10-15 minutes maybe? (Honestly, covering brown stuff with tin foil and baking again has just become a thing for me at this point). It rose way more and I stuck the knife in and it came out clean! Great. Cake done.
Now onto the custard. My dear father had just come home from 2 supermarkets in the search for cherry jam, candied violets, maraschino cherries and the like. Then, I found out we only had one egg left in the house, so he very kindly and very sweetly went again to buy a pack of eggs.
So, custard. Bay leaf flavoured custard! Bet you've never heard of that before. I certainly haven't. And let me tell you, it's delicious! Really. We have two lovely bay leaf trees in our garden, and the recipe recommended using two leaves if fresh. That's exactly what I did. And, while my mum found the flavour too strong, I loved it. Let me tell you what the bay leaf does to your custard. It adds this wonderful spice and depth of flavour to it. And at the end, the taste left in your mouth is so warm and satisfying and clean and sort of spicy. Really really lovely and I recommend!!
Oh also, I found that there were tiny lumps in my custard so decided to push it through a sieve which took some time and effort. And I poured way more milk into the custard once it had thickened, as I found it thickened too much. It also thickens while it cools, something I knew I had to bear in mind. In fact, I think it turned out a bit too thick even after I added the milk but was perfect in the trifle. After staying overnight in the fridge though I'm not sure how it will be tomorrow.
Ok, next, onto the assembly. My favourite bit!! (Oh, also, random thought just popped into my head- bear in mind this all happened during a school day- felt kinda weird, I mean, if I had actually been at school I would have been studying in the quiet room, not baking a cake and making trifle!!) I love assembling food, for example lasagnes or salads. I love how all the different parts taste so good separately and then come together and taste and look so good- especially when lovely clean layers form! (Layered salads are soo pretty). And I was so excited!! Dad had bought delicious fresh cherries, cherry jam (which I've never tried but I think I'll love), double cream and maraschino cherries. So I decided upon serving in small sort of ice cream glasses.
I cut a slice of the cake. (I decided to ditch the recipe at this point as I was really running out of time- the English lesson started at 2:45 and it had to be ready for then, plus I had to set up the zoom call and take lots of photos of the trifle before). So- I cut a piece of the cake- it was so fluffy and lovely inside! The base was very weird though and it came off in a strip- decided to discard that- and no, it wasn't the baking paper. Then I added a teaspoon of the red wine- felt very weird indeed doing that. Then realised I should try to to create clean layers and added loads of custard so it could be seen from the outside. Then - ooh, this was cool- I had previously cut fresh cherries in half and removed the stones- then mixed them with a bit of caster sugar in a bowl- so I put some of these on the custard- trying to place them near the edges so they could be seen from outside the glass. Then the lovely whipped cream which I had asked my mum to whip. (Not enough time, couldn't be bothered to do it myself but also I can't trust myself to whip cream as every time I do it I overwhip it and it ends up spoilt). Literally, it's so hard to whip cream- it turns hard in a matter of seconds, and when you get to that transitory phase, well, what can I say- if you've done it before, you know. And then I cut a maraschino cherry in half and put it on the top.
The cream ended up being too runny too look good (although tasted perfect). I added icing sugar and vanilla bean paste to flavour it- usually I keep it plain and perhaps it's nicer without the sugar given that there's already sugar added to every part of the trifle. And the maraschino cherries are sort of a pale reddy-orange colour and didn't look good. Also- no candied violets for me! None were available in the supermarkets. And- guess what!! I forgot something- the cherry jam!! But I will definitely make this trifle tomorrow with the leftover ingredients and will spend more time and put more care into it (using said jam). Ok so time to hand over to my mum for photos. She ended up putting those fresh sugared cherries on the top and removing the candied ones. She also added a sugar flower we'd found at the top of our cupboards.
And then, finally, English lesson time! I was so excited. Ended up coming around 2/3 minutes late and missed what food everyone else had brought to their lesson and if they had. Was a bit disappointed to find out that our teacher had eaten her cheese toasties during the day, and was sipping water? from the champagne glass. Didn't hear what anyone else had brought. But I tried the trifle during the lesson and it was so good!! Everything worked perfectly together. My sponge was delicious- perfect layer. The custard was soo good and fresh and I love those delicious tart sweet refreshing cherries. And the whipped cream brought it all together. Forgot the cherry jam and as I mentioned couldn't taste the wine but other than that lovely!!
And I'll definitely be making trifles for parties or events. Would be lovely for a summer garden party- lovely mini trifles for each person. Nice that you can keep everything the same but switch up the fruit. Canned peaches and fresh cherries would be amazing. And you can flavour the cream too and use different flavoured sponges and also different alcohol to pour over the sponge.
So that's that! Should have some more updates tomorrow when I try everything properly. Would definitely recommend, and the best part was that it came directly from Brideshead Revisited!!
Will definitely read the passage from the book tomorrow and I want to write another article on the food and drink in Brideshead :)) Can't wait. And I have lots more blogs coming!!
Oh also, the picture in the recipe I used looks so gorgeous- and the custard looks so yellow! I also used two egg yolks but mine seemed to be the same colour as the whipped cream- slightly more yellowish. I don't mind that, but it looks like it's a load of cream and doesn't help with the whole creating-distinct-layers idea.
Also!! I would love love love to recreate Charles Ryder's father's food in the novel. I think it would be so so fun to do!! I will do it one day. I can just imagine piping a cone of mash with a piping bag onto a plate and frying up lamb cutlets to prop up onto said cone. I could make it look and taste quite good too! And the pink sauce would be a lovely little shrimp sauce and of course I wouldn't over-fry the sole. And I'd love to poach some pears and make a jelly and a vanilla sponge cake :))
And of course I'd love to try making the dinner Charles eats with Rex Mottram in France. Now that would be a challenge indeed.
And there's just something so so satisfying to me about good old country food such as eggs, ham and pickled walnuts with a glass of milk. Pork pies, ginger buns and homemade lemonade were the exact type of thing that the Famous Five ate when they stopped off at country houses. It's just so wholesome and simple yet filling, and is shared with friends and loved ones. People are just so grateful for it. Imagine walking through the hills all day with friends and dogs, filling your lungs with the fresh air and stretching your legs, and then going to a good old farm house or pub for lunch or dinner before camping for the night. So so good. And food is best when it's eaten during good moments with loved ones. 'Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith'. Proverbs 15:17, King James version.
Also, I find foods like pickled eggs, pickled onions, cold ham, pickled eel, pork pies, potted meat sandwiches, tongue sandwiches, anchovy paste and tinned sardines so satisfying even though I wouldn't eat any of that.
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