Jonathan Lovekin
Valentine Warner believes that queen of puddings is the epitome of happiness, so much so, that he has included it in his new autumn menu for Harrods.
Give your guests something fabulous to finish off your seasonal dinner party with, and if its cold and dark outside then this will warm the cockles of your heart.
Ingredients:
For the raspberry base:
700g fresh raspberries
75g caster sugar
1tbsp lemon juice
For the queen:
4 medium free-range eggs
275g caster sugar
juice of ½ small unwaxed lemon but the finely grated zest of 2 small unwaxed lemons
15g soft butter, plus extra for greasing
125g fresh white (no crust) breadcrumbs
400ml full cream milk
100ml pouring double cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
chilled single cream, to serve
Method:
1. Rinse the raspberries and put in a saucepan with the sugar and lemon juice and only the little beads of water that are clinging to the washed raspberries.
2. Bring to the boil then simmer rapidly for about 10 minutes until the fruit is totally collapsed.
3. It wants to be the consistency of between cough mixture and jam
4. Separate three of the eggs and beat the three yolks with one whole egg in a large bowl until smooth. (Reserve the whites.) 5. Stir in 25g of the remaining caster sugar with, lemon zest, softened butter, breadcrumbs, milk and cream.
6. Leave to stand for 15 minutes to allow the breadcrumbs to swell. Spoon the bread mixture gently on top of the cooled raspberry mixture, spread evenly and allow stand for a further 15 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.
8. Bake the pudding on a sturdy baking tray in the centre of the oven for about 40 minutes until lightly browned and only just set - it should still wobble a little in the middle.
9. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gradually whisk in the remaining sugar (bit by bit) until the meringue is thick and glossy.
10. Beat in the vanilla extract at the end.
11. Remove the dish from the oven and pile the meringue on top.
12. Return for a further 15-20 minutes until the meringue is set and lightly browned.
13. Serve hot with single cream for pouring.
The entire three course menu
Valentine Warner is fronting Harrods Festival of British Foods campaign in-store from now until 3rd October 2010. Find a fantastic selection of British produce in the Food Halls and enjoy seasonal, British recipes at selected restaurants. Find out more at www.harrods.com