"Harrods Cookery Book" - Chicken Breasts with Mango and Almonds - Queen Elizabeth's 91st Birthday!

Date I made this recipe:  April 21, 2017 – Queen Elizabeth II's 91^st birthday!

Harrods Cookery Book by Marilyn Aslani

Published by Arbor House

ISBN: 0-87795-735-5; © 1985

Recipe:  Chicken Breasts with Mango and Almonds – p. 158

Well hip-hip, hooray, it's "HM's" Birth-day!  Yes, that's right,  Her Majesty ("HM"), the ageless Queen Elizabeth II, just turned 91.  Amazing but true!

Also "amazing, but true" is that the very famous Harrods department store is 183 years old this year.  Wow – twice as old as "HM."  As the Brits would say, that is "Smashing!"

I'm happy to say that Andy and I have been (or "bean" as the Brits say) to Harrods (in October 1994) and it was a fun place although we didn't get to spend a lot of time there.   I do recall us making a beeline for the famed Food Hall as it is possibly more famous than the store itself.  I can only imagine how the Food Hall has grown over the years because when we were there, you could pretty much get your hands on every type of food imaginable from every country imaginable though sometimes at a hefty price.  I do believe we gasped out loud when we spotted a bag of Kraft Marshmallows priced at $5.00 a bag and folks, that was in 1994!  Preposterous!

It should come as no surprise then, that we left the Food Hall sans food but all was not lost as we bought a couple of boxes of Christmas Crackers for the holidays.  Although the name certainly suggests this is a food item, it is not.  Christmas Crackers are paper "firecrackers," i.e. cardboard tubes filled with all kinds of goodies that are wrapped in bright holiday-colored paper and then twisted at each end.  The recipient then pulls on the ends to crack the package open (it actually makes a cracking noise) to reveal what is inside typically, little toys, candy and paper crowns.  The Brits love these things and so when I saw them, I knew I had to bring some back with me to share with my family at Christmas time.  The paper crowns were the best and I have several hilarious pictures of my mom, dad, and brother wearing them (such troopers) during our Christmas dinner.

This then concludes my memories of Harrods except to say we can now check this off list of "Things to see and do in London."  (For the record, we were in England on business and toured a good portion of the country, but had only a few days at our disposal to tour London.  Bummer, that.)

As to this cookbook, well...huh.  Let's just say that despite the fact that Andy and I had some very good meals (mostly pub grub) while in England, British cooking and recipes underwhelm me still, and sad to say, this cookbook and recipe was one of them.

The Table of Contents divides food into categories based on what how the food hall was laid out in 1985 when this cookbook was written:

• The Meat Hall that includes recipes for meat, fish, and poultry and game
• The Provisions Hall that includes recipes for cheese and dairy as well as charcuterie and variety meats
• The Fruit and Vegetable Hall that includes recipes for vegetables and fruit (I don't know why the simplicity of that made me laugh but it did!)
• The Bakery that includes desserts, biscuits and cakes (please remember that cookies are called biscuits in England), and breads and yeast doughs
• The Confectionery Hall that includes sweets of all kinds
• The Panty – you'll find your preserve recipes here
• Special Occasions that include Christmas, Picnic Hamper, Afternoon Tea, and a Garden Party.  The last two occasions – Afternoon Tea and Garden Party – are just so "vedy" British, are they not?  Quite!

All right then, from these categories, I came up with a mere handful of recipes (so disappointing) and here's what I considered:

• "Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter" – p. 137 (from the Vegetable chapter)
• "Scallop Pilaf" – p. 49 (from the Fish chapter)
• "Chicken Breasts with Mango and Almonds" – p. 158 from the Fruit [and vegetable] chapter)

And the winner/not winner was....Chicken Breasts with Mango and Almonds.

Why was this dish not a "Winner, winner, chicken dinner?"  Well, I can't quite put my finger on it except to say that the dish was neither good nor bad, it just was and "was" is not an option.  To put it another way, I just don't think any of the flavors stood out and so what we had was a dish of chicken + mangos + sauce rather than a blended dish of all of these ingredients and more.  These days, I am all about the "and more" in a dish.

I have to say that I was particularly amazed that the mango was not the star ingredient and I don't know why.  The dish sure looked good in the photo but maybe my mango wasn't as ripe as it should be?  Not that I know how to test a mango for readiness but that's another story.

Alas though reader, the mango problem wasn't the only issue as the "seasoning profile" also missed the mark. Both the marinade and the wok sauce contained soy sauce, rice wine and cornstarch and that is not exactly exciting.  The wok sauce contained 1 teaspoon of sugar but that wasn't enough to elevate it, either.

For the longest time after making this dish, I was stumped as to what could have made it work, and I've concluded that Chinese Five-Spice powder might have done the trick.  This flavor marries really well with the mango and also would have punched the dish up a notch as it contains cinnamon, cloves, fennel and star anise.  Sometimes it contains also ginger but this recipe used fresh ginger in the marinade and unfortunately, it was also strained out of the sauce.

I might have also added a half to full teaspoon of sesame oil to the marinade, not that it was called for, but because sesame oil adds flavor.  Sesame oil cannot be used in the wok to cook the chicken (the recipe calls for peanut oil) as it will burn, but a small amount in the chicken marinade shouldn't cause a problem.  Of course, I don't know that for sure, I'm just thinking of ways to make this dish more enjoyable to eat.

Finally, I erred on the side of cooking the chicken a bit longer than directed. "As directed" was about 1 minute, 30 seconds, and I, being my mother's daughter when it comes to chicken, wanted to make sure my chicken was done and not raw and so left it in a bit longer.

After making some rice to go with this stir-fry, I told Andy that dinner was ready.  He often waits until he's done to comment but this time around, he didn't say a word and I think that is indicative of what we collectively thought about the dish.  In summary:  "Huh."  Sadly, the leftovers I had the net day did nothing for me either.

As an aside, I tried hard to find a recipe to make in this cookbook that might please "HM," but I just don't like most of the standard fare that Brits enjoy.  I honestly can't see "HM" sitting down to this dinner but then again, maybe she would.  She's traveled all over the world so who's to say she's not a fan of stir-fry?  I'm just sayin' she probably wouldn't have been a fan of this stir-fry.

As to the cookbook though, you might want to take a gander at it for the sheer novelty of it all.  Harrods is still a must-see when in London and hip, hip hooray for them for standing the test of time!  As to "HM," long may she reign!

Chicken Breasts with Mango and Almonds – Serves 4 – Ann's Note:  allow ½ hour to marinate the chicken

For the marinade

1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch

1 egg white, beaten

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar or medium-dry sherry

Ann's Note:  consider adding ½ to 1 teaspoon sesame oil to the marinade.  Consider also adding some Chinese Five-Spice Powder either to the marinade or the wok sauce.

3 boneless chicken breasts, skinned and cut into 1-inch squares

For the sauce

¼ cup water

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine or medium-dry sherry

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Ann's Note:  Consider substituting brown sugar for table sugar.  It may not work but I just have a feeling it might have helped the flavors come out. 

Other wok ingredients

1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

2 large scallions, white part finely chopped and green part cut into pieces

1 large mango, peeled and cut lengthwise into strips

Scallion tassels, to garnish

Mix together the ingredients for the marinade and pour over the chicken.  Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  Ann's Note:  You would be wise to bring the chicken and marinade to room temperature before adding them to the wok.  See below.

Heat a woke over high heat, then add the peanut oil.  Ann's Note:  Before you add the chicken and marinade to the hot wok, bring them up to room temperature first.  The recipe doesn't call for you to do that, but I found the cornstarch in the marinade started clumping when added to the hot oil and that was not a very attractive look. Plus, I don't think the flavor came out as it should have. When the oil is hot enough for a piece of ginger to float to the surface, add the chicken and marinade, and stir-fry for 30 seconds.

Place a sieve over a bowl, and pour the chicken and all of the oil into it.  Leave to drain thoroughly, then return 2 tablespoons of the oil to the wok.  Stir-fry the ginger, garlic and white scallion parts for 30 seconds.  Return the chicken to the wok and stir-fry for 1 minute.  Transfer the chicken to a serving dish.

Pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into the wok, heat and add the mango.  Stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add all the sauce ingredients except the almonds.  Cook for a further 30 seconds until the sauce thickens.

Stir in the green scallion parts and the toasted almonds. Pour over the chicken.  Garnish with the scallion tassels.

"Dutch Culinary Art - 400 Years of Festive Cooking" - Carrot Soup in honor of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's trip to the Netherlands

Date I made this recipe:  October 13, 2016 – Duchess Catherine visits the Netherlands

Dutch Culinary Arts – 400 years of festive cooking by Janny de Moor, Nico de Rooij, and Albert Tielemans

Published by Dutch Culinary Art Foundation

ISBN:  90-902442-6-3; copyright 2009

Purchased at the Strand (Bookstore), NYC, 2013

Recipe:  Carrot Soup (Wortelsoep) – p. 64

Unlike the Queen of England, I am often easily amused.  This week's amusement, and the reason why I cooked from this "Dutch" cookbook, is because the foreign media went nuts reporting on this "breaking" news:  Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (married to Prince William), took a solo trip to the Netherlands for the day.

I know, right?  Breaking!  Riveting!  How did she do it!  Travel by herself?  The hell you say!

The stated purpose of said solo trip, I think, was to meet with the King of the Netherlands and to take in the sights of The Hague and Rotterdam, which included visits to art galleries.  Catherine has a degree in the history of art, which is not to be confused with a degree in Art History which is what we "heathen" Yanks call it, and so traveling to art galleries makes sense for her, does it not?  It does.

The "unofficial" purpose of this trip was to see if she could hold her own without other royal family members around to support her.  Guess she passed and that is a good thing:  I was so worried for her. ;)

But who are we kidding?  We may be interested in art, and she may be interested in art, but the press and the public are pretty much only interested in "Who is she wearing?"

I would hate to be her.  I would hate to have every outfit I wear, every hairstyle I adopt, and every accessory I choose be evaluated and found wanting.  I mean, on any given day, I can be a walking wounded when it comes to looking presentable but I am not a Duchess am I?  Nay, I say!

That said, I cannot, in good conscience, move on to talking about the cookbook without noting a few of my "go-to" celebrity websites I visit for all the dirt on what our gal, Catherine, is wearing.

• Tomandlorenzo.com – These two guys, Tom and Lorenzo, crack me up with their biting wit and spot-on commentary about celebrity fashion of which they consider "Cathy Cambridge" one.  And "Bill (William)."  In general, they like her outfits but do wish she would give up the ghost on her beige pumps which she wears with just about everything.  I agree.  Other royal women have branched out in the shoe department so why not her?  Anyway, Tom and Lorenzo's commentary –some might say bitchy sarcasm – cracks me up but at least they do have enough sense to treat "Cathy" with respect even if they wish she was wearing something else.  (A recent posting:  "Cathy Cambridge's Dusty Roses" where they discuss a rose colored flowered dress she wore last week for an outing with "Bill.")

• People Magazine –   People magazine has been discussing royals and royalties since their founding, yet from the get-go, People has insisted on referring to the Duchess as Princess Kate and despite outraged comments from readers, they don't seem to be too inclined to refer to her as anything else.  (Not that the other side of the pond is any better:  The [London] Daily Mail continues to refer to her as "Kate Middleton." Sigh.)

For the record, she is not a Princess.  I mean technically yes, but if I may, let's walk through the British monarchy and play "What's in a name?"

In England, if a non-royal (Catherine) marries a royal prince, she could adopt his name and be known as Princess William.  I don't know why that is but it is and good for her for not going that route because it's...silly.  As an example, Prince Michael of Kent is the Queen's cousin.  His wife is known as Princess Michael of Kent, even though her first name is Marie Christine.

Quite often, when British royalty marry, the new couple is granted another title like Duke [of Earl!] or the Earl of "Earldom" in which case, the women are known as [first name], Duchess/Countess of "Whatsis."  So even though William is a prince, he is also the Duke of Cambridge and Catherine is known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.  William's Uncle Edward (Prince Edward) was given the title Earl of Wessex when he married and so his wife, Sophie, is Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and Uncle Andrew (Prince Andrew) is the Duke of York and former wife, Sarah Ferguson, was Sarah, Duchess of York. (Great—now I have that classic song, Duke [Duke, Duke, Duke] of Earl on my mind!)

And so in conclusion, dear reader, given all that, Princess Kate is not Princess Kate and shall never technically be Princess Kate (or Princess Catherine) and that's that, and People is wrong for doing so! Bother! Moving on...

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, toured some of the Netherland's finest art galleries while on her solo journey, and much was made of the fact that she wore the "same" earrings as the woman in Johannes Vermeer's famous paining, The Girl with the Pearl Earring (which was also a title of a movie with the same name starring Scarlett Johansson).  The very same as in "what freaking [royal] nerve!"  Or perhaps the opposite -  a nod to her hosts, the Dutch, or she was simply feeling in a pearl kind of mood that day, we don't know.  We do know though, that she saw many more works than just the pearl earring painting and it was probably fun for her to see these things up close and personal instead of in a textbook.  In fact, the next time I'm in the Netherlands, I'd like to spend some time touring art galleries as I haven't had the chance on other trips.

And so speaking of art (You see, we got here eventually!), this cookbook, Dutch Culinary Art, showcases all kinds of artwork related to food and includes paintings by the masters as well as posters, cookbook covers, advertisements and the like.  It also includes some photos to bring us a better historical perspective.

The book is also divided into time periods that add to our overall understanding of Dutch culinary trends and Dutch history.  It starts with "Two very old dishes," and then breaks out into "Ten recipes from 1900-1909," and then "Ten recipes from" subsequent decades all the way until 1999.  There are also two special menus from 2000-2009 when the book was published.

Today's carrot soup recipe is from the chapter: 1920-1929 – The end of lower-class cookery.  The book it came from is De Vegetarische Keuken Door or, The Vegetarian Kitchen Door.  Color me surprised that a vegetarian cookbook existed that far back.  I learn something every day!

As you might expect, the chapters from the 1930-1939 and 1940-1949, are all about economizing during both the Depression and World War II.  I always remember Anne Frank's account of dining while hiding from the Nazi's, and all the challenges they had in obtaining food in her book, The Diary of a Young Girl.  As a side note, I toured the Anne Frank House while in Amsterdam many years ago but had a severe migraine and only remember wanting to just lie down someplace with a cold pack on my head.

By the time we get to the 60's and 70's, other countries' cuisines started to creep into Dutch restaurants and kitchens and so in these chapters are recipes for Spanish and French food.  There's even a recipe for "Creole Lobster Tail" although I have to say that none of the ingredients resembles anything close to an American Creole dish.

Hilariously, "Kate's Mustard Soup" recipe can be found on page 140.  It's a simple dish but I passed on making it as that would have been too obvious, right? Plus, the recipe didn't interest me at all.

Neither did all the recipes for eel – practically a Dutch national dish – or the recipe for "Jellied cured side of pork."  Pass.  A recipe for "mild sauerkraut soup" sounded tempting for about two seconds but didn't make the cut.

Several recipes that might have made the cut also fell at the last minute because I would have needed to find and then used "double cream."  I Googled this item and found that not only is it difficult to find in the US, but heavy whipping cream is not the best substitute as it is too light which sounds crazy but is true.  Heavy whipping cream contains about 36% of butter fat, but double cream contains 48-60% and I just didn't know a way to "fix" this.

Since this soup recipe called for a mere two tablespoons of double cream (or one tablespoon since I made half the recipe), I didn't think I would ruin it by using heavy whipping cream and I didn't.  Problem solved! Plus, and I am so chuffed about this, the recipe called for carrots, potatoes and leeks, and I just happened to have just enough of all three for this recipe.  I feel like such a thrifty chef!

I must confess that my first taste of this very easy soup was rather bland and I wasn't sure the final dish would be any better, but you know what?  It grows on you.  I also wasn't sure that adding cream to a dish containing lemon juice would work either, but I was once again wrong.  Andy declared it quite delicious which is always a relief as he would tell me if I flunked the day's cooking attempts.

And so we had ourselves this Dutch carrot soup and it was good.  Because it was a pureed soup, it wasn't necessarily filling, but we managed as we always do.

As to the cookbook, I think this is a fun book to have on hand if you like a) the Netherlands, b) cooking art and c) cooking.  This one ticked all the boxes and I learned a few things to boot, including all things Dutch, and hopefully after playing "What's in a [British royal] name,"  you learned some things as well.  Can't beat that, quite, quite, quite.

Carrot Soup – serving size not given but half the recipe made several cups

9 oz carrots, scraped (Ann's Note:  I put them in a mini food processor)

7 oz potatoes, peeled

1 ¾ oz white of leek

4 cups water

Salt and pepper

1 tabelspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons double cream (Ann's Note:  use heavy whipping cream)

Parlsey

Cubes of stale white bread, fried or grilled

Cook the chopped carrot, potato and leek  in the water with a little salt and pepper until very soft.

Sieve the soup, mash the vegetables, stir the puree into the vegetable broth and season well with salt and pepper (or if you like soy sauce, marmite and salt, no pepper!)  Keep hot without boiling.  Just before serving stir in lemon juice and cream, and sprinkle generously or sparingly with parsley.

Top with fried or grilled bread cubes.

"Country Cuisine;" "The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains;" "The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking" - for Queen Elizabeth II's 90th Birthday!

Dates I made these recipes:  April 21 – April 27, 2016 – Queen Elizabeth's 90^th Birthday

Country Cuisine by Elizabeth Kent

Published by:  Sidgwick & Jackson – London

© 1980

Recipe:  Carrot Vichyssoise – p. 117 – from Sharrow Bay (hotel) in Ullswater, Cumbria:  Chef:  Francis Coulson; Proprietors:  Francis Coulson and Brian Sack.

The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains – Edited by Michael Smith

Published by:  Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc. New York

© 1977

Purchased at an estate sale

Recipe:  Louisa Trotter's Cheese Straws – p. 69-70

The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking by Linda Collister.   Includes recipes by Mary Berry & Paul Hollywood

Published by:  BBC Books

ISBN: 978-1-849-90483-4

Purchased at Barnes and Noble

Recipe:  Paul's Chocolate Volcanoes – p. 310

Right then.  Let me start off by saying that I hope "HM" (Her Majesty) appreciates the efforts I went through to produce some delicious delights befitting HM and her 90^th birthday because folks, finding and making these recipes was a downright horrible exercise, what what!

Let's begin with a few points of culinary interest:  1) In 1994, my husband, Andy, and I went to England and considered ourselves most fortunate to have eaten fairly decent food while there.  This was at a time when the Brits were just getting the hang of edible cuisine.  But that said 2) most of their food is, I'm sorry to say, rubbish and I spent more time for this blog post eliminating food I wouldn't eat on a bet (like ""Smoked Mackerel Hot Pots"—oh me no think so!) than what I would eat.

Then 3) I eliminated recipes that called for hard-to-find ingredients (i.e. native to Great Britain but not here) or recipes that just took too damned long to make.  So there went half of the three book's contents right there.

And then there was this problem:  4) Some books like Country Cuisine had so many usable recipes that I wanted to "cheat" and make a bunch of stuff from that book and that book alone but that would break my own rules of one per cookbooks so I couldn't go down that rabbit hole.  Then other books like The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains was just bereft of anything usable or – dare I say – edible, and I had to work hard to find a recipe – any recipe – that would work.  Best I could do was Cheese Straws and I thought they would pair well with the soup so there you go.  And finally there was dessert which seemed like it would be easy except I had to eliminate anything made with yeast (due to previous efforts at making a doorstop), phyllo dough (I hate working with it) or anything requiring 2,000 or so steps before I could shove the thing in the oven.

So there was that.  And then, and it has to be said, I had to deal with measurements and converting measurements and that was no fun at all.  Not at all.  England uses grams for measures which is why you absolutely need a scale to do some of this stuff.  In fact, the very same day that I made this recipe, my friend, Star Tribune columnist, cookbook author and master baker, Kim Ode, wrote a column for the paper outlining essential kitchen equipment for amateur bakers as well as one for advanced and I am chuffed to say that although I don't bake a lot, I had all but one item from both lists.  As I commented on her Facebook page, I love my kitchen scale and marvel that I ever went without one.

And as a reminder, all of this was to honor "HM" whom I adore and who gets mad props for making it to age 90 (and 63 years on the throne) while looking fabulous to boot.  And all the dishes I made her paid homage to her in some way, shape or form.  "HM" is fluent in French, thus the vichyssoise, Brits love their crackers ("biscuits") and toasts at tea times (cheese straws) and "HM" loves chocolate so hooray!  And with the exception of the cheese straws, all of these turned out to be pretty darned smashing! (Details to follow.)

And now a word about the books:

Country Cuisine is a compilation of recipes from country hotels, inns and bed and breakfasts and it is "delightful" as the Brits would say.  I thought it especially appropriate that the author's name is Elizabeth Kent as Elizabeth II is related to the Duke of Kent; they are first cousins.  Most of the recipes in this book were sounded good and were pretty easy to make while others, as noted, sounded horrible.

The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains is based on a TV show – The Duchess of Duke Street – that aired on the BBC from 1975 to 1976.  The show spotlights Louisa Leyton Trotter a/k/a "The Duchess" who worked her way up from being a servant to a cook to being a Duke Street hotel proprietress.  I didn't watch the series but heard about it (it was Emmy-winning) and so there you have it.  This cookbook gave me the most trouble as most of the recipes just weren't "all that."  Again, I reference dishes like "Creamed Veal Kidneys" and "Kippers with Marmalade."  Ghastly.  The "biscuits" I made were okay but that was mostly my fault – I think.  The recipe said to add the egg mixture to the flour mixture to form a paste but the paste didn't form like it should.  I suspect more liquid was necessary but didn't know how much so left it alone.  I also think the dough sat too long in the fridge but that was my fault.

The last cookbook, The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking, got me back on track and thank goodness for that.  Say what we will about British cooking, baked goods – both savory [savoury if you are British) and sweet saved the day.  Baking doesn't usually involve icky ingredients although savory bakes can be dicey. 

Now if you're not familiar with the BBC/PBS show, The Great British Bake Off, acquaint yourself with it ASAP by watching it on PBS or YouTube. I'll wait.  In Britain, this show is several seasons ahead of where we are in America but I don't care because the show is fantastic!

The premise of this show is that several bakers, most of them baking at master or near-master levels, compete to win the show's grand prize.  Each episode has three baking challenges:  the signature challenges i.e. recipes they are known for; the technical challenge where they are given basic instructions for the challenge of the day and the showstopper where they have to make spectacular items like 7-tiered cakes that look good and taste good too.  Each challenge has winners and losers and then at the end of each episode, someone is cut and sent home.

Each challenge is judged by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood (yes, that's his name), who are master bakers and whose recipes are included in this cookbook.  And each show is hosted by Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc.  Mel is an absolute stitch to watch and you will likely "luff" her.

The thing I "luff" about this show besides Mel is that the contestants are so absolutely polite with each other it's ridiculous.  And so British.  Even though they're in a competition they rally around each other each and every episode and it's touching.  Compare this to some of their American "counterpart" shows where every single day in that kitchen is a thrown down of some sort, sometimes involving knives, sometimes not.  "Uncivilized" is likely what the Brits would say with a good "sniff, sniff" in that way they have.

And I also love the judges and marvel at their own skill of being able to ascertain when someone's "bake" is just not quite on point.  Plus they're funny although Mary is much more quiet compared to Paul.

And with a last name of "Hollywood," it should be no surprise that Paul is the more outgoing.  And out of all the incredible edibles out of this cookbook, supplied by the bakers and the judges, I decided on his Volcano Cakes.  They were easy to make and seeing as how HM loves chocolate, this is as close as I could get to a birthday cake in her honor.

And with that, let's have a "Hip, Hip, Hooray" for HM and then off we go to the kitchen!

Carrot Vichyssoise – serves 8 – from County Cuisine

2 potatoes

4-5 carrots

2 onions

2 leeks

Ham bone or 2-3 rashers of bacon (Ann's Note:  thin slices of bacon)

2 bay leaves

2 ½ pints chicken stock

1 dessertspoon sugar

Salt and pepper

½ pint single cream (Ann's Note:  The Brits have "single cream" and "double cream" and best I can tell, half and half is probably the closest although I used regular cream without any problems."

Carrot cut in fine strips to garnish

Peel the potatoes, carrots and onions, then chop into small pieces.  Trim and shred the leeks.  Put all the vegetables into a large saucepan with the ham bone or chopped bacon, bay leaves and stock. Cover and simmer over low heat until the vegetables are tender.  Remove the bay leaves and ham bone and liquidize until smooth (or put through a sieve).  Add the sugar, then season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Blend in the cream, the slowly reheat (taking care not to let it boil) or chill thoroughly.  Just before serving (hot or cold), garnish with fine strips of carrot.

Louisa Trotter's Cheese Straws – serving size not given – from The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains

 5 ounces plain flour (Ann's Note:  plain flour is all-purpose flour)

4 ounces unsalted butter

2 egg yolks

2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Good pinch of salt (about ¼ teaspoon)

Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon cold water

Mix yolks, lemon juice and water together.  Rub fat into flour until sand-like texture is arrived at.  Toss in grated Parmesan cheese.  Season lightly, tossing well in.  Make well, pour in the liquids, mix quickly and form deftly into a paste.  Leave for 1 hour in a cold place.  (Ann's Note:  My mixture did not form a paste and I suspect it was because there was not quite enough liquid in the mix but I followed the directions given so....)

Roll out dough ¼-inch thick and then cut into 2-inch wide strips.  Place these onto a buttered baking sheet, mark out the strips into ¼ to ½ inch sticks.

Dredge with more grated Parmesan cheese if the budget permits!  Bake at 400 for 7 to 8 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown.

Remove with the aid of a palette knife to a cooling tray.  Divide when quite cool.  Store in airtight tin.

Ann's Notes:  Because the dough did not form into a paste, the rest of the instructions were difficult to follow.  I did my best to roll out the dough into a ¼-inch piece but failed and gave up trying to cut the dough into strips and sticks and just sort of threw the mess onto a baking sheet and hoped for the best.

The result was not half bad in the taste department but horribly awful in the looks department.  And I baked them for about 10 minutes as 7-8 didn't cut it.  If I had time I would make these again to see if I got different results but I didn't so there you have it.

Paul's Chocolate Volcanoes (Signature Bake) – makes 6 – from The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking

Unsalted butter and cocoa powder for the moulds

165g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped into small pieces

165g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3 medium eggs

3 medium egg yolks

85g caster sugar (a/k/a "Baker's sugar," "Superfine," or "Fast-melting" sugar)

2 tablespoons plain flour

6 small pudding moulds

Grease the pudding moulds with butter and dust the inside with cocoa powder.  Chill for 30 minutes.

Gently melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  (Ann's Note:  or use a double boiler).  Remove the bowl from the pan and stir until the chocolate mixture is smooth.

Combine the eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar in a bowl.  Using an electric mixer, whisk together for several minutes until thick, pale, and mousse-like in consistency.  Carefully fold in the chocolate mixture, then fold in the flour, trying not to knock any air out of the mix.

Divide the chocolate mix equally among the 6 prepared moulds.  Place in the fridge and chill until firm. (You can make the puddings up to 24 hours in advance and leave them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.)

Heat your oven to 400F.  Place the moulds on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes* until the puddings are risen but not cracked.  Ann's Note:  at 8 minutes*, the dough was raw so I added 5 more minutes to the timer and they were almost done.  Five more minutes got me closer but still not quite there so I added 5 more and after a total of 23 minutes, they were perfect.  I don't see how on earth they would be done in 8 minutes unless he used the tiniest "pudding" moulds on the planet.  I used small soufflé molds and still had to bake them for quite some time.

Also, I've had similar "volcano" cakes in Hawaii at Roy's and theirs differed from these because they need 45 minutes to bake and they flowed chocolate "lava" when cut open.  These do not and from the looks of the photo, they were not supposed to.  Instead, we got a lovely moist center and that was good enough for us.  Whether they were up to Paul Hollywood's or even "HM's" standards is another story for another day.

"McCall's Introduction to British Cooking" - Curried Beef - in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's 63 years on the throne

Date I made this recipe:  September 9, 2015 – Queen Elizabeth II Celebrates 63 years on the throne!

McCall's Introduction to British Cooking, Edited by Linda Wolfe

Published by:  Galahad Books

© 1959 – 1972

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores

Recipe:  Curried Beef – p. 45-46

Well let's give a Hip Hip and a Hooray to Queen Elizabeth II (a/k/a "HM" – Her Majesty) for beating out her great-great grandmother Victoria, by one day, making HM's reign the longest ever for Britain at a whopping 63 years, 7 months or 23,226 days.  That is positively brilliant, quite, quite!

I am quite the Anglophile and so I've been following HM and her family (a/k/a "The Firm") for eons now and I find her to be absolutely adorable.  Absolutely.  I mean, she's just so cute, is she not, with her hats and her purse and gloves?  That purse reminds me of the one my Grandma Verme carried around although HM's is likely devoid of cough drops (or, as my Sicilian grandma used to say "cough-a drop-as").  No doubt some lady-in-waiting (yes, she has them) is at the ready just in case HM has a coughing fit – rather.

Unfortunately, and please don't tell HM this, British food leaves a lot to be desired.  And although my husband and I enjoyed almost all our food on our trip to England many moons ago (we lucked out), the British cuisine still – and sadly – is um, rather...well, rather not quite up to snuff.

And this is why I always have a difficult time finding any recipe to make from a British cookbook that doesn't make me go "ew."  I mean, these are people who eat broiled tomatoes and what they called "baked beans" (hardly) for breakfast, along with sausage that made my husband almost flee the country.  Also on many a breakfast menu are kippers which is a small and oily herring.  A herring?  For breakfast, eh what?

I can understand this fixation with fish given that it's an island country but fish just doesn't float my boat (pun intended!) nor does mutton which is eaten with great relish and which I also do not like.  Sure, there's beef, but most of the recipes in this book are for ginormous roasts and two people don't need to eat a Fred Flinstone-style rack of anything.

We will not discuss their fascination with kidneys.  We will not.

And so out of the rubble emerged a dish that is loved by most Brits even though the recipes came from former British colonies – curry.  In fact, the minute I decided to make this dish, I could not help but think of "turkey curry buffet" from the movie, Bridget Jones's Diary.    The annual New Year's turkey curry buffet was a critical scene in the movie where Bridget reacquainted herself with former neighbor, Mark Darcy, and his horrible, horrible holiday "jumper" (sweater). 

So.  There's precedent for cooking curry to celebrate special occasions and so why not HM's...well, what do we call this celebration anyway?  "Anniversary?"  "Nah, nah, I won" Day?  "Take, that Vicky?" (I refer to Queen Victoria.)  Well anyway, you get the point. 

This recipe for Curried Beef was quite delicious but in typical British fashion, the apples and onions were cooked so long that they turned to mush.  They tasted great, as did the beef, but seriously Brits, times have changed and there is no need to render your food inedible like you used to.  I mean "mushy peas" are not called "mushy peas" without a reason. 

You should know that this curry recipe is pretty mild and therefore pretty British.  Do not expect tongue-searing heat from this dish as you would in other countries. That is not how it is done and that is that and that is that!  But it's tasty nonetheless and we ate it all (I made a half-recipe) in one sitting.  Well done then!  Smashing!

So congratulations, ma'am, on your anniversary.  I cannot contemplate doing any job for 63 years , much less leading the British people, so kudos to you.  We are quite chuffed about your success! 

Curried Beef – makes 4 servings

½ cup shortening or salad oil

2 pounds chuck, cut in 1-inch cubes

1 cup thinly sliced onion

3 cups pared, cored, and thinly sliced cooking apples

1 can (10 ½ ounces) beef consommé, undiluted

1 ½ teaspoon salt 

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons curry powder

¼ cup unsifted all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 cups hot cooked rice

Slowly heat shortening in large, heavy skillet.  In this, brown meat well on all sides; remove.  Then brown onion and apples.

Add enough water to consommé to measure 2 cups; pour into skillet.  Add salt, pepper, curry powder, and meat; cover; simmer 1 ½ hours, or until the meat is tender.

In small bowl, blend flour with lemon juice and a little liquid from skillet to make a smooth paste.

With large spoon, stir paste into rest of liquid in skillet; cook, stirring until it thickens.  Serve on hot rice.

"The Art of British Cooking" - An Elizabethan Casserole of Pork (for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee)

Date I made this recipe:  June 3, 2012

The Art of British Cooking by Theodora FitzGibbon; foreword by Lord Geddes

Published by:  Phoenix House - London

© 1965

Recipe:   An Elizabethan Casserole of Pork – p. 116

This week in the “Jolly Good News” department, Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her Diamond (60 year) Jubilee.  Smashing!    Brilliant!  Hip Hip Hooray!  Quite.

As mentioned in previous blogs, I love the Queen.  At age 86, she keeps a record pace of appearances and dang it all, she just looks so darn cute with her hat, heels and handbags that it’s hard not to “luf” her.  Plus, she’s got the royal wave down pat but then again, after 60 years on the throne, why wouldn’t she?

For those in the know like me, you know that the Jubilee Celebrations kicked off months ago when members of the royal family took to points east, west, north and south of Her Majesty’s (wild!) kingdom to visit with “the people.”  The British Empire may be smaller than it used to be but QEII still has millions of loyal subjects all over the world, all whom are partying along with her, helping her celebrate an amazing feat that was only accomplished by one other queen, Queen Victoria.

Closer to home in London, the Queen kicked off local celebrations starting Saturday, June 2^nd, with a visit to the Epsom Derby (pronounced “Darby”) to watch the horse races.  Her Majesty loves her some horses…and corgis…but mainly horses. 

On Sunday, the royal family and about 1,000 other boaters took to the Thames River (pronounced “Temes”—what is it with the Brits and pronunciation anyway???!) for a massive flotilla in the rain.  News organizations reported that HM (Her Majesty) stood for 4.5 hours, waving to her loyal subjects whilst floating on the royal barge.  (The royal barge should never be confused with your ordinary and ugly river barges.  This sucker was fit for a queen..hahahahaha).  At any rate, despite the rain, there were huge crowds celebrating and partying and whatnot which is so out of character for the Brits…but then again, maybe not?

Last night, the royals took in a Jubilee Concert featuring Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, several other “sirs” and a couple of dames—and I mean that in a good way, “Dame” being the female equivalent of “Sir.”  (“Sirs” are knighted by the Queen).  And then today, everything wrapped up with a celebration mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral and the royal wave “wave” on the balcony of the palace.

From all accounts, the Queen was quite touched by the outpouring of love and affection for her (and perhaps a teensy bit for Catherine, the new Duchess of Cambridge), all events went over well and the normally staid and stiff-upper-lips Brits went a bit dotty over the whole thing and really, why not, eh what?

By the way, one of my favorite movies is Monty Python’s Holy Grail, and one of my favorite scenes is when King Arthur is “riding” through the forest with his trusty guide, Patsy (and to see what I mean by “riding,” you have to see the movie).  When Arthur encounters some local serfs who are less than happy to see him, he announces “I’m Arthur, King of the Britons,” to which they reply something along the lines of “Who?  We don’t have no king.  I never voted for you.”  I think Queen Elizabeth has fared far better than poor Arthur (“Run away, run away…..”)

So OF COURSE the Jubilee weekend provided the perfect excuse for me to make something in honor of HM, and in an amazing “just-in-the-nick-of-time” moment, I found today’s cookbook, The Art of British Cooking.  And by “found” I meant that for the first time ever, I attended the Bloomington Crime Prevention Association’s (BCPA) 20^th annual “Book’Em” book sale, held in Bloomington, Minnesota (at 9801 Lyndale Ave and it runs until June 16^th). 

Can we say “gold mine?”  Holy Hannah, people, there were tables and tables of books of all shapes, sizes and subjects with overflow stored under the tables and apparently, a loading dock of books just waiting to be put out.  Within minutes, I started filling a paper back with cookbooks, this one being one of them.  All told, I picked up 16 new cookbooks at $2.00 each for hardcover, $1.00 softcover, and my husband found several biographies wanted to read.  Two bags and $40 later, we were quite the happy campers.

Now some of you, having experienced British food, might think the title The Art of British Food to be ironic.  And although my husband still shudders at the thought of British breakfast sausages (bangers), we luckily experienced good food on our visit to England.  And in fact, while there were some recipes I would never make from this book (say, for example, something with a cow’s hoof), there were many up for consideration, from seafood recipes to trifle.  Many recipes contained cucumbers, something that surprised me until I remembered that cucumber sandwiches are apparently popular at tea time.  Many recipes also called for anchovies, another surprise but you know the Brits once ruled the ocean and traveled the world and ultimately incorporated a lot of food from the Commonwealth into their own diets.

So after hemming and hawing in true British fashion, we finally decided that it would be fitting for us to make the recipe, An Elizabethan Casserole of Pork, in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, even though “Elizabethan” here refers to the first queen named Elizabeth, Elizabeth I.  Actually, according to the book, “This dish is sometimes on the menu of the Elizabethan Room of the Gore Hotel, Queen’s Gate, London.”  (By the by, the Gore Hotel is still in London but the Elizabethan Room has been replaced by Bistro One Ninety.  I must say that I prefer the name “Elizabethan Room.”)

I also have to say that this is a rather odd dish that overall worked pretty well save for a few things I would tweak here and there.  The “casserole” of this dish consists of pork plus apples, celery, onions, orange and orange rind, seedless grapes, dates and sage and parsley and red wine, all of which are good ingredients but the orange flavor almost overwhelmed.  I was also expecting more of a sauce of the red wine (and water to cover the pork) but instead got more of a diluted glass of wine so that was disappointing.  Still, I would make it again with a few adjustments – less orange, more spices, and maybe more apples.  Does the Queen like apples?  Hmmm…must ask next time I see her.  Quite.

An Elizabethan Casserole of Pork – serving size not specified

1 boneless joint of pork, about 4 lbs. (translated:  one boneless pork roast!)

1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons cooking oil or fat

1 head celery (in other words, several stalks of celery if not the entire bunch!)

½ bottle red wine (oh yeah!)

1 orange (Note:  if I had to make this again, I would use a much sweeter and smaller orange than the navel one I used for this recipe.  The tartness of the orange was not necessarily pleasing to my palate) (PS—save the orange peel)

¼ lb seedless white grapes

3 medium onions

6 dates

3 medium apples

A sprig of sage and parsley

Salt and pepper

Melt the fat or heat the oil and brown the pork on all sides in it.  The remove the joint and fry, very lightly, the onions and apples, both peeled and sliced.  When they are done put them in the bottom of a casserole and season well. Rub the pork in flour, salt and pepper, and place it on top of the apples and onions.  Add the stoned grapes (i.e. seedless – not to be confused with “stoned” as in high on marijuana!), dates, chopped herbs, chopped celery, the orange peel finely chopped and quarters of orange without pitch or pips (seeds).  Pour over the red wine, adding a little water if it doesn’t quite come to the top of the meat.  Cover and cook in a slow oven (300-325) for about 3 hours.  For carving, put the pork on a separate dish, pouring some sauce and vegetables over each portion.

Okay, I simply MUST comment on this last line – “pour sauce and vegetables” over each portion.”  Last time I checked, celery and onions were vegetables but dates, grapes, apples and oranges were fruit.  But the Brits are nothing if not succinct so the all-encompassing “vegetables” it is!

"Favorite Southern Recipes of the Duchess of Windsor" & "Chocolate - A Little Indulgence" - Smothered Chicken and Hugs N' Kisses Torte

Date I made these recipes: February 14, 2011 (Valentine’s Day)

Some Favorite Southern Recipes of The Duchess of Windsor with a foreword by The Duchess of Windsor
Published by: Gramercy Publishing Co.
© 1942
Recipe: Smothered (with love?!) Chicken – p. 46

Chocolate – A Little Indulgence
Published by: CQ Products
ISBN: 13: 978-1-56383-230-7
Recipe: Hugs N’ Kisses Torte – p. 104 - 105

Unless you are living under a rock, you know that Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson and Catherine (Kate) Middleton are going to be married in April. And today, the press was all atwitter about who the bridesmaids would be and duh, of course the maid of honor is her sister, Pippa, and William selected his brother, Harry, to be his best man (actually, in England they are called “supporters.”) And there was much rejoicing.

But Wills (and Kate) and even Chuck (and Di) would not have been in the positions they are in (grandson and son to the current Queen) if not for Chuck’s Uncle David, formerly known as King Edward VIII of England. (Full name: Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David. Wow - only 7 names?!)

King Edward, you see, was quite the gad about town and was at yet another party when he met and fell in love with an American, Wallis Warfield Simpson, a divorcee twice over. And just like that he up and quit the throne for the woman he loved. I mean who does that? Because “if I were King of the For-rest…” (Thank you, Wizard of Oz), I don’t know as I’d give up my golden throne and all the accoutrements that come with it for some average-looking American socialite. But give up the throne he did and they married (and got demoted to Duke and Duchess of Windsor) and spent the rest of their lives in “exile” (so to speak), traveling the world and living the high life. Meanwhile, Wallis became one of the most hated women in England and so okay, you’re a Duchess, but honey, was it worth it?

Stepping into the suddenly vacated post of King was Edward’s younger brother, Albert, who just happened to be Elizabeth II’s father. Albert (whose name was changed to King George VI) never, ever expected to be King and it is said that the Queen Mum (Elizabeth’s mother) never forgave Wallis for forcing her fragile husband into the throne. Actually, the entire Windsor clan was quite pissed and I do not mean “pissed” as in “drunk” (as the Brits call it). I mean royally (hahaha) ticked off at Wallis. Quite.

For those of you who have seen the recent movie blockbuster, The King’s Speech, you’ll know that King George suffered from a stammer. Luckily the man was able to overcome it to speak to his people during WWII and encourage them to be brave and to solider on and work together and stiff upper lip and all that. But he also smoked and was not in the best of health and when he died at an early age, Elizabeth took over the throne and still reigns today.

So before we go any further, a few bits of trivia:

 The current Queen is technically known as Elizabeth II because another Elizabeth came before her – Elizabeth I, King Henry VIII’s daughter.

 As another aside, the current Queen should thank her lucky stars that Henry decided his daughter would be Queen. Most of the time the title fell to the King’s son and if there wasn’t a son, it fell to the next male relative. Henry didn’t have any sons that lived and so the first Queen Liz got the job. But believe it or not, there are currently monarchies around the world that still hold to the idea that the crown goes to the man. We don’t have time to go into what I think about that.

 Don't ask me why but I recently had not one but two people as me why a Queen’s husband is never a King. Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, Philip, is not King Philip but rather Prince Philip, and that’s because the male spouse of a sitting Queen can never be higher in rank than the Queen herself. When the Queen dies, the crown passes to either the son (e.g. Prince Charles will become King Charles when the Queen dies) or a daughter (e.g. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden will become Queen when her father, King Carl Gustaf dies. Her mother, the current Queen, Queen Sylvia, does not inherit the throne. That being said, if a sitting King marries, his wife is called Queen. Okay, so now that we got that all cleared up…)

 Despite the fact that I have not one drop of British blood in me, I am a major Anglophile…actually make the Royalphile (if there is such a word…and spell check suggests there isn’t). I began reading about the British Royal Family when I was a teenager. I also watched Prince Charles’ investiture as Prince of Wales on our black and white TV back in 1969And finally, I knew all about Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince Charles’ second wife, way before you did because several publications (Time, Life and Newsweek) ran several articles about Prince Charles’ love life and she was one of the named contestants in hot contention to be “Mrs. Queen of England.” (Diana was barely born at the time of these articles). And even though King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in 1939, there were enough articles after the fact to keep me busy reading for years and years.

Anyway, back to our story: so without a kingdom to rule, the newly-named Duke and Duchess of Windsor took to traveling the world over and spent a lot of time in America where they were the toast of the town. And somehow the Duchess found time to pull together recipes for this cookbook. And after seeing a promo the other day for The King’s Speech, I remembered that I had this book and thought it would be perfect to cook from it for Valentine’s Day seeing as how King Edward abdicated the throne for “the woman I love.” And believe it or not, they were married for 35 years, separated only by his death in 1972. Awwww……

And speaking of royalty…the second cookbook I chose to cook from for the chocolate portion of our program was purchased at the Minnesota History Museum after I attended an exhibit about chocolate. And chocolate is tied to royalty as follows: European and English royalty sponsored trips to the New World by explorers and conquistadors and whatnot and these explorers discovered that chocolate was being used by Mexican and Latin American indigenous tribes as currency (and as indicators of wealth) and thought it would be a great idea to bring it back to their own countries. At first people were lukewarm about eating chocolate because it was unsweetened (and only consumed by the very wealthy) but once someone figured out to add sugar to it, it became incredibly popular and now companies all over the world are churning out chocolate in record form to be purchased and given to Valentines today and every day as a sign of love and affection. And again with the awwwww…..

And speaking of awww….this cookbook contained recipes for beverages, appetizers, main dishes and dessert, all of which contained chocolate, but it was the recipe for this Hugs N’ Kisses Torte, made with Hershey’s Kisses, that spoke to me. Who doesn’t love a kiss on Valentine’s Day?!

I’ll eventually get around to seeing the movie (and therefore the events leading up to King George taking the throne) but for now, here are the results of my latest attempts in the kitchen. The chicken was incredibly tender but alas, lacking in flavor so salt and pepper were in order. The torte on the other hand, had lots of flavor, namely sugar. But that is one taste sensation that is fine by me!

Enjoy…and Happy Valentine’s Day…and God Save the Queen. Quite.

Smothered Chicken – approximate yield: 5 to 6 portions
1 large stewing chicken
Salt, pepper
Paprika
½ cup thin cream (thin cream is basically Half and half)
4 tablespoons chopped celery
½ cup sliced carrots
¾ cup milk (although the recipe doesn’t say, you should use whole milk if at all possible)
1 teaspoon parsley
Sage (The Duchess does not give an amount nor does she say whether to use leaf sage or rubbed sage. You decide.)
Few drops of onion juice

Have chicken disjoined as for frying. Season with salt and pepper and a dash of paprika. Roll in flour and brown quickly in fat, then place in baking dish. Add remaining ingredients. Cover the dish tightly and bake in a hot oven (400F) for about 2 hours or until chicken is tender. When it is done, uncover and brown top. Add more milk while cooking if necessary. Serve from the baking dish.

Chicken may be cooked in the morning, for one hour, placed in the refrigerator, and an hour before dinner returned to oven to finish cooking.

Hugs N’ Kisses Torte – makes 8 servings
1 (8 oz) package Hershey’s kisses, unwrapped
½ C. plus 1/3 C. heavy whipping cream, divided
2 tsp. butter, softened
½ tsp. vanilla
1 (10 ¾ oz.) loaf frozen pound cake, partially thawed
10 Hershey’s Hugs, unwrapped (Note: I’m not sure what these are and a search of Hersey’s website didn’t help. Since they were only garnish, I left them off.)

In a medium saucepan over low heat, place unwrapped Hershey’s kisses and 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream. Cook, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla, mixing until butter has completed melted. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl and place in refrigerator until mixture is firm enough to spread, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, slice thawed pound cake horizontally into 3 even layers. Place bottom layer on serving plate and top with 1/3 of the chocolate filling, spreading evenly. Top with second cake layer and spread another 1/3 of the filling over cake layer. Place remaining cake layer on top.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat remaining ½ cup heavy cream at medium high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold in remaining chocolate mixture, mixing gently until well incorporated. Spread mixture over top and sides of cake and place in refrigerator about 6 hours. Garnish top of torte with Hershey’s Hugs chocolate before serving.