Recipes by Jay Eckard

Okay...

Here's two recipes. One looks really complex, but it's not. One is really simple.

Strawberry Vacherin

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 pints raspberry sherbert
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons of Creme de Cassis or blackberry brandy
2 tablespoons raspberry preserves or jam.

Step one: sherbert

Let the sherbert melt. Line an 8 inch cake pan with aluminium foil. Pour the sherbert into the pan. Refreeze it.

Step two: meringue

Take the egg whites and salt and beat until foamy. You have to use an electric mixer, or it will take hours. Literally. The whites should about double in volume. Then, stir in a tablespoon of sugar until it dissolves compeletely. Do this, tablespoon by tablespoon, until all the sugar is gone. It doesn't take as long as it seems. Continue beating until the meringue forms "stiff peaks": until it forms little waves that stay up as you stir.

Pour this mixture onto a cookie sheet or any other pans you've got about, but first line it with brown paper (I use grocery bags) marked with circles seven inches across. The meringue goes in the circles, obviously. Bake this for 45 minutes at 275 degrees F. Turn off the oven and don't take out the meringues until they're cool. Seriously, just leave them there.

Step three: cream yourself

Take one cup of cream and beat it til it's fluffy. Add the creme de cassis or blackberry brandy, and the preserves or jam, and beat it til it's stiff again (insert joke here).

Step four: put it together

On a plate, put the first meringue. Then put the cream mixture. Then the sherbert. Then the cream. Then the other meringue. Then the last of the cream.

Don't worry if the meringues break. They do all the time, especially if you screw with them before they're cool. Just piece them back together on the cake.

Step five: make it pretty

Beat the last of the heavy cream from the beginning (you should still have one cup) until it's stiff. Spread it onto the sides and top of the assembly. Chuck the cake in the freezer for at least three hours to solidify.

(Optional step six: a keen garnish, but more expensive)

You need: 2 cups strawberries, ten ounces raspberies (fresh or frozen, it doesn't matter) and three tablespoons of blackberry brandy or creme de cassis.

Wash the strawberries and take off the tops. Halve them. Heat the raspberries to boiling. They turn into a sauce. Take away from heat. Add the strawberries and brandy. Stir. Chill for at least an hour to mix the flavours.

Serve this on the side of the cake.

 

... he pants. Believe me, this is much simpler than it seems. I swear. I made it my very first day at work, and they actually served it to people. And charged them $8 a piece. It's really great in the summer time, because it's extremely light (in texture and taste) and cool. Take it on some manner of picnic or after eating outside. You should get at least 8 pieces of it.

Lime Grog

And when you're done, drink this...

Ingredients:
1 to 1 1/2 pints of golden rum, depending on your tolerance (honestly, though, 2 pints is too much and makes it taste yucky). I think Appleton Estate's best, but whatever you like.
1 pound brown sugar
16 ounces lime juice. Fresh is better, but more expensive. Compromise and get 8 limes and a bottle of lime juice.
1/2 gallon water

Mix it all together. Optional garnish: 4 mint leaves, quartered and thrown on top. Let mix and settle for two hours.

 

So there you go. Two recipes. And the requisite quote:

"Ran into a chum /
with a bottle of rum /
and we wound up drinkin all night."

I don't want to admit where I know this from.

Jay