Spanish Cream

S loves dessert.  Actually S LOVES dessert.  I thought my family were into over catering till I saw the dessert selection at his house at Christmas.  There is nothing that makes him do a little dance of joy quite as quickly as the discovery that a new dessert is awaiting his taste buds.

With such a willing dessert eater at her table each week, Mum has been creating more and more elaborate desserts for our family dinners.  Once upon a time dessert was an icecream, or some fruit salad.  Now most Wednesdays there is a new creation, made specially for S.

As I mentioned earlier this week, Mum recently found her mother's recipe book and inspired by that made the 70's classic, Spanish Cream.  S liked it so much he googled recipes the minute we got home and when we had to bring a dessert to a dinner party last week it was his first thought.  This recipe is a combo of my Oma's and a Women's Weekly one.  It is an interesting dessert, while you mix it all up in one bowl, it sets into two distinct layers, a jellylike cream layer with a moussy fluffy layer on top (well on the bottom when you turn it out).  You can just see the second layer in the bottom corner of the picture.

When mine set there was a funny break in the fluffy layer which I think was from how I poured it into the mould.  So I would suggest carefully pouring it into the mould from one side only.

I served it with strawberries that had been marinated in a little cointreau and sugar and the whole thing went down a treat. There is nothing quite like delivering a quivering, jiggling, wobbly dessert to the table to bring out the inner child - and have people purposely knocking the table for some extra wobble, but it was people going back for seconds and thirds that really had me smiling.

Spanish Cream
3 eggs separated
3/4 cup cater sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups milk
3 teaspoons gelatine
1/3 cup hot water

Whisk egg yolks, sugar and vanilla in a pan until thick and creamy then whisk in the milk.  Stir over heat, without boiling, until the sugar is dissolved.  Bring to the boil then remove from the heat.  Sprinkle the gelatine over the hot water to soften, then stir into the milk mixture.

Beat the egg whites in a small bowl with an electric mixer until firm peaks form.  Fold whites into milk mixture in 2 batches.  Carefully pour into a wetted mould (4 - 5 cup capacity) or individual dishes (we did one in a margarita glass, it looked awesome) and refrigerate until firm.

If you have set it in a mould, turn out onto a large plate and decorate with strawberries to serve, otherwise top your glasses with some strawberries.

You can make this a day or two in advance and it will keep fine covered in the fridge.