Gorgeous Sweets- Rose Rhubarb Cake, Rose Meringue Rolls, and Queen of Puddings

You know that I make desserts for Monday family dinners, and that I usually make a trio. Surely one out of three will be a hit. On this particular Monday, I decided for three absolutely gorgeous sweets that kept getting shuffled to the top of my "to make" pile. I decided to just go for it. I started on Sunday because I was also cooking shellfish crepes for the actual dinner. Everything I picked was a bit time consuming ;)!

I began with the Rose Rhubarb Layer Cake from here. The rhubarb curd needed to be made at least a day ahead. You start by pureeing the rhubarb stalks and then squeezing out the juice. Rhubarb is a lot like celery, so I was suspicious of how much juice I would actually get. It was surprising- I got 1 and 1/2 cups of juice, even more than needed!

well squeezed rhubarb!

The curd included 3 eggs and 3/4 cup of butter, thickened with cornstarch and, of course, sweetened. It was a beautiful pale peach color and tasted quite nice. A good start!

Next were the three layers of sponge cake. I had only made sponge once before, but the layers turned out great. I have to say, the smell of sponge cooking is not a favorite with me-  it makes me think of scrambled eggs burning. After the cakes were cooled, she said to brush them with a simple syrup with elderflower cordial and rose water. I did not think you would taste the elderflower over the rose, and I already had rose petal syrup I made this year, so I brushed with that. It smelled so good!

A piped frosting "dam" to hold in the rhubarb curd

You assemble the cake and frost with a mascarpone and rose water frosting. I went out and picked flowers from the garden and decorated it up as pretty as I was able. I thought it looked lovely, but how was the taste? No knowing 'till supper!

Next was a quick recipe, Rose Water Meringue and Lemon Shortbread Swirls. The name takes longer to say than they do to make! This is a quick lemon biscuit dough that is rolled out gently between waxed paper. Then you whip a rose water scented meringue and dollop it over the dough, then roll it like a jelly roll. The technique of baking the meringue inside a dough intrigued me. I chose to make use of some freeze-dried strawberries that I had and crumble some over the meringue for a beautiful pinkness. And they would simply add to the crisp texture. Then it is cut into rounds like cinnamon rolls and baked, the dough and the meringue puffing in the heat. After cooling a bit you dust with icing sugar and add rose petals. 

I ate one of the these still hot from the oven- delicious! So much so that I immediately ate another, he he. The recipe only made 12 rolls, and I was having nine people for supper, so I made myself stop eating. I felt that these were going to be a winner with the family...

Lastly I made something that I had seen in a Jan 2018 magazine of British Baking. It was called Queen of Puddings- if that doesn't sound regal I don't know what does. And then, oh my! Then, Dear Reader, I was watching the British Baking Show and they made it!!! If you have never seen this cooking competition, you simply have to, that's all. Right now. Stop folding clothes, filing dental xrays, typing in the nuclear code...just stop and watch one. The people are wonderful- kind, funny, amazing bakers. This is nothing like an American show! Now when faced with a disaster, I slap my hands to my face and moan, "Oh, my giddy aunt!", and other very British things. WATCH IT. 

Okay, threats aside, I realized after seeing that it was a Mary Berry recipe (yes, I have mentioned her before!) that I could not use just any old magazine recipe. Here is the Queen of Puddings recipe by the Queen of baking herself. 

It is an amazing concoction. A custard thickened with homemade bread crumbs, topped with a layer of homemade jam, then capped with billowy meringue that is browned to crisp peaks. Oh, yessssss.

cooking the lemony custard

Several people's custard "broke" and became watery on the show, and so I was determined to do better. 

pouring over my fresh breadcrumbs, so very different from our custards!

It turned out lovely and I was so happy! On to making the jam... but of the fresh raspberries I had gotten at the grocery, almost half of them had molded overnight in the fridge! The utter dejection....but she said you could substitute store bought jelly, which I had. I heated it so that I could spread it and then had the brilliant idea to add my small amount of fresh berries to it. It would give both texture and that tart freshness. I spread my crimson layer over the custard and felt I was well on my way to Queenly perfection.

my bain-marie, water bath, for a smooth custard

Then I beat a light and airy meringue and topped the pudding. My dish was slightly larger than the one recommended so I found I could not do the whole thing with high peaks. I settled for the outside. Then I popped it in the oven and held my breath. It baked up lovely and golden, and remembering the judges in the show, I tapped the peaks with the back of a spoon to make sure they were firm enough to make a cracking sound. Hooray, I'd done it!

I sat the dish on the table to cool, and as I watched my grin faded bit by bit, until finally I was on my knees by the table, nose sitting on the edge, eyes glumly glued on the bottom layer of the burbling dessert. The fresh berries, the ones I thought I was so clever to add, released their juices in the heat of the oven. Before my very eyes the red liquid leached down into the bottom layer...and broke my lovely custard!!! Cue howls of anguish and despair, and berating the foolishness of my fresh berries. My moans echoed those of so many British Baking Show contestants in the past, "I'll be sent home for sure!"

I was a bit subdued after my custard catastrophe, but still had to make supper. I had made my crepes the day before and only needed to cook up a filling of crawdads, shrimp, crab, green onions, celery, etc. 

Then the whole shebang was mixed with a homemade white wine and cheese sauce. 

This was rolled into the crepes and then they were baked till bubbly and served with a big green salad.

But then it was on to the actually important stuff- dessert. The Rose Rhubarb cake was beautiful to cut. 

But upon tasting, it was not pleasing. Each component separately was good, but together it was just odd. It was not a bad cake, and one that folks would probably be happy to eat. Just not a good cake.

It was not transcendent in any way. Do you remember my feelings about transcendence? I talked about it in my Pavlova Primer, "I rate desserts on the "transcendency scale". So often I will make something and say, "Just fine." Or, "Nothing special." When a dish is transcendent  it literally makes you close your eyes for a brief second to savor it. It transcends the ordinary and takes you with it."

So then I offered the Rose Water Meringue Rolls, thankful that I had at least one good sweet to offer.

No one liked them! I was so shocked that I stuffed almost a whole one into my mouth and chewed. What had happened?? In the time between me delightedly gobbling them down hot, and suppertime, they had become little crusty knobs of an unlovely texture and no special taste. I was flabbergasted! This really is a good recipe and one that I would make again. But only if I can make it when folks can eat them just out of the oven. The magic is lost after that, dearies. There is no going back....

And lastly my pudding, what had been my glorious pudding. I served it with trepidation.

 My first bite, I was electrified. The delicate taste of the custard, the tart of the raspberry jelly, the delicious crunchy sweetness of the meringue- it truly is a Queenly dessert! Did anyone else like it? Not so much. They could not get past the broken and watery texture of the custard, though several said they would like to try it again (when I got my act together;).

But I could taste the potential, savor what it would taste like in a perfect execution. I even ate some more the next day, and the stint in the fridge had firmed the custard almost to correctness. This WILL be made again. And, unlike the Baking Show contestants, I will have the chance to redeem myself with a perfect version of an iconic dish. The Queen and I will reacquaint ourselves at another time...

And so, Dear Reader, this simply shows that looks are deceiving. A cake that looks like a dream can fall flat in taste. A delicious roll bedecked with rose petals like a Grecian Goddess can lose all loveliness when that love grows cold, so to speak. And the Queen of Puddings? Well, she may have a foible- the corgis may shake mud on her frock, or the rain make her curls go limp, but you know that she will continue undeterred on her regal way. Next time, Your Highness...