DESSERT FOR TEENAGERS

HALLOWEEN WHOOPIE PIES:  Back to my very fist post on this blog!  I made these again but decided to go for orange filling just for fun at this time of year.  Was not too happy with the shade or orange, had yellow and red food colour, thinking that would be all I would need, oh well, they got the idea!

Last time I did these I delivered them to a friend who was going through a tough time with her health and I did not eat one.  This time I tried a bite and thought they were just ok!  Joseph said the filling was not sweet enough, I thought the cake part could have been richer, denser and moister........ will work on this .......

MY FRIENDS ARE TURNING 50!

How did that happen?! We had a joint celebration last night for Julia, John and David, none of their birthdays are imminent, David's visit from the UK drove the date.  The boys got to choose dessert, apple crumble with custard for Bammy and Eton Mess for Jonesy.  Have made crumble tons of times over the years, from a well worn recipe in Delia's first book,  in fact, my whole book got so worn I am on my second edition of it! The recipe has evolved over the years, and as I described it when discussing this meal, has become almost muesli-like, which I didn't think John would go for, but Julia demanded that I at least add almonds!  Went straight to Delia on line for these 2 very English desserts, as I have discovered she is good at updating recipes. Came across Apple and Almond crumble,  perfect! Changed it a bit, inevitably, used 1.5 lbs granny smiths as we cannot get bramleys in the US, and used 8ozs of blackberries.  Also, used the cinnamon in the apple mix but left it out of the crumble, I like cinnamon but not when it overpowers.  I thought it was pretty perfect, first time I had started with whole almonds, and they provided excellent amount of crunch.
Next to the Eton Mess.  I was so happy to have this requested, I have looked at this recipe many times, thought it looked yummy and easy, and it was.  Not much to add except to say I would have preferred there to be more strawberries and I would save a few to garnish with once you have mixed everything together, so add at least another 4 ozs.   David, who is the expert was very complimentary, don't know if he was just being gracious but I'll take it!

Update a week later:  I made this again, luckily I was cooking for a different group and was keen to try to get this right, so I did pretty much double the amount of strawberries and I much preferred it. Used the same amount for the puree and used the extra for the ones that you chop and mix with the cream etc.  I also saved a few to garnish the top and was in general very happy with the result, and was happy to accept the compliments of my fellow diners!