Fee Fi Fo Fum...

Disney Classic # 9 - Fun and Fancy Free

Whilst I've never seen Fun and Fancy Free as a whole before, one of the two shorts featured, Mickey and the Beanstalk, was one of my absolute favourites as a child. (Although I must admit I did not recall the rather creepy and at times inappropriate ventriloquist dummies!)


One scene in particular took my fancy for the cake this week: when Mickey, Donald and Goofy first enter the Giant's castle there is a giant feast on the table... Originally I thought it would be awesome to try to make the biggest jelly you've ever seen, like the one that Goofy gets stuck on. But then I settled on two ideas: something chocolate with pistachios (the Giant walks in, picks up a pot and says "yummmmmm, chocolate pot roast with, pistach, pisfach, green gravy") or a cake which looks like a massive sandwich (the Giant eventually sits down to eat a sandwich, which Mickey was hiding in!! Oh no!!)
 
I put these two ideas to the vote, and whereas the sandwich got one solitary vote, everyone else decided on chocolate and pistachio. So I decided to make melt in the middle chocolate puddings (mini chocolate pot-roasts, minus the meat) with pistachio ice cream (green gravy).
 

The cake that got away...

This desert was based on recipes I found here and here, with some slight amendments. The quantities below made 8 individual chocolate puddings and more than enough ice cream to go with it! (There was a pretty big turn out this week...) If it suits you to make less, just reduce the quantities accordingly. PLEASE NOTE: The original recipe for the ice cream states that due to the un-cooked egg in it, the ice-cream is unsuitable for the pregnant or infirm. The rest of us thought it tasted delicious!

Pistachio Ice Cream

Prep time: 20 mins         Freeze time: At least 6 hours         Serves: 8-12

As the ice-cream takes at least 6 hours to set, I recommend making this the night before.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
60g caster sugar
300ml double cream
1-2tsp vanilla essence
100g shelled pistachios
10g dark chocolate

1. Blend 50g of the pistachios to a paste, and crush the other 50g with a rolling pin until they are in small "chunks"
2. Separate the eggs and put the egg yolks to one side.
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the mixture is stiff and glossy.
4. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until pillowy but not stiff
5. Mix the egg yolks and vanilla extract.
6. Using a spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the egg white mixture until almost combined.
7. Fold in the egg yolks a spoonful at a time until all ingredients are combined to make a smooth, fluffy mixture.
8. Add the pistachio paste and crushed pistachio pieces into the mixture, and grate in the chocolate. gently fold these into the mixture, being careful not to loose too much of the air from it.
9. Pour the mixture into a freezer proof container (I used a loaf tin and covered this with cling film) and freeze for at least 6 hours. Remove the container from the freezer 10 minutes before serving.

I've made this ice cream (and other variants) a few times now, and as long as it remains covered it seems to keep well in the freezer for at least 3-4days. Unfortunately it's never lasted longer than that for me to be able to comment on how long this will keep for!

Melt in the Middle Puddings

Prep time: 30-40 mins           Cook time: 10 mins        Serves: 8


Ingredients:

For the filling (the melting middle):

100g milk chocolate
50g dark chocolate
100ml double cream

For the pudding:

200g margarine
200g light brown sugar
4 medium eggs
100g plain flour
80g cocoa powder
50g ground almonds

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6.
2. Prepare the "melting middle". Break the chocolate into chunks and melt in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir in the double cream and the chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
3. Grease 8 individual ramekins or pudding moulds.
4. Beat together the margarine and the sugar. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, then beat the eggs into the margarine mixture gradually.
5. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and almonds and mix until all of the ingredients have combined and you have a thick batter.
6. Remove the filling from the fridge and beat to loosen. 
7. Half fill each ramekin with the pudding mixture, and then use a teaspoon to make a "well" in the middle of the mixture. Fill the well with the filling mixture, and then top with more pudding mixture.
8. Place the ramekins on a flat baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until firm to touch.
9. Serve immediately with the pistachio ice cream, but do be careful not to burn yourself on the hot ramekins!

Next time - it's Melody Time. This is another that I've never seen, and I'm going to attempt an adaption of Heston Blumenthal's Popping Candy Cake.

Happy Thoughts

x